by Jason Brooks, February 15, 2014

Manson, WA-Small waves were splashing over the bow as I rowed into the wind just to the outside of the cattails on the north side of Roses Lake. Each time I made a pass along the shoreline a fish grabbed my f2 flatfish and I was now just one fish shy of my limit. Finally the rod tip bent over and I dropped the oars and grabbed the rod, reeling in the last fish.

I grew up fishing this lake and back when it was a winter only fishery, opening on December 1st and closing on March 31st it was very popular with the locals. Every weekend there would be dozens of people sitting on buckets huddled around holes in the ice. But by the time the ice was gone, so were the locals. It seems they had their fill by March. Then several years ago the lake became a year around season, and now there is no rush of fisherman on December 1st. My dad fished it every day for a week straight this past January, when the ice was thick and solid. He told me that he saw two other people one day and another person on another day, but other than that, he pretty much had the lake to himself. He also limited on 10 to 12 inch rainbows in less than 2 hours each day he went out. Roses Lake has seemed to have gone into hiding but make no mistake, it is still great fishing.

Just before it iced over this past winter it received plants of “catchable” sized rainbows. Then the ice froze over and the lake simply went back to sleep after the plantings. Though ice fishing was off and on this winter including the ice holding into February the fisherman for the most part left the lake alone. Ice began to thin in mid-February, and the planted rainbows had time to get ready for the spring thaw.

Now that it’s March it’s time to head back to Roses. The fish in this lake become very active, especially towards the end of the month when the water temps start rising and bugs start hatching. Since the lake receives trout plants throughout the year there always seems to be enough fish to make it worth the time to wet a line.

Access: Roses Lake is 7 miles from the town of Chelan near the small town of Manson with a marked WDFW launch and access site. There is ample parking and some shore access as well for anglers that don’t have boats. The launch was improved a few years ago and in good shape. It should be noted that this is the only public access to the lake as the rest of the shoreline is private property.

Where to fish: Right out in front of the boat launch and off of the two fingers at the public access site has always produced fish. But if you have a boat there are two other areas that I highly recommend. First is a cove to the Northwest end of the lake, or to the far side and to the left if from the boat launch facing the lake. This cove area is shallow compared to the center of the lake and the water temps can warm up a little bit here which makes for better bug activity and hungry fish.

The second area is to far east shoreline, or to the far right of the lake from the boat launch. This area is also shallow and has a sandy bottom which heats up the water in the early spring. There is also a spring area to the north side of the eastern shore where fresh water enters the lake from the aquifer. As the ice comes off of the lake with the oxygen deprived water this area always does well in March. Of course my favorite area is actually trolling between the far east shore and the cove to the northwest along the northern shoreline just outside of the cattails.

What to use: This is your standard trout lake and you can’t go wrong soaking powerbait, or Pautske Ball’s O Fire with a marshmallow on the bottom. Be ready if you’re a bait plunker as there are also some big catfish in the lake that might gobble up your offering and give you a heck of a surprise when you’re expecting a planter rainbow! But as the lakes surface starts to warm my number one way to fish Roses in March was to troll a Carey Special. I tied these myself, and liked green bodies or orange bodies for the fly. You can use a 5 to 7 weight fly rod with slow sinking line, or just a few small split shot two feet in front of the fly with a spinning outfit. Of course if there was anyone joining me for the day I always made sure we had at least one f2 flatfish in fluorescent orange or green frog pattern being trolled behind the boat. You can use motors on the lake, but I like to row as it seems that the slower you go the more fish you catch.

Fly-fishing too: Just to the west of the boat launch is a little stream that outflows from Roses Lake to Dry Lake. And Dry Lake is full of warm water fish, such as bass, crappie, bluegills and sunfish. These species always seem to sneak their way into Roses and this part of the lake is ideal for float tubing with a fly rod. There are also tiger trout in Roses and even a few browns left over from years ago when the WDFW tried curtailing the sunfish and invasive panfish that can spawn in lakes by using these predators. If the trout fishing is slow then you can try poppers or leach patterns for the panfish.

Other options: If you are planning a trip to the Chelan valley to give this fishery a try, don’t forget a few other options as well. Dry Lake right next to Roses is a bass fisherman’s dream. This lake is very shallow and by summer the weeds have overtaken the lake, but in March the weeds aren’t as bad and it’s very fishable. There is no improved launch at Dry Lake, but a small car topper boat works great here. There are some big bass in there as well as good eating crappie and other panfish.

Of course Lake Chelan is also an option that you cannot overlook. March is prime time for the lakers as they are in their spawning cycle. It seems the bigger fish come up from the depths or from up lake to the down lake area (little is known where the big fish hang out since the lake is so big and deep). It’s a bit early to target the kokanee which are heading to the east end of the lake, but it seems this migration and the spawning of the Mackinaw make for a chance to break the state record for Lake Trout. Try off of the end of Wapato Point where the lake goes from 150 feet to over 250 feet, either jigging 1 oz. white grub jigs tipped with pike minnow or herring strips or troll a U20 flatfish along the bottom off of downriggers. If you’re not equipped for the deep water, the smallmouth bass are found along the docks in the town of Chelan. The water is clear enough that you can often sight fish for the bass.