Monday, January 6

There are a number of great fishing opportunities right now in North Central Washington, and I am hoping to try one that I haven't for several years.

My plan is to give the trout fishing a try off the east shore of Potholes Reservoir, in the area known as Medicare Beach.

This is a popular spot in the winter months as there are some very nice rainbow taken by the shore fishers here.

Trout over 20 inches are no surprise and I have friends that fished Potholes in the early spring that caught some really big rainbow.

They showed me photos of fish that were at least 6 pounds.

Getting to this spot can be tricky, and I would suggest that you stop by Mar Don Resort and get directions.

They probably will have a current report and advice on what to use, too.

If I do get there myself, I will share my experience and let you know if the trip was worthwhile.

Also, I just completed my latest free E-Letter.

It has feature stories on fishing at Lake Roosevelt, late-season steelhead and more.

If you would like to get a copy, just click on the E-Letter button on the Home Page of my web site, and I will send one your way.

Wednesday, January 8

I made another road trip to check on fishing in a couple of areas in our region.

I traveled north to Lake Chelan and Roses Lake, and then south to Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir.

I talked to two anglers that had been fishing on Chelan and had found the fishing slow last Friday.

They had just one trout for their efforts.

Roses Lake ice shouldn't be trusted.

The cold weather we are going to get may improve conditions here, but I would not venture out on it quite yet.

There are still ice fishermen on the ice at Moses Lake, but not in the numbers that I saw here earlier.

I found out where they were going, though, and that is to Lind Coulee, near where it enters Potholes Reservoir.

I was on my way to try the fishing at Medicare Beach, and was surprised to see a huge crowd on Lind Coulee below the parking area on Road M.

The road to the fishing accesses to the coulee was crowded with vehicles, and people are pulling sleds and even putting up shacks from the middle to the far side of the coulee.

Perch and some walleye are being caught here now.

Friday, January 10

I have some exciting plans for this week, and that is another visit to Lake Roosevelt.

I have made two trips to the big reservoir earlier this winter, just to fish from shore.

I had great trout fishing off the beach at Spring Canyon, catching fish to 22 inches.

This time I will be taking my Kingfisher Discovery 2025, and will be trying to see if I can catch some of the big kokanee that are known to be biting at this time of year.

I am taking Eric Granstrom along to capture the action for a Fishing TV Show and Shane Magnuson and Kyle Kelly will also be coming along to add their expertise to the effort.

We will be trying the area near Spring Canyon Park, but are prepared to run up the reservoir to the Swawilla Basin and maybe even up to the San Poil Arm.

We will be spending the night at Coulee House Inn and Suites in Grand Coulee so we can spend the better part of two days on the water.

It has been a few years since I have been trolling here, and I have high hopes for taking very good numbers of rainbow and some dandy kokanee.

Monday, January 13

I spent two days fishing Lake Roosevelt out of Spring Canyon.

My fishing partners Shane Magnuson and Eric Granstrom and I found the water choppy on Wednesday and the rainbow bite fairly slow.

We had four fish in the boat when we were chased off the water by a snow storm that limited our visibility to the point that I first headed toward the dam instead of the launch at Spring Canyon.

It snowed through the afternoon and early evening, but the next day was mostly clear and calm. We found the fishing better, too.

In about four hours we landed eight nice rainbow, ranging in size from 14 to 17 inches.

We missed a few hits and lost a couple as well.

It began snowing again in the early afternoon, so we called it quits.

We came home with a dozen nice rainbow, and I have several meals of these excellent eating triploid trout in the freezer.

I would like to plan another trip to Lake Roosevelt.

I would still like to figure out how to catch some of the big kokanee up there.

I am hoping they will be on the bite later this winter.