Hey, Zen--

If I know more secret lakes on the east side it's because I'm older than dirt (or at least it feels that way today), and I spent more time fishing than working when I lived on the east side.

If you feel deprived by those April 1 openings, take a good look at some of the larger lakes in the area. Moses has a bunch of big rainbows, but I doubt you'll find many over 10. Banks, like I said, does have big fish also. I would look at Rock really hard, and then there are some others in the area. One I know of is a March opener, and the trout in it can get pretty big.

I've heard of Quesnel as a source of big trout and also Osoyoos. There are some lakes in the Okanogan I want to fish, Whitestone being one of them, that have some real potential. I hope to get over that way this spring and summer, but I was also hoping to head up to Alaska for an extended trip as well. And then I wanted to do a bunch of flyfishing in the salt this year and work on salmon as well as the SRC.

There are days when I wish I was twins, so I could tie the junior to the desk and go fishing myself. Today, for example, looks really good, and only yesterday a buddy of mine lost what he says was either the largest searun he'd ever hooked or a steelhead on a little topwater fly. But no, someone has to work, right? I'm thinking later this week I might hit that area to see if I can help ID the fish. I REALLY need to get out on the water.

KJ