The kokanee bite is way behind what it was last year at this time, but it should get started soon. Very soon, I hope. I am going to fish Lake Roosevelt with Austin Moser on Thursday. When I last talked to Austin he was getting a few fish, and was seeing signs that made him think that things were coming together for improved kokanee fishing. One of these signs was the slicks that indicated the masses of daphnia that the kokanee feed on in the winter. If the kokanee aren’t around on Thursday I know we’ll get plenty of rainbow. According to Lou Nevismal at Coulee Playland, anglers that troll anything orange are catching lots of them. Speaking of rainbow, one of the most overlooked fisheries in our region is the rainbow fishing on Banks Lake. Anglers catch trout well over 20 inches from the shore at Coulee City, the dike at the top end of the lake and even off the dock at Coulee Playland. I remember Gordon Steinmetz telling me that if you troll black Wooly Buggers at the south end you can catch some whoppers. Another place to find whopper rainbow right now is on Rufus Woods. Fishing has picked up below the nets pens at the upper end of the reservoir and at Brandts Landing above the dam.