When it is gray and dreary and there’s a foot of snow on the ground, it is hard to get terribly motivated to go fishing. Heck, it is hard to get motivated when it is 45 degrees out and the sun is shining, or at least it is for me.
But every winter, for as long as I can remember, I have gone fishing during January and February, sometimes when it was not very smart to be out there, frankly.
Whether it comes out of boredom, or cabin fever, or just the need to be outdoors, who knows? But if the notion strikes, there are several viable options for fishing this time of year here in the Northwest.
When I was younger, my need-to-fish itch was scratched by doing some whitefish fishing in the local rivers. The Naches, Tieton, Klickitat and Yakima Rivers all offer some decent places to fish for whitefish.
There is a bit of an art to catching a whitefish, including using the right size and color fly, and placing that fly in the right part of the river where a whitefish might find it. Placed on the line below a pencil bobber, a fly drifted through riffles and not-so-deep holes, is the way to start.
Some veteran whitefish anglers will actually watch the water in the different holes before they start fishing to see if they see the telltale flash of white-silver that says there are whitefish feeding in the hole.
Stricter rules and regulations on where you can whitefish, and what size hook must be used on the whitefish fly have come along in the past decade, so if you are contemplating trying it, make sure you read the regulation booklet carefully.
The Yakima River above Roza Dam is also open for catch-and-release trout fishing. It is mostly thought of as a fly-fishing fishery, and can be quite good, even in the winter, when certain aquatic insects are hatching. But anglers using a small, barbless, single-hooked spinner can also enjoy this part of the river, anytime of the year.
Elton Pond off of I-82 just near East Selah is open for trout fishing. The pond gets fished hard when it opens in late November, but it still offers a place to wet a line with a chance of catching a trout or two. Depending the ice situation there, Elton also offers a chance to do some ice fishing.
Traveling north and east will get anglers into some pretty dependable wintertime fishing. Right now, anglers are having some good success catching kokanee at Lake Chelan. Once thought of as just a summertime fishery, Lake Chelan now offers decent fishing for kokanee throughout the year, and because the fish are often schooled in the top twenty feet of the huge lake, they are easier to locate and catch.
The same is true for Lake Roosevelt above Grand Coulee Dam. During some winters, the kokanee there have been plentiful, and while the Lake Chelan kokanee may be 10 to 12 inches, the ones coming out of Roosevelt can be twice that size or bigger. Over the years kokanee of five and six pounds have been caught.
Last year was not a great year for kokanee at Roosevelt, with few trophy fish being caught. But this year seems to be starting out better with more 18 to 22 inch kokanee showing up in the catch.
The great thing about Roosevelt is there is also an excellent chance to catch some nice triploid rainbow trout. Every year tens of thousands of triploids are planted in the big reservoir, and the fish grow quickly.
Anglers who fish Roosevelt regularly will tell you, too, that they are about the best eating kokanee and rainbows you will ever catch.
The other nice thing about Roosevelt is that bank anglers have just as good a chance at catching a limit of trout as boat anglers. Productive bank fishing spots are available below the Keller Ferry and the Spring Canyon boat launches, as well as several spots farther up the lake.
Trollers have the best chance to catch the kokanee, as they often hold out in the deeper parts of the lake.
And yet another good wintertime fishing spot in that part of the state is in the Columbia below Grand Coulee Dam. Known as Rufus Woods, anglers over the past several years have learned that sometimes really big triploid rainbows will congregate near the net pens in the upper part of the river, where they’ll bite bait and jigs.
Last year, the fishing in January and February at Rufus Woods was excellent. This year it has been a bit sporadic, but there are some fat rainbows being caught. As is the case with the Roosevelt triploids, the football-shaped trout being caught at Rufus Woods are excellent eating.
Looking out at the snow and fog, knowing it is literally freezing out there, I’m inclined to stay right here by the fire and open a good book. But that’s not what I’ll be doing. Some friends and I are headed to Lake Roosevelt in the morning. The chance to catch a trophy kokanee and some good-eating rainbow trout is just too hard to pass up.
• Rob Phillips is an award-winning freelance outdoor writer who has written the Northwest Sportsman column for over 30 years. He can be reached at rob1@spdandg.com.
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