After a drive through the Yakima River Canyon, which had many deer, eagles, and wild sheep, I headed to Banks Lake. When I got there I felt kind of odd, given that there were no other people out there, on a Sunday afternoon. My trepidation about the ice went up when I saw only a couple of holes at the South end park launch area, with about an inch of powdery snow on the surface. Usually it has more holes than a patient of a manic acupuncturist. So, I did the sensible thing, and while standing on the dock, drilled a hole. 9" of ice. Hmmm... Went out a ways, and drilled another hole. Same thing. Went further, and while it thinned a couple of inches near the channel, it was certainly safe-looking to me.

Anyway, tried for perch with nary a nibble, so switched to trout gear: Worms on one pole and test trial new lures on the other. 2 of the new lures and one of the new colors paid off, and while the action was slow (6 fish in 3 hours), it was still fun. I didn't get any hits on the worm rig, which is unusual, even switching back and forth on the 4 holes I drilled in the fishing area. The weird thing to me was the fact that I had the whole area to myself. Not complaining. It was nice and quiet. Trout went from 16-19", and pretty fat. Tried an open water spot on the way home and caught an entire sculpin, almost 3" long! Him I caught on a worm.

romanfishing

2/1/2013 10:30:00 AM

How thick was the ice and how many trout were you able to catch?

fishinChristian

2/1/2013 10:55:00 AM

Info is in the report, but 6 trout and average 8" of ice. I finally got to put something in the "Ice Depth" category of the header! With this warmer weather it may not last long.

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