I hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Weekend. I tend to lay low on the major holidays and try to fish during the week. There is a lot less “drama” at the boat launches and more room on the water. There are a few places that my wife and I have found that have very little traffic, even on the big weekends.

The kokanee bite is very early on Lake Chelan. I saw two guide boats at the Apple Cup restaurant when I was entering town to fish for kokanee a while ago. It was about 7:30 a.m. and they were already having breakfast! So, last Friday, I picked up Tom Verschuren in Dryden at 5 a.m. and headed for Chelan. When we passed Chelan Shores on the way to Mill Bay launch, I had a hunch we were too late. There were at least 20 boats trolling on the lake, scattered from in front of Chelan Shores all the way over to Lakeside Park.

When we drove the boat down to the fishing area from Mill Bay and got everything rigged and in the water, I passed a boat and asked how he was doing. He said the bite was good at 5 a.m. but died after the first hour, maybe less, then the bite just died. Oh well, we were there and were picking up a fish every once in a long while. I was trolling my proven orange Kokabow Inferno and Orange Crush blades and Eagle hoochie and Ravisher spinners, and in the back of my mind I could hear Alan Greenhalgh, owner of Kokabow Fishing Tackle, telling me, “let the kokanee tell you what they want.” So, I made a radical change. I switched to a pink hoochie and a High Octane Pink Ice Tail Feather with a pink Osprey hoochie on one rod and that was what they wanted. That rod lit up. Lesson learned. It always pays to experiment, and sometimes I wait too long, depending on my favorite set ups to produce for me.

The next time I am on Chelan I will be trying different colors and speeds if the fishing is slow. I should have something among my Kokabow gear that will appeal to the kokanee. Also, I don’t think I will use my downriggers. The fish are already in shallow water, less than 50 feet, so I can just use lead ball rigs.

My good friend and fishing buddy of mine, Dennis Beich, wanted to fish for walleye at Banks Lake on Thursday, but I talked him into going to Moses Lake. Unfortunately, I got some bad intel about where to fish. We ran up to the north end expecting to run side planers on bottom bouncers in the shallows up there. However, we found the surface cluttered with weeds and reeds and fishing was really not possible.

We worked our way out of there and did get some action in front of the trees on the south shore. We were burning through the crawlers but not hooking anything. We made a pass on the flat above Connelly Park and got our baits picked off but weren’t really marking many fish. Finally, we ran across from the park and down to the point and I managed to hook a nice walleye. Then the wind picked up. It was blowing hard enough that we couldn’t troll into it. There were some very nasty clouds moving in, so we headed for the launch. It was a very near thing, but we didn’t get skunked. Next time I will let Dennis pick the destination. I know I can have better days on Moses Lake. The fish have dispersed after spawning and it is just a matter of finding them. This week’s photo is of the walleye we landed.

I have been checking on the fishing for spring Chinook on the Icicle River here in Leavenworth. It opened to fishing last week, but the flows were extremely heavy and there really weren’t that many fish in the river. Success remains low. I talked to Joe Zelinski, a fish checker for the WDFW on Tuesday, and he said that maybe only one or two fish a day are being caught. The counts have improved though. As of last Sunday, over 5,000 adult spring Chinook had passed over Rock Island Dam, with over 800 a day now making their way over the dam. Anglers are optimistic about the season. Somewhere between 7,500 and 11,000 springers are expected to return to the Icicle this year. This is similar to last year’s numbers when there was very good fishing. The water remains high on the river and is not expected to drop with continued warm weather. The visibility is good, and the hope is that it doesn’t drop and clear too soon, making fishing a challenge. One angler I spoke with was planning a trip to Banks Lake for walleye. Chelan kokanee is another good option. There is always another great fishery to try until the Icicle picks up. Fishing on the Icicle offers one of the most scenic floats that you can find anywhere. Even if you don’t get a fish you will enjoy a terrific day.

There is another pike minnow derby coming up in June. This one is the 31st annual East Wenatchee Rotary Club’s event. It is supported by Chelan County PUD and there is over $10,000 in cash and prizes to be awarded at this derby. It is scheduled for June 17th and 18th. Anglers can weigh in their catches at both the Wenatchee River Front Boat launch in downtown Wenatchee and at the Orondo River Park launch in Orondo. Tickets and rules are available at Hooked on Toys in Wenatchee or Bob Feil Boats and Motors and Bi-Mart in East Wenatchee.

As you know, this time of year water flows on the Columbia River can change radically. If you are a recreational boater or an angler that is planning to spend a day on the Columbia near Rock Island Dam or Rocky Reach dam you will want to get the Currents App, available through Chelan County PUD. It will give you the flows at these two dams. It could make the difference between a fun day or a frustrating or really bad day on the water. It’s free and you can download it to your Smart phone. You will find it by going to www.chelanpud.org.