We could not have asked for better weather for this weekend’s fishing Get Together. Sunny skies, mild winds, and perfect temps in the 70s.

I got to fish on Friday late morning, Saturday, and Sunday. Saturday was a treat for me getting to fish with Loren Dunbar of Hevi-Beads and Gary Gordon of Fish with Gary. We mixed and matched gear, and ran up to six lines (two planer boards!) which made for some fun line management. The fishing was kind of tough this trip. We just couldn’t lock on to a successful pattern or depth, although Sunday was definitely better. I can’t really say the fish were targeting any one particular lure, we caught fish on everything. All in all we scratched out ten fish for the weekend and lost about the same if not more. Size was down for us as well, averaging 12" only. For us the best action was definitely the 50-60 foot range, trolling speed 1.4 to 1.7mph. I did hear of other guys getting fish deeper again. People reported success with our entire sponsor’s gear.

Our Guide Sponsors had better luck than we did (to be expected), with reports of upwards of 20-30 fish boat catches. Those guys really know how to fish the lake. It was very generous of the guides to be offering ½ price trips for the day. I hope you were one of the lucky ones to get a seat. Thanks to Northwest Sportfishing, Okanogan Valley Guide Service, Slammin’ Salmon Guide Service, Big Wally’s Guide Service, and Darrell and Dad’s Family Guide Service for their participation.

The 2015 Lake Chelan pot luck Get Together was a huge success. Lots of member participation, around 75 people came to the pot luck and/or fished with this year’s Guide Sponsors. Plenty of free gear was handed out for members to try out from Mack’s Lure, Hevi-Beads, Columbia River Knife and Tool, Fish with Gary, Moneymaker Products, Kekeda Tackle, Wannafishalure, and Density Tackle. If you got some free sponsor gear please take a moment to contact them and let them know how much you appreciated their support. It’s always fun to get free gear!

I’d like to thank our kitchen crew, RSEAS and his family, along with others that gave them a hand. The dinner was as fantastic as I knew it would be. RSEAS has already told me he has ideas for next year! Our members also brought lots of great pot luck items. There was way more food than we could finish!

Big Bass Dez and Fishnislife got together to reprise past events casting contests, always a crowd pleaser and fun to show off some casting skills. Thanks to fellow NWFR crew Aaron, Casandra, Rob, and Hillary for their help. And most of all, thank you to my wife JoAnn for helping me keep sane the past few months leading up to the event, and for her organizational skills during the day.

Lance Merz of Mack’s Lure offered me an excellent suggestion which we will be taking. Next year the event will take place at the State Park. This will give us more privacy, and allow people to moor their boats, or launch the boats right in front of the most productive areas on the lower end of the lake.

So if you missed this year’s Get Together I hope you’ll mark it on the calendar for next year, Saturday April 30th, 2016. See you there!

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