I had another great week of fishing for sockeye on Lake Wenatchee.  There was a lull in the bite when a storm passed through and temperatures dropped significantly, but it did come back.  The last time I checked the counts over Tumwater Dam it had hit 102,847.  No wonder anglers have enjoyed one of the best seasons in years—including me!

I almost cancelled my planned fishing trip to Lake Wenatchee last Friday, as the forecast was for a pretty windy day.  But I really wanted to get my friend Eric Granstrom out for some sockeye, so we took a chance.  When we arrived, the wind was blowing alright, but I thought if we could get our fish early we would miss the worst of it.  I figured I would have to troll into the wind to keep my speed down to the 1 mph I wanted, so I ran down to West Point and turned up lake.  I had a very slow day last Wednesday and wasn’t sure what to expect.  Turned out the bite was back on.  We had two fish in the box by the time we passed Rollie Schmitten’s home.  We continued trolling against an increasing breeze and catching fish at a good pace.  Well before we reached the top end we punched our last fish and headed for the dock.  Three red hooks was the ticket. The wind was blowing very hard now, making docking difficult, and it was threatening rain as well.  We left the dock with a bright rainbow over the white-capped water.  

I didn’t have anyone scheduled for last Sunday, so I called Eric Granstrom to see if he would like another shot at the sockeye on Lake Wenatchee.  You bet, he said.  We met at the Safeway store in Leavenworth at 4:30 a.m. and headed for the lake.  On Sunday the lake was flat calm.  I pointed the Smoker Craft toward West Point as we set up the gear and joined a good group of boat trolling here.  We landed three fish before heading up the lake.  The bite wasn’t as good as it had been.  We talked to other anglers who were having mixed success.  Some were fishing very deep to get their fish, and others were using our same methods to get their fish.  My brother Rick texted me to say that the sockeye anglers he talked to at Hooked on Toys were struggling last Sunday.  Some of them were getting a few and others didn’t get any fish at all.  

Eric and I trolled all the way up to the top end of the lake and picked up two more fish.  As I was trolling over toward Glacier View Campground I looked back and noticed a small boat that seemed to be having a problem.  There were two anglers in a small Livingston and one of them was using the net to paddle.  We pulled our gear and ran over to check on them.  Their electric motor had pooped out and they took our offer to tow them to shore.  After we dropped them off we decided to pack it in.  It was getting hot, and we had five fish to clean before heading home.  This week’s photo is of Eric from our last trip.

The Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishery has been specular.  I took Dennis Beich out last Sunday and took my brother Rick the following day and we finished getting our limits by 7 a.m.  There are still sockeye making their way up the Wenatchee River, and I don’t know when the fishing will slow down.  I am sure there will be at least another good week of fishing.  So far I have only missed one day due to high winds.  I had been fishing under clear and sunny skies without a breath of wind for the most part.  I wanted to let people know that some of our area rivers have finally dropped enough to allow for safe wading in most areas, and I plan to dust off my fishing rod and hit the upper Icicle soon.  This little creek is loaded with small rainbow.  The upper Entiat should be wadable, and this is another good one for small rainbow, cutthroat, and brook trout.  The Methow should be producing good catches of rainbow and cutthroat now as well.  Another favorite of mine is the Kettle River, east of Republic.  I have had a great time catching rainbow trout and brown trout on this stream.

As often happens to me, I had two conversations with folks who saw me pull into a local market.  The first one reminded me that we had fly fished upper Icicle Creek with his wife, as he got the trip with me at a Trout Unlimited auction.  I remembered the day and how much we all enjoyed catching the small rainbow.  The other person had a question about catching Chinook in the Wenatchee River.  He has caught a lot of kings in rivers in Alaska, but he couldn’t find his favorite lure here.  He had tried using coon shrimp, but they just don’t stay on the hook very well.  He also had used large spinners without success.  I suggested that he try eggs.  You can attach them to your hook with an “egg loop” and they will hold up for many casts.  Brother Rick and I had talked about fishing for sockeye in the Wenatchee River and agreed that deep eddies would be a place to look for them.  They will often rest in this kind of water.  We agreed that drifting a coon shrimp below a bobber would be a good way to get them, too.

The weather forecast is for hot and sunny weather, and I am going to try to make as many trips as possible to Lake Wenatchee.  I intend to take full advantage of this year’s abundance of sockeye and the fact that I have a spot on a dock on the lake.  

Next on my agenda will be a visit to Omak Lake for big cutthroat, and there are a couple of other lakes I would like to try that I haven’t visited for a few years, like Buffalo Lake, another Colville Tribal Lake.  Hope to see you out there!