I know that a lot of folks have their boats tucked away for the winter, but I try to keep mine ready until there is just too much snow to deal with. This time of year, I try to find some holes in the clouds to plan my fishing trips.

I am really tired of the rain we are getting here in Leavenworth. I know, I know, we need it, but it has sure put a damper on my plans to get out on the water. I am still getting reports of good kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan, with fish averaging a fat 13 inches. I ran into Joe Zelinski, who was checking catches of coho on the Icicle River for the WDFW, and he had fished Chelan. He said that he got a quick limit above the Yacht Club recently, and he marked very good numbers of fish in the lower basin, too. He found most of the fish at the 60- to 80-foot depth on the lake.

Joe mentioned that what is particularly exciting about the numbers and size of the kokanee that are being caught this winter is what we may expect next spring and summer. Most of These fish aren’t going to spawn until next year. They will be hanging around and feeding all winter long and into next season. Anglers might be catching kokanee that are much larger than in recent years. We’ll have to wait and see but the prospect of fishing Lake Chelan for kokanee of 15 inches and larger is sure something to look forward to.

He also showed me a couple of photos from recent trips to Potholes Reservoir. He has been trolling crank baits and was catching an amazing variety of fish. He was getting mostly walleye, but also had some big bluegill, some crappie and even rainbow trout. I did stop by the Icicle River later last week and found a proud angler with a fish he caught while casting from the handicapped platform. He had landed a very mature hen. This week’s photo was taken on the Icicle last week.

Fish like to fool me. They will ignore my fly or lure to the point that I don’t think they are even there. I said last week that I didn’t think the coho were going to show up in the Icicle River in good enough numbers to provide decent fishing. Then they did. When I stopped by the river I saw more rigs parked at the access than I had all season, and when I looked over the bank there was an angler pumping a fish to the bank. I spoke to the angler, and they said they had hooked a few in the stretch below the hatchery and were going to try the spot on East Leavenworth Road before they quit for the day. A WDW fish checker was there, and he said that the Icicle River had come up with the heavy rain that fell in Leavenworth, and that pulled the coho into the river. Anglers were doing the best they had since the season opened in late September. It will remain open through the end of November. He reminded anglers about the posted boundary that they can fish on the Icicle, and to keep below it. Enforcement is checking.

My brother Rick and I had planned a trip to Lake Chelan to try to catch a couple of Chinook, but the weather forecast was for high wind. It was supposed to rain, too, but we’ve both put up with that while fishing. We draw the line at high wind, though. So, we are going to give it a shot another day.
Kings are caught on Lake Chelan year-round, and this is a good time to try for them. If you would like to learn more about how to fish for Chinook on the lake, you can watch a couple of short videos Rick and I did. One is on how to prepare herring for Chinook fishing, and the other was shot last year when we boated a nice fish. To find the videos you can go to my YouTube channel. You can search for them under Dave Graybill. The one we did while catching the king can be viewed by going to my website at www.FishingMagician.com, and clicking on the Fishing TV Page. It’s under Fishing for Lake Chelan Chinook with Rick Graybill. Both of these short videos will give you good information about how to fish for these prized fish. They are not only great fighters they are probably the best eating Chinook you’ll ever taste.

You can split your time when fishing on Lake Chelan between fishing for kings and kokanee. It is not unusual for anglers to catch kings while fishing for kokanee, but if you really want to target kings you are better off using the techniques that are described in the videos that I mentioned. You also have to troll at a faster speed when targeting kings.

Another species that is available to anglers on Lake Chelan are cutthroat. These are planted in the lake every year and they are very abundant throughout Chelan. Although they often hit the kokanee gear people are trolling, some anglers will flatline small plugs out the back of the boat to get them. They can really add to the fun of a day on the water. Most of the cutthroat I have caught while kokanee fishing average between 12 and 14 inches, and I’m sure there are large cutts in the lake.

I see a couple of sunny days in the forecast for the coming week. I plan to take advantage of them!

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