The Fishin' Magician: Angling tips

Friday, Jan. 13

Here's a mark your calendar item. The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) meeting in January is going to be something special. The directors from the Northwest Coastal Conservation Association will be coming to give everyone an update on what this group has accomplished in the past year and what they are working on in 2012 to support the future of fishing in our region. Also, there will be an announcement about the new Salmon Derby that will be taking place in Wenatchee in mid-July. Pete Flohr, organizer of the event will be on hand to give everyone details about the new derby and even have tickets available for sale. Flohr has also invited some of the area's expert anglers to be there, too, to talk about their techniques for taking salmon and other species here in Central Washington. The general public is invited to the meeting, and there is no charge to attend. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 17th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. It is held at the Eagles Lodge meeting room, at 1208 N. Wenatchee Avenue. If you have questions give Flohr a call at 509-665-9803.

Monday, Jan. 16

I got some good reports for folks that are interested in fishing for triploid rainbow at Rufus Woods Reservoir. Adam Langer and his Dad fished Rufus Woods recently and had a great day, landing triploids weighing 6, 7, 10 and 12 pounds. Not bad. I talked to Bob Fateley at the Triangle Exxon in Brewster, where many anglers gather going to and from the reservoir and he said that there are good days and bad days for those fishing at the lower end of the reservoir. There are some very nice fish being taken when the bite is on. He had also given me a report that anglers were fishing through the ice on Rat Lake, and I got a follow up report from Keith Roe, a fish checker for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. He visited Rat Lake recently and found that anglers were having good success through the ice, catching rainbow trout. The anglers he talked to had eleven fish among them, measuring 10 to 12 inches, and they had only been fishing for a couple of hours. Rat Lake can be found by taking a left onto Paradise Hill Road off Highway 97, to the Rat Lake road to the right.

Wednesday, Jan. 18

Anglers looking for water to fish for steelhead can check on the Okanogan. Due to the warm winter we've had much of the upper river is still flowing free and not frozen. The lower river, near Brewster is frozen and has been for some time. I talked to Jerrod Gibbons, Okanogan Valley Guider Service, the other day and he said that the river can be floated from Omak to Okanogan. He advised that those that want to give this stretch at shot should not be on the water at the crack of dawn. It is better to plan your float start after 10 in the morning, and try to go on a warmer day. As the day warms the shelf ice and floating slush clears off. This makes fishing less of a hassle. Gibbons also mentioned that the fishing isn't exactly hot right now due to the cold water temperatures, and typically the month of February is much better. Because the water is open there are anglers fishing from the shore. However, like Gibbons says, it isn't great. Anglers that land one fish for their efforts are having a good day. By the way, Gibbons is a new Dad. Gunner Thomas Gibbons was born on January 10th.