Anglers are having very good success on the Icicle River for coho, and anglers down stream on the Columbia are getting a shot at coho now, too. Kokanee are keeping people busy on Lake Chelan, and I hope to get in on that action sometime soon.

I stopped by the Icicle River last Saturday to see what was going on, and I found a bunch of happy anglers. There was a group fishing from the handicapped platform, and they already had four fish on the bank. While I visited with them I saw an angler land a fish at the boat launch below us.

Success is very high right now on the Icicle, and I want to remind anglers that the coho fishery will remain open until the end of November. I also got word that fishing for Chinook and coho salmon is open now at the Ringgold Hatchery. There were 250,000 coho released from the facility in 2020 and there are enough fish returning to allow for a fishery. Anglers can retain two adults per day here. The popular steelhead fishery here is closed due to the low returns again this year. Anglers will want to get on this right away. It will only be open for coho and Chinook through November 15th. I am going to switch my efforts to fishing for kokanee at Lake Chelan and bank fishing for rainbow on Lake Roosevelt and Rufus Woods Reservoir. This week’s photo was taken on the Icicle River.

I often talk about the fact that we have many clear and sunny days here in the region in the fall and winter. This past week they were hard to find. I did get out on Lake Chelan when we had some sun and calm water earlier in the week, but the balance of the week was very wet. I looked back to see what I was doing in November in years past and found some photos of fishing out of Keller for rainbow.

I will troll Lake Roosevelt until I have to button up the boat for the winter, and then I switch to fishing from shore. I have had very good success catching rainbow of 16 to 22 inches from the shore at Spring Canyon and Keller. At Spring Canyon, I walk down to the beach below the swimming area and cast from there. At Keller, I drive along the shore to the east of the marina to a spot that is fairly close to the water. I use a sliding sinker rig and put a large pinch of marshmallow on the hook to float a shrimp with the head removed. The quality of the triploid rainbow we catch is outstanding.
One of my favorite places to fish in the fall is Antlion Lake. I used to fish this lake when I lived in Chelan. It’s located in the hills above Wapato Lake, loaded with brown trout, and I have found them very active in November. On Tuesday I drove up there and had the lake to myself. I was pleased to see trout dimpling the surface when I arrived, and I knew I would be able to catch a few. I took both a spinning rod, and a fly rod. Years ago, a Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer, Graham Grant, now retired, told me to try a Kastmaster here. Cast it out and let it drop and flutter, he advised—and it worked great then, and it worked again on Tuesday. They didn’t like the rainbow pattern one I tried first, but they whacked the blue and chrome. I got out my fly rod and tied on a large bullethead leech. They would chase it to the shore but wouldn’t commit. The trout did like a brown and green one, with barbell eyes. Antlion is still loaded with brown trout, and they are very active right now.
There is limited bank access on Antlion. Years ago, the level of lake came up and flooded the brush on the shoreline. There are a couple of spots on the east shore that are good casting platforms, and you can see one on the point across the way from here. There is also good access on the dike at the bottom end of the lake.

Antlion is best fished from a pontoon boat or small boat or pram. There is a spot to launch in the middle of the lake near a parking area. I once fished here from a float tube in November. I caught a lot of fish casting a fly, but didn’t last long in the chilly water, even with heavy gauge neoprene waders.

I reported last week that I had a pretty good day on Lake Chelan for kokanee. Even with a late start we got 13 kokanee and a nice cutthroat fishing below Rocky Point. I plan to get out again very soon, and this time I am going to try further up on Chelan. I talked to a couple of guys at the Mill Bay boat launch, and they were getting limits of kokanee.

The best areas were above Mitchell Creek, as far up lake as 25 Mile Creek. I am hoping that when I get on Chelan next time the waters will be calm enough to allow me to run up there. I have had good success fishing up there in the fall and winter in the past, but if the wind comes up it can mean a slow bumpy ride back down to the State Park and Mill Bay launches.

There are a couple off places that I like to fish in the winter from the shore. I have been fishing from the bank at Spring Canyon and Keller on Lake Roosevelt for a few years and have had good success most of the time. It is not unusual to get limits of rainbow from these locations. I also want to try from the shore at the middle net pens on Rufus Woods. I have the access pass for the Colville Reservation so I can fish here this season.

Whatever I do this coming week, I will be sure to share what happens on my website, Facebook Page and right here in the Exchange.