MAY 4, 2007

Ice out was declared on April 23rd and that can only mean one thing, slow fishing! Historically the fishing comes to an almost complete stop for roughly seven days after ice out and that is exactly what we have been seeing. Very few fish were caught last week that we had heard of. But the light is bright at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday there were fish once again being caught off the docks and I witnessed several being netted into a few boats. One gentleman I talked to was slamming them on emerald shiners (salmon do eat more than just smelt).

The trout ponds are now open and with water temps climbing up into the 50's the fishing should be great. I caught my first mayfly the other day, a dark colored hendrickson. It will still be a few weeks, depending on weather, before any reliable mayfly hatches happen though. In the mean time I will be drifting small pieces of worm along the bottom of my favorite trout streams. In years past I have caught some big trout out of small streams early in the season.

The Winni-Derby is the next big event on the calendar and we are gearing up for this much anticipated weekend. People will be trolling live smelt, DB Smelt, Top Guns, flutter spoons and a whole host of other lures. The number one question that I get is "what lure works the best?" Everyone has a different opinion and all I can say is use what you believe in.

Good Luck Fishing!