There is a lot to be excited about for the salmon season in our region this year. If you follow the dam counts you will see that there is an exceptional return of summer run Chinook salmon coming our way, and possibly a record number of sockeye. So many sockeye are coming that the daily limit is four.Checking the counts at Bonneville Dam, there are already over 50,000 summer salmon passed the dam, and 400,000 sockeye. Of course, as you check the counts at the dams closer or in our region the numbers fall off sharply. The fish are on the way but not here yet. When you look at Priest Rapids you will find that about 10,000 summer salmon have passed this dam last week and about 30,000 sockeye. The busiest salmon fishing areas up here are at Chelan Falls and Brewster, and if you look at the counts at Rocky Reach summer run, salmon numbers were just at 3,000 and sockeye over 3,000. All of this will change very soon. Anglers that fished the July 1st opener were frustrated by very high water and extremely swift currents. This impacted success in most all locations. Those who were able to control their boats and avoid others did well below Wanapum Dam, which is typical, but I can only imagine how difficult it was to navigate below the dam. This area is known for big rolling waves when flows are heavy. I haven’t seen exact numbers, but this is a good area for Chinook in the very early season and sockeye fishing is usually excellent.

The number of Chinook caught at Chelan Falls was way off the great catches usually recorded here on the opener. Chelan Falls has become extremely popular due to the high ratio of hatchery fish landed here, thanks to the net pen releases in the Chelan River. People will run up to Wells Dam and try for sockeye after they have their kings or have given up on getting them. The area below Wells is also known for big rollers and some people actually get sea sick trying to fish here. It’s a great spot for sockeye, though.

There aren’t many summer runs or sockeye in the Brewster Pool yet, and due to the cold spring we’ve had, the thermal barrier hasn’t set up. However, the Okanogan River is flooding and dumping mud into the Columbia River. I saw a photo and there is a distinct line of mud against the clear water of the Columbia. This may serve as another kind of barrier and keep the salmon in the Brewster Pool.

With Columbia River flows at extremes, it is great to have an app that gives you up to date river currents. The Chelan County PUD has created a free app that has the flows at the Entiat River, Lake Chelan Dam, Rock Island Dam and Rocky Reach Dam. This is a great way to see what you can expect before you head out for the river. To get the free app go to the Home Page of my website at www.fishingmagician.com and click on the “cell phone” ad on the right hand side of the page. I think many anglers are going to focus on the areas above the dams until the heavy currents subside. Places like above Rocky Reach have been popular in the past for kings and sockeye. It seems that the kings are more likely to bite than the sockeye above the dams, but when they are passed through by the thousands, anglers should be able to hook a few. I want to remind salmon anglers that the Columbia River from Wells Dam to the Highway 173 Bridge in Brewster is closed to fishing until July 16th. There are two big salmon derbies in our region every year, and the first one is coming up in about two weeks. It’s the 9th Annual Wenatchee Salmon Derby and will be held on July 15th and 16th. There is over $7500 in cash and prizes to be given away at this popular local derby. The river flows should settle down in time for the derby and with the number of fish coming up the Columbia River, catches should be excellent. Learn more about the derby by going to the web site at www.wenatcheesalmonderby.com. I can remember sitting down with the original organizers of the Brewster Salmon Derby, talking about whether it would be worth the time to put one on. Now, 16 years later, it is the biggest salmon derby in Eastern Washington. It has the highest success rate of any salmon derby in the state. More cash and prizes are handed out at this one than any other derby, too. To register and get your tickets, go to my website: fishingmagician.com, and click on the Brewster Derby logo. Come join the fun. I hope to see you there.With the rivers in our region raging at high velocities, instead of getting after summer salmon and sockeye I chose the placid waters of Banks Lake to do my fishing on July 1st. A good friend told me about an epic day he had there just a couple of days earlier, when he landed 29 walleye. I wanted to get in on that action. Tom Verschuren and I launched at Northrup and started fishing at an area just below Steamboat Rock. We trolled a variety of lures at different depths and only landed one smallmouth bass. I tried Barker Flats for a while and then we went bass fishing. This had happened to me more than once before. I get a great report on walleye fishing and by the time I get there the fish have disappeared. That’s walleye fishing. We did have some fun catching smallmouth bass on Banks. I caught fish on everything from Senkos to crank baits to topwater lures. It is really fun to see smallmouth come up and smack a topwater plug. This week’s photo was taken on Banks.

If salmon fishing isn’t your bag, there are plenty of other opportunities in the region. Since we still have fairly cool weather, trout fishing is holding up on our area lakes. Kokanee fishing is very good this time of year on Lake Chelan. It’s a good time to fish for smallmouth bass on Chelan, too.