I am really looking forward to this weekend.  My daughter is coming over from Seattle and we are going to celebrate Father’s Day Weekend doing some fishing.  She has always loved going to Banks Lake and has caught some really nice walleye, including a 30-incher she released a couple of years ago.  Her next favorite is fishing for kokanee on Lake Chelan.  We hope to work that into our schedule too.  She wants to stock her freezer with these great eating fish and she usually takes home a good amount to enjoy through the summer.  

The buzz on the street about what to expect for salmon fishing this summer is getting louder.  As the usual July 1st opening day approaches, I get more and more questions and I thought I would share my best guess on what is going to unfold for this season.  If the summer run fish show up as expected, which should be close to what we saw last year, we will have the same fisheries at about the same time as last year.  That means we will be fishing off the mouth of the Entiat, Chelan Falls and in the Brewster Pool.  The season will open late, but we should be able to keep one hatchery Chinook.  The real bright spot is the forecast for sockeye.  They are already coming over Bonneville Dam in numbers that support the forecasts.  When I looked at the dam counts last week sockeye are coming at a rate that is almost four times what it was last year at this time, and above the ten year average.  This not only means we will likely be fishing for sockeye on the Columbia River this year, or very possibly Lake Wenatchee.  Better get your supplies.  Sockeye gear will go fast this year.

I have done a few videos over the years about how to rig for sockeye including one that features tips from three different guides.  I will be sure to get them posted on the Fishing TV Page of my website: www.fishingmagician.com, well in advance to the opening of the sockeye season this year.  

If you like catching king salmon, you don’t need to wait until the Columbia River opens.  Fishing for kings has been very good this year on Lake Chelan.  I get a lot of reports of people catching them on their kokanee gear, and those who target kings are consistently getting them.  I talked to my brother Rick, who guided for kings for many years on Lake Chelan, and he shared some tips.  He recommends fishing during low light periods, early mornings and evenings.  Anglers have been catching these kings throughout the winter and spring from the Yacht Club down to the lower basin.  The fish are following the schools of kokanee so below Wapato Point is a good place to troll.  

Start at 30 to 60 feet, then start dropping deeper as the day brightens.  If you use a dodger, use 30 inches of leader.  If you troll a flasher, use a 40-inch leader.  Put your baits at least 100 feet behind the boat.  This is part due to the very clear water in Lake Chelan.  Also, if you mark a single fish high in the water column, it is likely a king.  You will have time to raise or lower you bait to put it in front of the fish.  Small plug cut herring work great.  Keep your baits at least 20 feet off the bottom, otherwise it is very likely that you will hook a lake trout.  They are also feeding on the schools of kokanee.  I dropped my bait too low on a recent kokanee trip on Lake Chelan a while back, and sure enough I landed a 10-pound lake trout.  By the way, my buddy took it home and put it in his smoker.  He shared it with us on our last walleye trip to Banks Lake and it was delicious.  Rick said last year the king fishing was the best in 20 years, and this year is as good or better.  It is definitely worth a try in the morning, then go kokanee fishing!  Most people agree that the salmon from Lake Chelan are the best eating on the planet.  These fish come from very clean, cold water and feed heavily on the Mysis shrimp in the lake.  The have the deepest red meat and sweetest flavor of any salmon you’ll ever catch.  The photo in this week’s column is of salmon I got a few years ago.  It hit my kokanee gear right off Lakeside Park in about 25 feet of water.

I got a call from my neighbor Greer Swoboda the other morning.  She had gone fishing with some friends off the dock at Fish Lake and had caught some fish.  She brought a few home but didn’t know how to “cut them up”.  So, I grabbed a knife out of the drawer and walked over there.  When I arrived, I discovered they were perch.  My knife wasn’t suited for this purpose, but her Dad brought out a knife that he had purchased for preparing the fish that I have often given them.  It was a very nice, high end fillet knife.  I went to work, demonstrating how to fillet a couple of perch and then turned it over to Greer.  She was a natural and produced some very good fillets and even skinned them.  Now she is on the way to taking care of her catches in the future.  It reminded me that my very first video was called “The Easiest Way to Clean a Trout”.  If you Google this it is the first or second one to come up on the Net.  Since 2009 it has received over 225,000 views on You Tube, and I have had dozens of comments from people who appreciated this simple video.  

The weather forecast for next week calls for some very warm temperatures.  It is supposed to be near 90 degrees when we plan to fish Banks Lake.  We have to really slather on the sunscreen on days like that.  I also added an accessory to the boat that has been a life saver on hot days.  It is a portable mister.  I found mine at the Home Depot store in Wenatchee and you can find them on-line, too.  

I hope you all have a great Father’s Day weekend.  I know I will.  My daughter and I will be spending some quality time out on the boat!