Sorry for the late entry, between work, my kid’s SAT testing and prom; life has been a bit crazy. After very long dry spell we finally got to go fishing. This report summarizes our entire Chelan trip. Thursday afternoon arriving at Lake Shore in Chelan we set up camp and while I had planned to launch the boat for a little exploratory research, I accidentally took a nap instead. All for the better because as the afternoon/evening progressed, various Washingtonlakes members began arriving and there were many meet-n-greet opportunities at hand.
Early Friday morning we launched at Old Mill Park and headed towards Rocky Point. Gear down we started the drill, running various dodger/lure combinations before I settled in on a white dodger/pink and orange hoochie combo on one side of the boat and a painted wonder bread/custom tied shrimp fly on the other side. Eventually we were running 4 different setups on stacked rods. Trolling at 1.2-1.7 MPH we fished 12’-110’ on the cable and chased meter marks (few and far between) to put 3 of the 6 or 7 kokanee we hooked on ice. Knowing that wind was likely in the afternoon we decided to move in shallow and fish the underrated rainbow bite. Pulling 3” Rapalas the bite was on immediately and after about an hour or so which included multiple doubles, we had 15 quality rainbow to 22” to add to our kokanee and pulled out of the water just as the afternoon wind kicked up. Our fish were all taken while trolling at 1.2 MPH with 100’ of 6# fluorocarbon between the rod tip and the lure. The rainbow were all chrome bright, feisty and had pink meat. Back at camp we were fortunate and had the opportunity to meet a continuous stream of Washington Lakes members and finally add a face to the name.
Rolling out of bed Saturday morning we were met with a stiff breeze and the gang decided to stay at camp. Fishing solo for the day I arrived at the Old Mill Park launch around 5-5:15 or so to greet WashingtonLakes members as they prepared to launch. As my hat blew across the parking lot I advised the smaller boats to come up with a different plan. About 6:00 or so with most of the WL boaters on their way to somewhere I launched the boat and headed towards the Monument area. Gear down it became apparent that my plan was not going to work. With the narrows and the large bluff the wind was coming from everywhere at once and trolling in any direction was impossible. Due to the many individual meter marks, the clouds of shrimp on the sounder in the area and the fact that I had a double right off the bat I stuck it out until common sense got the better of me and I headed further into the basin where at least the wind was coming from only one direction. Again gear down and instant wham-o I had a double going and ended up losing both. Net at the ready and gear down again I get back to business I fight the wind trying to troll up wind for best boat control. At that point I was running two rigs, a mystic shrimp pattern that I tied behind a UV dodger and a wonder bread dodger followed by a trimmed orange n cerise hoochie. I had a third hit on the shrimp fly and as I was changing out the hoochie rig to a shrimp rig the thing got hit before I got it in the clip. Another fish lost and scratching my head I started running both rigs in the top 20 feet of water. I guess that I was ringing the kokanee dinner bell because for an hour or so I was having fairly consistent action. With the wind my trolling speed was very inconsistent but generally I was running from .08-2.00 mph. I put another 2 or 3 fish in the boat but I had 10 or 12 lost fish or drive buys so with the wind I was a busy boy. Finally deciding the pull the plug on the fishing for the day ( I had a meal to prepare) I reached over the back of the boat…no not that plug but I did secure the boat for a drenching ride back up the lake. Arriving back at the boat ramp soaking wet I watched the wind fueled chaos at the ramp for a few moments and decide to beach the boat and just go get the trailer for a drive on trip out of the water. With the wind and swell blowing across the floats the launch was a zoo but there were no major mishaps.
Back at camp I was in peddle to the metal mode, I had a dinner to put out. WashingtonLakes had the shelter beginning at 2:00 pm and with Zack’s (Steelhead 360) help I was moving the camp kitchen in on the second ring of the bell. Kitchen set up, food prep done and the main courses in work I settled into the routine of feeding 60-70 of my new best friends. A huge round of applause to Karen and Aubriel for assuring we had a continuous supply freshly fried fish for the fish tacos. Steve (Mav) and Tony (bassplayer17) were instrumental in assuring that we were more or less on schedule and helped with the food prep. Tony did an awesome job as the official flank slicer and kept the line moving smoothly. Many thanks are in order for the incredible variety of snacks, sides and deserts. Everyone did an awesome job and the success of the event was fueled in part by everyone’s culinary creativity. Again thank you to everyone for your enthusiastic participation. Once we were all well fed the sponsors presentations were informative and the swag appreciated, as said before, thanks are in order. The event concluded with a WashingtonLakes raffle where an assortment of gifts went to the lucky few. Thanks to the WashingtonLakes team and sponsors for hosting this awesome event.
Sunday morning back to fishing and although still windy the wind was much better. I was solo and the fishing was more of the same with a steady but slow pick on the kokanee. I was really putting my new kokanee fly through the paces so any success was celebrated. I wrapped the morning up with another shot at the quality rainbow fishing and was not disappointed. Running small Rapalas rigged with single hooks, a limit of 5 very nice rainbow were retained with many more caught and released up to number 5 going on ice.
Monday morning was our last day on the water and we thought we would try our hand at catching lake trout. We worked meter marks in water 250’ to about 300’ deep between Wapato Point and the Monument using a squid rig baited with either pike minnow or sardine. We had a number of releases from the clip and 4 fish on solid but lost all of them somewhere around half way to the boat. We decided to bail on the lakers and fill our rainbow trout possession limits before we headed back to the monument area to explore the various schools of kokanee we saw on the meter while hunting lakers earlier. Our rainbow detour was successful and in short order we put 10 additional rainbow to 3.3 pounds in the box. Back across the lake to hunt kokanee I ran a swing blade followed by a small orange hoochie and a dodger/shrimp fly combo. Chasing meter marks the swing blade blade/hoochie combo saw a lot of action and accounted for 3 fish during our short trip to the Monument area. A bulk of the action was at 75-110’ of cable.
The second annual WashingtonLakes Kokanee event was a blast with lots of food, fellowship and fishing. Although the kokanee fishing was challenging at times many participants caught their personal best with kokanee up to 18” or so. It should be noted that kokanee are not the only game in town. For our boat the rainbow trout fishing was stellar for fish to 3 ½ pounds. All the rainbows we caught had rich pink meat and were delicious, both on the grill and smoked. We grilled enough for dinner one night and ran 3 batches through the smoker. We also caught smallmouth and Lake Chelan offers Lake trout and Chinook salmon. Kokanee or no kokanee Lake Chelan is an awesome multi-species fishery and I look forward to my next opportunity to explore it’s fishery.
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I am sorry that I couldn't make it. But I am missing dead fish pics. Were there that few caught?
