Like many anglers, I had the best sockeye season ever on Lake Wenatchee. The number of fish I put in my boat this season was phenomenal. I have never seen so many windy days on the lake as I did this season, but in spite of that people put limit after limit of sockeye in their boats. It’s time to move on, though, and start taking advantage of some of the other great fishing opportunities in the region.

When sockeye fishing is as good as it is on Lake Wenatchee, it’s hard to quit. It’s time though. I need to get on with some video projects and some other fisheries that I enjoy in the summer. I had spectacular fishing, as did many others this year. The incredible return of sockeye made for a season to remember. I put triple digit numbers of fish in the boat and am on my third punch card. It was a wonderful experience, taking so many of my family out fishing and seeing the fun people had when on my boat. I should thank them for getting up so early and getting knocked around on the many windy days that we had this year on the lake. I also want thank my good friend Rollie who has provided me with space on his dock. It made it so easy for me to get folks out on the water. My thanks goes out to Jim Passage who always helps me move my boat to the State Park launch and to Tom Verschuren who helped me move my boat and trailer home. Next stop— Banks Lake!

I have mentioned that I have done better fishing for sockeye on Lake Wenatchee when there was some wind. There can be too much, though. Last Tuesday it was blowing when we left the dock and got worse. It can be tough trying to manage the rods and keep your speed right in these conditions. Last Wednesday was different. There was some wind, but not enough to force me to start the kicker in reverse to keep our speed down. Tom Verschuren and I got limits of sockeye and found that we could get fish on a variety of hook colors. We got them on black hooks, bright pink and bright orange. We didn’t bother with the double dodger setup on the downriggers either. We got fish at the top end and then just continued down the lake out in the middle and had our limits by the time we were across from the dock where we launch. The fish are still in good shape, but there was one in our catch that was washed out. Better get your fish now while they are worth keeping. The change from bright red meat to orange and then white happens fast.

When James Lebow asked me to join him last Monday for a trip to the Brewster Pool to do some sockeye fishing I said yes. James has a soft spot in his fishing heart for the Pool and hadn’t been up there yet this season. Michael Ericksen also came along, and we left the launch in Brewster in pitch dark and were on the fishing grounds very early. We had our punch cards ready to go but it turned out we hardly needed them. James brought a banana for lunch, and I will blame our poor luck on that. We only got one fish in the cooler and lost one because of a bad knot I had tied. We’ll shift our focus to fishing for kings off of Crab Creek below Wanapum Dam. Last Tuesday I had a trip planned with Mike McKee and a couple of his friends from the Bellingham area for sockeye fishing on Lake Wenatchee. I had been warned it would be windy. It was blowing when we left the dock and was barely fishable at the top end. We did get a nice flurry and landed a double and a couple more fish before we gave up.

I really like fishing Banks Lake this time of year, and I really like doing it with my daughter Whitney. I introduced her to smallmouth bass fishing on Banks many years ago, and she absolutely loves it. I also introduced her to walleye fishing on the big reservoir, and she has had incredible luck. I took her to the Million Dollar Mile, and her first walleye was 26 inches long and her second was a 24 incher. The following year she landed a 30 inch walleye in the Punch Bowl. I joked that I was going to rent her out to some tournament anglers I knew. They could use someone with her luck in their boat! When we fish Banks we stop fishing for walleye or bass and take a swim. She was thrilled to see that the new Smoker Craft Phantom I am driving has a ladder on the off shore bracket. Getting into the boat after a swim could be a struggle in the other boats. If the walleye fishing is slow, we can always catch a bunch of smallmouth on Banks. Whether we catch fish or not, we have a great time on Banks. This week’s photo is of Whitney with her whopper walleye.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife welcomes back its original invasive species mussel-sniffing dog, Puddles, after her retirement a year ago. Puddles, along side with her handler, Sgt. Pam Taylor, has rejoined the mission through Mussel Dogs, a company specializing in training dogs to detect invasive mussels on watercraft. The WDFW has contracted them as “roving” inspectors” to monitor Lake Roosevelt for zebra and quagga mussels. My wife and I have met Puddles and Pam a couple of times when returning from Idaho at the inspection station outside of Spokane. I have posed for several photos with Pam and Puddles there and at invasive species information events in Wenatchee and Leavenworth. Welcome back, you two, and thanks for the good work keeping these invasive species out of Washington’s waters.

There are some terrific fisheries underway right now and some others coming up very soon. Like I said, I want to try Banks Lake for walleye and smallmouth bass, and maybe even some whitefish. Potholes should also be great for walleye, bass and crappie. Fall salmon fishing isn’t that far off, with fisheries opening on the Columbia the first of September. I hope to see you out there!