For many years March 1st was the unofficial start of the trout fishing season in Central Washington. There are several lakes in Grant County that open on this date, but in recent years most of these lakes were still covered with ice. The popular Quincy Trout Derby on Burke Lake was postponed, and this year isn’t scheduled to take place until March 24th. Last year I drove down to check on the conditions at Burke and Quincy lakes and was surprised to see a bunch of anglers fishing on the ice at Burke. One of my followers texted me to say that this used to be a regular thing back in the day. While many of the lakes in Grant County where anglers begin their trout fishing season are iced up, others are clearing off. I checked on Moses Lake last week and found most of the lake ice free. I drove down to Blue Heron Park and checked on the boat launch. I could see evidence that at least one boat had launched there earlier in the day. There is open water off the I-90 Bridge, and soon anglers will be fishing for perch on this part of the lake.