The Fishin' Magician: Too much ice, not enough fishing

Anglers that enjoy fishing the Methow River may want to wait a while before planning a trip up there. The river is getting very icy. I recently fished on the Methow and the consistently very chilly overnight temperatures are causing problems. It takes until about mid day for the loose, slush ice to clear off enough to make a cast, and the shelf ice is now more and more an issue.

I fished last Tuesday and we started fishing after noon and found enough open water to hook and land fish. I fished it again two days later, and conditions were worse. We had to break shelf ice to make fly casting for my friend Kevin van Bueren, and also break paths through the ice to land the fish he hooked. The fish are very lethargic, too. The take downs are very slow and the fish are staying down. They pull hard, but don't jump.

Last Thursday it was 5 degrees at Kevin's house that morning. I also want anglers to know that the hot fishing from boats in the estuary at the mouth of the Methow is over for a while. This area is completely iced-over and won't clear until we get a melt that will push it into the Columbia.