The weather has cleared throughout most of the region, and although snow is not in the forecast for several days, temperatures continue to be very chilly. It has been cold enough to put a cap of ice on many of the popular ice fishing lakes, but it still isn’t thick enough to be considered safe for fishing. One lake that always freezes early is Bonaparte Lake, which is located east and a bit north of Tonasket. This lake is at over 3,500 feet, that’s why it freezes so early. Ice anglers like Bonaparte because it offers good fishing for a variety of species. It has a good population of rainbow trout and kokanee. It is also known to produce good catches of tiger trout, and some of these get very big, over 10 pounds. There will be cabins available to rent this winter at Bonaparte Lake Resort, and the restaurant at Bonaparte Lake Resort will open sometime in January. Curlew Lake is at 2,300 feet in elevation, as is Patterson, so it takes a little longer for these to have safe ice on them. The same is true at Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee, which is at about 2,000 feet.