The main event this week was the opening of the sockeye season on Lake Wenatchee. There was a big crowd of boats on the lake to greet the salmon that had entered the lake. Also, the “bubble fishery” for Chinook salmon was extended from the area above Rocky Reach Dam to Wells Dam.
The opening day of sockeye season on Lake Wenatchee was terrific. The weather was clear and calm, a big difference from last year’s opener, when it blew hard and rained. There was a good turnout, but it was not too crowded. Nothing like the thrash at the Brewster Pool. I had my brother Rick on board, along with my cousin Greg Preston and his son Tim. I fired up the Mercury at about 4:45 and when we hit 150 feet deep deployed the Minn Kota. We got our first action of the day at 5:05—and it was a double! The action wasn’t fast and furious, but we picked up fish all morning along. Rick and Greg experimented with different hook colors and tried different depths to keep us into fish. I drove the Bob Feil Boats and Motors Smoker Craft while they did most of the work in the back end of the boat. The fish were deep again this year, even early in the morning. My good friend Rollie Schmitten said he started at 60 feet and almost immediately dropped to 80 feet and then he and his granddaughter got their eight fish in about 40 minutes. What a great opening day!
What a difference a day makes. There was a slight weather change on Lake Wenatchee, and it was just enough to put the sockeye off the bite. I chugged out from the dock on the Mercury 250 on the Bob Feil Boats and Motors Smoker Craft until I hit 150 feet of water, as usual, and then deployed the Minn Kota and pointed the boat to the top end of the lake. Once again, we had a fish in the boat by just after five, but it was slow going after that. We got a few more, including one that may be the biggest sockeye I have ever landed on Lake Wenatchee. Black hooks were the answer for us on the opener, but red hooks worked the best on the second day. We were watching the other boats closely and saw very few nets out in this area, so we pushed further down the lake. When we reached the area off Crescent Bay the wind picked up to a very stiff breeze. There were some fish being caught down here, and we added to our catch, but bites were few and far between. We got fish as deep as 100 feet! I did get probably the biggest sockeye I ever caught on Lake Wenatchee. This week’s photo is of this great fish.
The chilly weather that hit Lake Wenatchee on Thursday last week continued into Friday and cooled the sockeye action on the lake. Because the fishing at the top end of the lake was not as good as usual the day before I opted to drive the Bob Feil Boats and Motors Smoker Craft the opposite direction from the dock. This may have been a strategic error as the sockeye bite was slow again. On board with me was three generations of the Hawkins family, including Buell Hawkins, his son Brad and grandson Luke. I have been taking members of the Hawkins family fishing for years, ever since I drove Smoker Craft Boats for Buell when he brought them into Valley Tractor years ago. Luke is a particularly ardent angler, with plans to study fisheries when he goes off to school at either the U of W or the University of Montana. He had a blast reeling in the few sockeye we landed, even the one that jumped about three feet in the air behind the boat and spit the hooks back at him. We made plans for a combo walleye and bass trip to Banks Lake later this summer.
The crowds have thinned out on Lake Wenatchee. The cooler weather last week that stalled the action for sockeye anglers must have had something to do with it. I think the word spread quickly. The windy weather and the bottleneck at the boat launch contributed to the lack of pressure on this popular fishery. Anglers aren’t going to give up though. When the weather improves, they will be back. Travis Maitland, WDFW biologist who monitors the returns to Lake Wenatchee, expects the number of sockeye to reach the lake this year to approach 50,000 fish. This means that there are about 25,000 available for harvest. Better plan on getting up there and getting some!
The sockeye season on Lake Wenatchee is going to attract even more attention this season. With the upper Columbia closed to all sockeye fishing the lake is the only option for fans of fishing for sockeye. Many will forgo this opportunity with the challenges that a single launch at the State Park presents. Others will move on to other fishing opportunities in the region. One of them is bass fishing and the WDFW is encouraged people to try it with “Bass Week”, with a photo contest. Anglers submitted photos and won prizes for the Best All Around Bass Photo, the Best Pose, and the Most Excited Angler. Photos were sent to the WDFW photo submission page and the “Bass Week Photo Contest” category on the drop-down menu. The “All Around Best Bass Photo” category winner will be determined through a public vote on the WDFW Facebook page and announced on July 31st.
