ce fishing is gaining in popularity, and with the extreme cold winter there are some lakes drawing lots of attention.

The Northwest Ice Fishing Festival is Saturday at Sidley Lake (3,700-foot elevation), east of Oroville and just south of the Canadian border.

"There should be some good fishing for mostly rainbow trout, and we drew almost 200 people last year," said Jeanette Lamont at the Eden Valley Guest Ranch in Oroville. "Two weeks ago the lake had 18 inches of ice on top of it, so I'm sure it is thicker than that now."

Other activities include dog-sledding demonstrations, arts and crafts, a fish seminar, breakfast and a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for Sitzmark Ski Area.

The grand prize for the derby's largest fish is a new canoe, plus many other prizes.

Registration opens at 7 a.m., and the derby is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $20 for adults, and $10 for youth 14 and under. Details: (509) 485-4002 or http://www.edenvalleyranch.net.

Fish Lake north of Leavenworth is another popular place to go ice fishing for a mix of trout and perch.

"Roses Lake has been productive for rainbows," said Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad's Family Guide Service. "They reported the action pretty steady at a fish every 15 or 20 minutes once you locate them."

Ice fishing can also be had at many Okanogan County lakes, including Rat near Brewster, and Big and Little Green near Omak. Davis Lake near Winthrop could be a good producer, and Patterson Lake has a mix of trout and perch.

Fishing reports

• Salmon in open marine areas: "Fishing was phenomenal during the [Roche Harbor] derby [last Friday and Saturday], and the total count was 141 chinook compared to 89 fish last year," said Tony Floor, director of fishing affair....Continued@URL... http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin...4&date=20080214