I was able to check out two different types of fishing over the weekend. First I tried my luck fishing for smallmouth bass at Crescent Bar. On Sunday, my wife Eileen and I visited Jameson, Park and Blue Lakes to see how anglers were doing for trout at this time during the season.

There were a number of boats scattered out on the flats off the channel below the cliffs at Crescent Bar. I looked around here for a while, cast crank baits mostly, before heading over to fish the shale slides along channel. Things were different on this particular trip. It took a while for the smallmouth to wake up. It wasn’t until about 11 o’clock that the first fish hit a trolled crankbait. Then it was game on. These fish hit so hard you’d think you were stuck on the bottom, until you saw the deep throbs of your rod tip. What I like about fishing here is that the fish are much larger, on average, than what I am used to catching at other areas that I fish. All but two of the dozen landed and released weighed between 2 and 3 pounds or better. I measured one of the bigger ones and it was 16 inches long. All the fish appeared to be pre-spawn and very heavy bodied.

The other thing that is different about fishing here is that trolling along the shore is very effective. Trying to keep the boat twenty or thirty feet off the rocky bank, the bottom will vary from about 20 to 15 feet, with a few humps that come up to 10 feet. You have to keep any eye on the depth sounder. When you see one of these humps, you can steer to the deeper water and since you have 50 or more feet of line out, you can avoid hanging up—most of the time. The plugs I tried ranged from the trusty perch pattern Rapala Shad Raps to the Crawdad patterned Flicker Shad. The one the fish liked the best was a Bomber Flat A in a bright green with black stripes.

There was very good flow through the channel last Saturday and the water temperature is still a bit chilly. It started out at 52 degrees in the morning and rose to only 54 in the afternoon. I think that the bite will be better when the water temperature rises slightly. I want to plan another trip or two down there. The bass fishing can be outstanding, and Grant PUD has made several significant improvements in the launching and parking facilities here. They also opened a new RV Park and camping area a couple of years ago.

On Sunday, my wife Eileen and I almost cancelled our planned road trip to visit a few of the lakes in the region. It had been raining hard in Leavenworth most of weekend and the forecast didn’t look good for the day. I thought it would be interesting to see how many anglers would be willing to stick it out in these poor conditions, so we loaded up and headed out mid-Sunday morning.

Our first stop was at Jameson Lake. As expected the crowd was thin, but there were several parties of anglers along the shore here. When we first arrived, I spotted an angler putting a fish in a bucket, so we stopped to see how he was doing. He offered to show me the fish he just caught and then pulled two big rainbow out of the bucket, so fresh they were still flopping. Both of the fish were very heavy bodied and must have weighed between 2 and 3 pounds. I also noticed that his group was filling a nice stringer of trout that were this year’s plants. They were the 11- to 13-inch fish that are common in our area lakes the first year they are added to the water. Fishing has been particularly good this season, since we were able to fish at Jameson. There were very few fish taken in the late season last year, due to unseasonable chilly weather, and pressure has been very light this spring. The result is that there are lots of carryover rainbow in the lake along with the usual abundant numbers of planted rainbow. This week’s photo is of the two trout caught at Jameson.

Just tossing Power Bait from the shore accounts for the majority of trout taken by anglers at Jameson. I would recommend that people that are new to the lake do the same. I would also suggest that they use a ½-ounce slip sinker and a three or four foot leader. This way the trout doesn’t feel the weight when they gobble the bait and it really helps getting more hookups.

Jameson Lake has been a top destination for anglers for decades. It has always provided very good trout fishing. Another reason for its popularity, and particularly important given the health concerns we are living with right now, is that there is very good shore access. There is plenty of room to spread out.

My wife and I try to stop in at Jameson every opening weekend, and not just to check out the fishing. Jack’s Resort, which is at the east end of the lake, serves the best pies we have ever tasted. We were able to get a couple of slices while we were there and learned that the kitchen is serving hot food for takeout, and they plan to offer some of their famous prime rib dinners later this season. The RV park is open, and they mentioned that people should call ahead for availability, as there are times when private parties take up all the spaces.

When we pulled off of Highway 2 to drive to Jameson, I mentioned to my wife that I was glad that it had been raining. It would keep the dust down. To our surprise the road has been graded and oiled and it’s like driving on blacktop now.

On our way out of town we passed a couple of people we knew, so we stopped and rolled down the window to say hi. The husband said he had fished Lake Chelan earlier in the week. He and his partner got their limits of kokanee, and he landed an 8-pound Chinook on his kokanee gear! Now that would make your day.

I am headed for Chelan as soon as I can!