My first bass trip to Chelan this year, attempting to see what the situation is. I covered lots of ground... some old spots and some new spots. I found 9 bass, some on cranks and some drop-shotting. I didn't see any beds - empty or occupied. The water temp was mostly 56-57. Water level was 1093 +/-, and rising. After covering some ground, it was about noon - the typical time for smallmouth to shutdown, regardless of the time of year, at least in my experience. So, I decided to try for some lakers to see what they are like this time of year. I started at some waypoints from last winter, and flexed from there. I didn't have to go far...in two hours, I had 9 in the box, lost 6, and missed well over a dozen bites. Drop shot worked again. There was one spot I caught 3 in a row, as fast as I could net them and get the bait back to the bottom. The biggest went just over 7 pounds, shown in the picture, although not very well since I was alone. We're sure looking forward to more veggie soup from this new batch of lakers! It will make up for the sorry soul who backed into my boat while I was docked and taking out. People who don't know the difference between forward and reverse should not be operating a boat.

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