Now is a great time to start getting ready for Spring fishing. Time to dust off the rods, tackle boxes to sort and organize for a great year of fishing on the lakes and streams of Eastern Washington and right at your back door. Fly tyers it is time to get the vise, furs and feathers out and start tying a supply of your favorites and work on some new patterns. Make sure to test out the leaders and make sure that they have not weakened over the months of storage; especially those really light ones.
What the heck, once you have the gear out you might want to call some friends and head for Rocky Ford near Ephrata for either a great or a frustrating day of fly fishing. It can easily go either way!!! One tip, make sure to stop by Desert Fly Angler shop in Ephrata and talk with Darc Knobel about what is the best pattern to use. He is always open about what is working well. Could be his famous tie-died looking egg pattern called the Jerry Garcia is the special fly of the day. Also an olive colored mini-leach pattern seems to be effective this time of year, you just never know until you start throwing bugs into the water.
We can all keep our fingers crossed that there might be another opener of the Columbia Basin Steelhead fishery that we can all throw some lines into the Wenatchee, Methow and other tributaries. The rivers are in great shape as long as the snow level stays low and the dang rain doesn’t blow us out. Get those boats and big rods ready for both spin and fly fishing and remember to patch the waders!!!
There are good reports on the Eastern Washington lakes as they start to open and of course as the ice comes off of Fish Lake the fish will be ready to feed and you want to have your line in the water. It is a great time to fish; just make sure you are dressed in layers because it can be a bit chilly.
Fishing can be a great friends and family event and over the years I have seen it bring people together in almost a spiritual way. There is nothing quite like what I call the quiet noise of a running stream or the slapping of the water against the side of the boat. There is also nothing like the connection of building your own rod, tying the fly/lure, and then catching the fish.
We are planning on bringing you more current articles about fishing in our backyard over the next many months so that it might help you make the decision to get more involved in yet one more out door activity. Feel free to bring your thoughts, fishing tips, and great fishing experiences to us so that we can share it with our community.
