I made my first trip of the year to Omak Lake, and it makes me wonder why it took me so long. After a couple of tough fishing outings recently with not a lot of action, it was terrific to have a busy day on the water.

I fished Potholes Reservoir with two guys, and we only landed three walleye. I didn’t land a single fish, and I can’t remember when I fished Potholes and didn’t get at least one walleye. Then I made a trip to Moses Lake to try for big perch and that was pretty much a bust. I was ready to do some catching.

I had scheduled a trip to Omak Lake, and it came together last Thursday and Friday. We had excellent conditions to fish for Lahontan cutthroat. I picked up Buell Hawkins and Greg Meinzer in Wenatchee and we arrived at the lake after a two-hour drive. I need to tell you that the launch on Beer Can Beach is very rough, but I was able to launch my 20-foot Smoker Craft. Don’t try this without 4-wheel drive. We drove down to the south end of the lake, and when we arrived, there were fish dimpling the surface all around us, and the screen on the fish finder was full of fish. I put two of my favorite plugs out on downriggers at 70 and 80 feet deep, and flatlined an M2 Flatfish on one rod out the back and a Coho Killer on the other. This week’s photo is of me and Buell on Omak Lake.

When the fish started biting we were busy. We had doubles and triples, and we were having a blast. We fished three and half hours Thursday afternoon and when we hit 30 fish on the counter we headed for the launch. On Friday we fished for another three hours and landed 43. I put a Coyote spoon on one of the rods and tried some different plugs and found a large Bandit deadly. We measured several fish and found they averaged 18 inches.

I want to remind you that Omak Lake is a Colville Reservation Lake and requires a Tribal Access permit and fishing license and launch permit. I buy an annual Access Permit and fishing license every year because it is like having a membership to a private fishing club. You can buy a one-day Access Permit and fishing license. All licenses and permits are available online. This is the link to the Colville Fish and Wildlife License and Permits page: https://Colville.nagfa.net/online/.

I got a photo from Mike McKee showing a catch of perch on Moses Lake that was amazing. He and Joe Moriarty were trolling for walleye at the south end of the lake and came across some whopper perch. Mike threw out a marker and then put his boat on Stop Lock with his bow mount and they went to work. They changed from chunks of worm to pieces of perch meat and landed their limits in a couple of hours. The perch they kept ranged in size from 9 to 13 inches. I immediately begged a ride to their hot spot and joined them on Sunday. We launched at Peninsula Park and ran down to the outlet. All we caught were small smallmouth bass. We searched all over but couldn’t find the schools of perch that they fished on the last trip. We looked all the way up to the I-90 Bridge and finally put a few in the boat on the north side of the bridge. This is a perfect example of “should have been there yesterday”, and when you want to show someone some great fishing the fish just don’t cooperate.

I have been checking on the Icicle River almost daily. We had some rain in the past week, and I was hoping to see some coho showing up. Finally, last Saturday when I pulled into the access area off East Leavenworth Road below the National Fish Hatchery, I saw some other rigs parked there. There were people fishing off the handicapped platform and others on the trail above it. The anglers hadn’t had any luck, but they had seen fish in the river. Rain continues to fall in Leavenworth, off and on, and although the river hasn’t come up significantly, it has risen enough to pull coho in. Over 13,000 coho have passed over Rock Island Dam and only 6,200 over Rocky Reach, so there should be a bunch of fish moving up the Wenatchee to the Icicle very soon.

The limit is two coho per day this season, and no bait or scent is allowed. Most people cast twitching jigs, and I would use a very light weight jig right now. Black, or black and purple are favorites. Blue Fox spinners will also work for aggressive coho.

My next fishing trip will most likely be to Lake Chelan. I have heard some reports of really good fishing for kokanee going on right now. Not only are kokanee being caught in limit numbers, but they are also running bigger than other years. Most of the fish are 12 to 14 inches, with a good number of them in the 14-inch category. A couple of good areas to look for kokanee is off the Blue Roofs, on the south side of the lake in the lower basin. There are some big schools of fish being marked here. I have also heard that the area up lake from Manson Bay off Willow Point is another good spot to look for kokanee.

I have had some great days in the fall on Lake Chelan fishing for kokanee in the past. I will run the Copper Series Kokabow blades and will start with the copper and orange color, but experiment. I will run an orange hoochie behind the blade with a 14 to 16-inch leader this time of year. Another favorite of mine is the Ravisher spinner. I always bait my hooks with white shoepeg corn and douse the corn with Graybills Guide formula Kokanee or Kraw Anise flavors.

There is some good fishing available on area lakes now, too, and many of them close at the end of October. Man, there is a lot to do. I hope to see you out there!