Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service - We fish on Lake Chelan and other North Central Washington waters in year round comfort.
You catch them in COMFORT! Bring your family and/or friends out on our 24 foot Bayliner Ciera Express. For your comfort, it features: enclosed cabin; cabin heat; private/inside marine toilet; games and VCR for children; hot and cold running water available seasonally; stove; and a full line of safety gear. Families and couples are welcomed and encouraged to book our service. The boat accommodates a maximum of six.
Large parties are accommodated. We also offer lodging at our home through VacationinChelan.com for visitors to the Manson area.
Read the reports about this lake, which google said was only about a half hour from my house. So, since I wanted to get some good pictures I lugged my camera and my fishing vest an pole out in my car and drove out there. It's a beautiful place, but kinda creepy.
I got lost, even with my GPS. Some of the roads on my maps aren't in existence anymore, and some roads that are there aren't on my maps. So I was walking there, past the first gate. I got there just fine with only a few stops to take pictures. I have to merge them into pano and HDR so I don't have them ready for the post, but I'll post it eventually. It was really gorgeous. I ended up at the lake about 4:00 or something and it's really hard to get down to the lake.
But it's been fished before, there was some discarded line at the boat launch and stuff. It's a weird place, looks like off roaders go up there. There was a fishermens raft, which I've seen at some alpine lakes I've been to, the kind that you push around with a stick, or paddle. I didn't bring my raft, so I figured that there wasn't anybody around I'd be nice to it and not break anything and put it back where I found it. So I pushed it out a ways so that I could get in some good casts before I had to turn back because the sun was setting. Of course, right about as I was going to leave the fish started rising, and I got a huge take. Ripped the line off my reel for about 10 seconds, I couldn't set the hook on account of my drag was screeching, and the fish was off. Pretty sure he hjust grabbed my Wyld Edge spinner and ran with it and with the line coming off like that it doesn't matter how hard you set the hook if you can't even move the spinner from its jaws.
Anyways, about that time I realize I'd drifted off the spot I was in and wouldn't you know, I couldn't reach the bottom with my stick anymore. It was a disaster. I was too far out and couldn't get anywhere. I started to panic, paddled a bit with my hands and was still stranded drifting with the wind. I was about to strip down and pull it back to shore by swimming, but that would have been really cold. As I was about to do so, I decide I'd try one last thing: I put on a rusty old spoon with a treble hook, a big heavy one for steelhead, and attempted to cast back to shore. It was a long ways, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get a hold of the bank. But on the second attempt at throwing it as hard as I could with my pole I ended up snagged in some grass by the shore. Which was good. Next began the nerve wracking 20 minutes of trying to pull the stupid thing to shore with only four pound test ultra lite line. Argh. It was a mess. By the time I put the thing back where I found it I was tired and the sun had set.
So naturally on the way back I got lost. I missed a turn and ended up walking back through the church camp. It was really creepy. I felt like I was in friday the 13th or something. There were lights on in a couple of buildings and an old creepy dock. Nothing was moving or making any sound, it was creepy. On the way up I saw fresh cougar scat, which some of the other reports had mentioned, and that was also nerve wracking. I wouldn't want to let kids run around with that kinda stuff. So ahead of me I see these bright flashes, and an even louder bright noise making thing. Sparks were flying everywhere and it was even creepier.
as it turns out it was the groundskeeper for the camp, and I told him I was lost and asked where to go and he was really cool about it, gave me a ride back to the gate in his truck. Apparently guys get lost out there all the time, even the DNR guys. So he said people fish the lake often, and told me which roads to take back. I just got lost in the dark, my gps isn't that accurate.
Of all the crazy things that I do, sometimes I wonder. It's a really cool place and I'll probably hike back in. The camp guy said to watch out for meth labs and other stuff out there, apparently there was a high speed chase with the sherrifs out there too that crashed the gate. All in all it was a lot of work for about 15 casts. Spent too much time waiting for the right light for the picture I was taking. But there are some big ones in there I'm sure of it.
It was an adventure, for sure. I better say that the flashes were the guys welding the gate back together, and welding sparks are pretty scary when you're not expecting them in the middle of a pitch black forest. I really need to put more planning into stuff that I do, rather than realizing that I have free time half way through the day and heading out. Especially now that it's getting dark so early.
Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service - We fish on Lake Chelan and other North Central Washington waters in year round comfort.
You catch them in COMFORT! Bring your family and/or friends out on our 24 foot Bayliner Ciera Express. For your comfort, it features: enclosed cabin; cabin heat; private/inside marine toilet; games and VCR for children; hot and cold running water available seasonally; stove; and a full line of safety gear. Families and couples are welcomed and encouraged to book our service. The boat accommodates a maximum of six.
Large parties are accommodated. We also offer lodging at our home through VacationinChelan.com for visitors to the Manson area.
