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Hey,
Just wondering if anybody else is getting out. If so, I'd love to hear about it!
This warm January weather is not my favorite, but I've gotten out a couple times.
Found some nice brookies and some fat finless freddies on Summit Lake near Omak:
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And I finally added the grass pickerel (the smallest member of the pike family) to my list at Eloika Lake which was pretty exciting actually:
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I wish Banks Lake would freeze, but I sort of doubt it'll happen at this point unless we get a real cold snap.
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That grass pickerel is a neat looking fish. How big do they get?
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I don't think they get much bigger than a foot. I used to catch them in Connecticut when I was a kid. Chain pickerel were better as they would often break 20". I would catch them quite a bit while largemouth fishing.
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Yeah, grass pickerel don't get much more than a foot or so like you said. I wasn't after a "big" one either, I just wanted to add the species to my list. My buddy caught three of them that day before I finally caught one just before dark. Was getting pretty nervous. It's about a 3 hour drive over there for me. So I was glad to finally check that one off. And yes it probably takes a special kind of crazy to drive 6 hrs round trip to try and catch a 7 inch fish. I won't tell you how many times I tried before this trip either lol [crazy][laugh]
Chain Pickerel is the last one I need now, then I'll have all the Esocids, or at least all the North American ones anyway...
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It kind of makes you wonder why somebody bothered bringing grass pickerel all the way out there since they don't get very big. I was pretty surprised to see rock bass and pumpkinseed in quite a few places in Washington. Personally I'm happy about it since they're fish I have fond memories of from my childhood, but they seem like odd choices.
I will give Washington that, there are a lot more opportunities for different species compared to northern Utah/southeast Idaho. I've got a bunch of fish to add to my list that I've never had a chance to catch before. All the saltwater ones and the salmon will be new. Plus I've never caught shad, warmouth or coastal cutthroat, so I'll add them to the list. Oh and Dolly Varden and Bull Trout are on my list as well. I'm excited to start exploring soon.
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Nice! Sounds like you'll have your work cut out for you. It'll be fun for sure!
If you figure out how/where to get a warmouth, I'd love to hear about it. I still need to catch that one.
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Anyone ice fishing yet this year or is it all open water still?
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Sadly I've only been out once, and it was over a month ago! It's been warm here, though I think some of the higher elevation lakes are probably ok still.
Not much to show for my ice season so far.
You?
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Is that a brook trout? If so, good color, how long was it?
I've been out 5 times so far tomorrow will be 6. We have caught some nice browns up to 23" and some decent perch, up to 11" but nothing great so far.
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I hear there are triploid kokanee in Lake Roosevelt, have you ever fished there or is it too far to drive from your location?
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There are both hatchery triploid and wild kokanee in Roosevelt. The hatchery ones seem to run smaller from what I've seen, maybe 12-14 inches or so. the wild ones get really nice. I've seen plenty over 20 inches, but they're harder to come by in the last couple years thogh.
I'm afraid I can't be of too much help fishing for them though. I'm not much of an open water kokanee fisherman. They've got a pretty religious following though.
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Have you done much ice fishing there?
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Not on Roosevelt. That never freezes except for a few of the bays/arms etc.
Have a couple other Kokanee ice fishing lakes though.
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