Saturday could be an icy opening day for several Eastern Washington lakes

Anglers who avoid ice fishing look forward to spring, when their favorite lakes open up and they have a reason to dig out their pontoon boat or float tube.

This year, they may end up waiting a little longer to hit their favorite spot.

Saturday marks opening day for nearly two dozen lakes in the region, including local favorites like Amber, Coffeepot and Medical .

Or at least it’s opening day on paper.

Many of the lakes are still pretty well frozen, and this week’s relatively tropical turn is likely just enough to make walking on the ice spooky but not enough to thaw them out completely.

On Wednesday morning, Medical Lake was still full of ice when viewed from the north end, although there were a few spots with standing water. At the edges, the ice was thin and starting to fade.

Farther south, Amber Lake had slivers of open water, but it was still too iced up for anyone to think about launching a boat or float tube. An angler standing at the launch wouldn’t be able to cast more than a few feet.

That’s to be expected this time of year, said Chris Donley, the Spokane-based fish program manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“It’s not abnormal that we have a March 1 opener with ice,” Donley said.

He added that ice has been on those lakes on March 1 in about half the years in his career. Lakes farther south, such as in the Tucannon drainage, may be ice-free, he said.

Guessing the conditions without seeing the lake is a good way to be wrong, but the weather forecast can provide some clues.

“Two things I watch for is whether it stays above freezing at night and strong winds,” said Jerry McBride, a Spokane angler and member of the Inland Empire Fly Fishing Club.

Spokane got strong winds on Tuesday. Temperatures have been rising, but nights are still hovering close to freezing.

The right combination can make the thawing process go pretty fast. McBride used to live on Deer Lake, and he said there were years when all the ice would thaw out in a single day.

Darc Knobel, owner of the Desert Fly Angler in Ephrata, said Dry Falls and Lenore lakes in Grant County were still locked up with ice this week. But he thinks the ice will come off relatively quickly – at Lenore, for example, he’s seen open water within the past three weeks.

“It’s going to happen,” Knobel said. “It’s close.”

A few other lakes in the area, such as Lenice and Nunnally, may be clear already, he noted.

His area is also a good place for fly anglers to roll the dice – Rocky Ford Creek is always clear, ice-free and full of fat rainbow trout.

“If the lakes are frozen when they come here, they’ve always got that as a plan B,” Knobel said.