The sockeye fishing on Lake Wenatchee has been phenomenal. I got limits every day last week and got them early enough to be off the water before it got too hot. The quality of the fish is holding up surprisingly well, so I plan to do more trips. If you haven’t tried the sockeye fishing on Lake Wenatchee better get to it soon.

A couple of months ago Christine Lee, who works at Bob Feil Boats and Motors, asked me if I could take her and her mother fishing. She would be visiting from Alberta, Canada in mid-August, and loves to fish. She said it didn’t matter what we fished for, she just wanted to catch something. I put them in my calendar for August 15th and told her that where we went and what we fished for would be determined then. I was keeping my fingers crossed that there would be a good fishery going at that time. Turns out that the sockeye fishing on Lake Wenatchee was going great, so that’s where we went.

Christine and her mother Brenda Wallace met me at Coles Corner at 5:30 and followed me to the boat. It was a glorious day to be on the lake. No wind and not too many boats on the water. We left the dock just after 6:00 and it didn’t take us long to get started catching fish. They did a great job hauling them in, and they were having a ball. At 9:15, when we needed just one more fish to have all three of our limits, we got a triple! We landed all three of them and released two dandy sockeye. Brenda’s visit was timed perfectly for a great day of fishing.

Last Monday was a particularly special day of sockeye fishing for me. My brothers, Rick, and Lane Graybill were on board with me and my niece, Lane’s daughter Sophie. It is not often that I get the chance to fish with this many of my family members. and we were all excited. Sophie would be going off to college soon, so I didn’t know when we would get another chance to go fishing.

Usually, when you want to show people a great day of fishing, it doesn’t work out that way. However, the fishing gods were smiling on us, and we were kept busy all morning, landing sockeye after sockeye on Lake Wenatchee. Better yet, the winds that had plagued my fishing trips for some days this season were absent. We took turns reeling fish in, bonking and unhooking them, and loading them in the cooler. There was plenty of excitement as the rods in the holders bounced or the ones off the back end dipped under the stress of a fish on the line. There was plenty of laughter, too, as we celebrated netting another fish, or shared stories of past fishing trips or other adventures. There were 16 sockeye in the cooler when I turned the boat towards the dock. It was a day we will all remember for a long time.

Rob Phillips, the outdoor writer for the Yakima Herald and I had a hard time getting a date to fish Lake Wenatchee for sockeye that worked for both of us. We tried two or three times and had to change the date. I was about to give up when Sunday the 13th turned out to be the lucky day. Rob left Yakima at 3 a.m. to meet me at Coles Corner and he followed me to where the boat was docked. I was amazed to see the lake flat calm. I had fished in heavy wind for several days, and this was going to be a pleasure. I had no idea how good it was going to be. When I dropped the gear I didn’t get all four rods out before Rob was cranking in a fish. Of course, Rob and both have the two pole endorsement. But in fact, we never got all four rods out. We had rods leaning against the gunnels, fish flopping on the deck, and it was wild. Rob netted a fish for me and announced that we were done. I looked at my watch and it was 6:40. I have never put two limits of sockeye in the boat in such a short time. That was some fun fishing. This week’s photo is of Rob with a bright sockeye taken on our trip.

Rob is not only an outdoor writer, but he has also published a series of mysteries, all based on the fictional “adventures” of Luke McCain. In these books McCain is a northeastern Washington Fish and Wildlife police officer, and in addition to doing his duties of checking fishing licenses and tracking down poachers, he gets involved in everything from kidnapping to serial killer investigations. These are real page turners and are especially fun reading for those of us who are familiar with the placenames and areas where the thrillers take place. I read the first book and immediately ordered the rest of the books that were available through Amazon books. According to Phillips, sales are very brisk, through Amazon and other outlets that carry the books. He presented me with the fifth book in the series when we were done fishing, and another one that he just finished, that is what he calls more of a memoir. It is called A Dog Life Well Lived and is his recollection of his time spent with his hunting dogs over the years. I believe this book is also available through Amazon books, and upland bird and pheasant hunters will really appreciate this one.

I had a trip planned to Omak Lake later this month with my good friend Buell Hawkins. I introduced Buell and his son Brad to fishing for Lahatan cutthroat on this lake many years ago, and he was going to bring his grandkids along. However, since the sockeye fishing is so good I changed our plans to go to Lake Wenatchee. We’ll do Omak Lake at another time. Perhaps when the weather is a bit cooler.

I am going to be looking for my next fishing adventures beyond Lake Wenatchee soon. I am hearing that there are still kokanee in the lower Basin on Lake Chelan. I like to have a good supply of these tasty fish in my freezer. My wife loves the crispy fish cakes I make with kokanee from Lake Chelan.