Eastern Washington Fishing Report 03.08.18

EASTERN WASHINGTON FISHING REPORT 12.27.17

Omak Lake

The weather has improved a lot. I have been getting good reports from the few anglers who have been hitting the lake in the last few days. The large pods of Lahontans are not yet cruising the shoreline, but there are enough just out where the water deepens down to 10 feet to keep you casting. Most of the anglers I have talked to are reporting hooking up on over a dozen fish each day. The most popular streamers are, the #6 olive Sculpinator, and the #2 tan or olive El Sculpito. Indicator anglers are having good success with the #8 black or purple TFP Balanced Squirrel Leech. A #14 or 12 red Snow Cone Chironomid is picking a few fish up also. I would recommend bringing your favorite 6 weight medium-fast to fast-action rod. If minnows and streamer patterns are your choice, I would bring one reel spooled up with an intermediate line and another spooled up with a Type 3 sinking tip or full sinking line. Nicholson (Beer Can) Beach and Cowpie Beach are both open to fishing. According to the tribal fishing pamphlet Mission is closed to non-tribal member fishing but is open to launching your boat. With each passing week it is only going to get better at Omak Lake.

Lenice Lake

I couldn’t make it down to Lenice for the March 1 opener. So, I reached out to a couple of fellow fly anglers that I knew would be going out to the lake. I was envious of their report. They said, until the wind picked up they were having a real good day on the water. Most of the fish were in the 14"-17" range. Most were taken on leech patterns or small buggers. They picked a couple up on #14-16 red or black Snow Cones. The depth they fished ranged from 15' up to 5'. A 5 weight or 6 weight medium-to fast-action rod will serve you best at Lenice. Type 3 full sinking lines handle the leech and buggers, and an indicator line will cover while fishing chironomids. My friends said they had to try a few different retrieves for the leech and buggers but found a slow 6" to 10" retrieve worked best. They fished a #10 black or black combination color Semi Seal Leech or a Semi Seal Leech with a marabou tail. A #12 or #10 bugger in black or white did the trick, too. All the trout were rainbows; the brown and tiger trout eluded them. With nicer weather coming in the weeks ahead I can only guess that fishing will improve. My anglers said there were a number of other anglers on the water, so expect company when you get there.

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