I had a great finish to my week. I went along on a trip to Lake Chelan, and man, it was sure great to be back out on the water.

I haven’t been on the water since late December, so when my niece Ellie Coen called and invited me to go fishing, I said yes please! I met her crew, who she frequently fishes with at the State Park on Sunday, and we took off looking for lake trout and kings. This same crew had fished Lake Chelan recently and had a great day. They caught a bunch of lake trout, including a couple of real whoppers and a small king. 

We ran down lake from the State Park and I suggested that we try the “hump” or Mack Island just below the tip of Wapato Point. Skipper Justin Whitman and Kellen Drake ran out the rods while I located the fishing area. There were fish here, too. We would mark two or three at a time on the screen, but they weren’t very hungry. We finally did get a fish on and Addie Sangster pulled it in. We then ran a line from the tip of Wapato down to Rocky Point and got a bunch of hits but no hookups—except one. Emme Tucker cranked this one in. Emme and her Mom Ellie are this week’s photo. Gosh it was nice to be out on the water. Thanks everyone for having me along.

When we made a pit stop at Mill Bay to use the restrooms, there was an angler who was just coming off the water. He had been out fishing for kokanee up lake, and he said it was terrific. He was fishing the area above Mitchell Creek and found excellent numbers of kokanee. 

I noticed that there were several trucks with trailers parked at the State Park when we launched and there were even more at Mill Bay. However, we didn’t spot anyone fishing below Mill Bay. Everyone was fishing up lake looking for kokanee and it sounds like they were finding them. I am eager to get up there myself. Earlier this winter I made just one trip to Chelan for kokanee and, although we didn’t get a whole bunch of them, I was impressed that the majority of our fish were 12-inchers. 

While fishing through the summer and fall at the middle net pens on Rufus Woods Reservoir this past year, I watched the progress of the construction on the new boat ramp. The ramp is at the site of the jointly managed public access area on the Colville Indian Reservation. Anglers are allowed to fish here with either a Washington State Fishing license or a Colville Tribal fishing license. This has been an extremely popular site with bank fisherman over the years. A couple of years ago work was completed on an RV park with full hook ups, a camping area and two heated restrooms with showers. What was to be included in the final phase of the construction was a new boat launch. The WDFW was able to acquire the funding needed to build the ramp and work was completed over this past summer and fall. Access to this site had been closed to non-tribal members, due to COVID concerns of the Colville Tribe. The closure was extended through January 1st of this year. I just learned that the closure has been extended again, until further notice. Fishing licenses to non-tribal members for reservation waters will not be sold. 

I ran into a friend at the local grocery store, and he said that he was ready to try Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee, for ice fishing, but the recent warm weather and rain made the ice unstable. It made me think that this is about the time of the year when people get a serious itch to go fish through the ice. Many of the lakes that first get a solid layer of ice are up in Okanogan County, so I called the folks at North 40 Outfitters in Omak. Many of the lakes had a pretty good thickness of ice, until just recently, when the weather warmed, and the snow they were getting turned to rain. That made conditions very iffy. It will be a while before popular lakes like Davis, Patterson and Leader will be safe again. However, Bonaparte Lake has enough ice to allow for fishing, and Sidley Lake, way up north, should be safe enough as well. It is a good idea to call ahead to learn what you can about ice conditions before heading out to your favorite lake in the winter. Also, check the regs to see if there are any special rules on the lake too. 

Last September, when returning from a trip to Lake Coeur d’ Alene, my wife and I stopped at the watercraft inspection station as we entered Washington from Idaho. We were greeted by a technician that quickly inspected and passed our boat and we even got a special treat. On duty that day was Puddles, a Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Police dog, that has had special training. Puddles, handler Sergeant Taylor explained, can actually sniff out the zebra and quagga mussels that these inspection stations are looking for. These invasive species have caused incredible damage in the mid-West, and the Western states have established these watercraft inspection stations to prevent the spread of these devastating species to our region. 

Last year, the WDFW inspected over 32,000 watercraft. Almost one third of the boats came from waters in other states that are known to be infested with aquatic species that pose a threat to Washington waterways. Staff checks revealed 25 watercraft that were found to be infested carrying invasive mussels. It has been estimated that it could cost as much as $100 million each year to keep our power and water infrastructure running, if infested by these mussels, and cause potentially catastrophic ecological damage.

These check stations obviously do important work, and due to the efficiency, friendly and informative nature of the staff, it makes stopping here more of a pleasant experience than an inconvenience. 

It looks like we are going to have another week of weather with temperatures in the high 30s and even 40s. I hope to take advantage of this mild winter, so far, and spend more time out in the boat!