This report is for JoAnn and my last trip to Lake Chelan this year for kokanee. It’s been a unexpected and fun spring, and we have enjoyed the lake’s beauty and great kokanee fishing.

We arrived Saturday afternoon and had lines down around 3:30pm for the evening bite. Running the standard gear, 4 rods, stacked 20 feet apart on each downrigger. Trolling speeds in the 1.0-1.4 mph range. Shrimp on the gear, and we used a variety of sling blades or small dodgers, and my wedding rings or hoochie rigs.

At 4:05pm fish #1 came to the net, a nice 17” kok at 90 feet. We got two more fish over the next two hours and called it an evening at 6pm. Would have stayed out later but had evening activities planned, plus, the wind went from dead calm to breezy/white caps so it was an easy decision to call it good.

The next day we had planned on making it a full day, and we sure did! Started at 5:30am, rods running, and fished 4:40pm. We started at Monument, and got one/lost one. As the morning breeze calmed down JoAnn and I decided to run uplake to explore some areas we had not fished, namely up to the Yacht Club. Once up there got a tip from Anton Jones to work the north shore of this area (Stink Creek) and got three, and lost one – on a double, our first since coming early April. Things slowed down and we decided to again go exploring. We worked our way down lake, trolling along, just hoping for random fish. Just north of the State Park we got a couple rainbow trout, at 40 and 60 feet, which surprised me.

After fishing this location we took a break to help a stranded boat with two guys fishing, towing them to the State Park launch. We then fired up the big motor and ran all the way down to Rocky Point. We fished this area, over to the Blue Roofed Condos, and headed back to Wapato Point. By this time the afternoon bite started kicking into gear and saved our day, adding a few more to the cooler. We called it a day at 4:40pm, but again, I would say with the bite starting up we could have caught more. In any case, ended the day with seven kokanee and two rainbow. It was off to visit with Anton Jones and his wife, have dinner, and enjoy their company at the Fisherman’s Hideaway.

And so, our Lake Chelan kokanee adventures have come to an end. We enjoyed some of the best kokanee fishing we’ve ever experienced, and caught the biggest kokanee of our lives. But it’s time to explore new lakes and new adventures. Our two day break down:

(all gear was tipped with shrimp and corn)

Saturday:
4:05pm – 90 ft, orange hoochie, 17”
4:30 =- 90 ft, ornage hoochie, 13 1/3”
5:55 – 60 ft, purple wedding ring, 14 ½”

Sunday:

Monument Area

5:45am – 55 ft, orange hoochie, 16 ½”
6:30 – 40 ft, red/pink hoochie, lost
8:45 – 45 ft, red/pink hoochie, 18”

Stink Creek Area

8:45 – 45 ft, red/pink hoochie, 18”
9:05 – DOUBLE – 90 ft, orange hoochie, lost, 65 ft, orange hoochie, 16”
9:28 – 70 ft, purple wedding ring, 70 ft, 14”

State Park Area

12:10 – 49 ft, red/pink hoochie, rainbow, 13”
12:25 – 60 ft, bubble gum hoochie, rainbow, 13 ½”

Rocky Point Area

2:45 – 70 ft, amber wedding ring, lost
3:20 – 70 ft, amber wedding ring, 15”
4:35 – 90 ft, orange hoochie, 15 ½”
4:40 – 75 ft, orange hoochie, 17”

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