My wife and enjoyed a terrific grand finale to our steelhead fishing for the year. Closing at the end of March the season was a real dandy. Anglers are finding fish very aggressive in all the open waters, including the Methow, Okanogan and upper Columbia. Next on the angling agenda is the “April Fools” Opener, meaning all the lakes in the Columbia Basin, primarily between Potholes Reservoir and Othello. Looking at the forecast for these lakes, I see no surprises. A few of the smaller lakes were rehabbed two years ago and should be very good, and once again Upper Hampton Lake should be the standout for larger rainbow. This opener is much more widely celebrated than the one in March, mainly because frozen water isn’t an issue. The lakes are scattered over a large area and there is plenty of elbow room for those who come over and camp out. Anglers have a choice of not only good trout fishing, but some very good spinyray fishing in these lakes. I plan to give the “walk-in” lakes a good try this year. It always makes sense to me that when you put in a little extra effort the rewards can be huge.