I fished several days on Lake Wenatchee for sockeye the past week, but I also took a couple of days off to get caught up on some work that needed to be done. My experience, that seems to be shared by many other anglers of the lake, is that the fishing has been very tough this season. One day may be okay and the next disappointing.
My neighbor is the 13-year-old that organized the kids fishing event at Blackbird Island in Leavenworth, earlier in July. Calder is a well-rounded angler, with experience in fishing for a wide range of species. He fished Hawaiian waters growing up, has fished many nearby lakes and streams and has also fished several times out of Neah Bay. It had been a few years since I had been able to get his family out on Lake Wenatchee for sockeye, and it turned out that he and his Mom, Holly, could go last Friday. These two have no problems with early-morning departures and we left for the lake at 5 a.m. There was a pretty good breeze blowing when we left the dock, so I headed for the top end of the lake to get out of most of it. There was a fair sized fleet working the water up there and while I put out the gear I was watching for any nets scooping up sockeye. Not too many as it turned out. I had my usual frustrating day, and Calder only got to reel in a couple of fish. He was happy, though, any day fishing is a good day for him. This week’s photo is of Calder and me with one of his sockeye.
The sockeye bite had been terrible at Lake Wenatchee. Two of my friends, very experienced sockeye anglers, didn’t even go out last Tuesday. Ever the optimist, and despite having three very bad days in a row, I went anyway. My brother Lane, his daughter Sophie and my daughter Whitney were with me for what promised to be another very tough day of fishing. Because it was calm that day, I chose to point the Bob Feil Boats and Motors Smoker Craft down lake, instead of firing up the Mercury and making a beeline to the top of the lake. When I hit 150 feet of water, I deployed the Minn Kota and put out the gear. I noticed more surface activity than I had yet this season, but it took at least a half hour before we got our first fish. Then things picked up. I was running all black hooks and most of the rods were getting bit. I decided to put some red hooks on, and I immediately got a fish. We had nine fish when I headed for the dock. I didn’t realize how lucky we were that day!
Last Wednesday I was confident that fishing would be good on Lake Wenatchee. The weather was exactly the same as the day before, so when I left the dock, I headed the Bob Feil Boats and Motors Smoker Craft to the same place I started the day before. I had Rob Phillips and his son Kyle on the boat, and they had the rods and Scotty riggers ready to go when the Garmin fish finder showed us a bunch of fish. I deployed the Minn Kota, and we went to work. I had a mix of black and red hook set ups out. The day before a passing boat asked me how deep I was fishing, which was 60 feet. I saw them change depth and immediately get two hits on their riggers. I noticed that they were running red hooks, so I put some on and also had instant action. Everything was in place for a good day of sockeye fishing. I was hoping to have another epic morning with Rob on the boat, but it was not to be. I even ran to the top of the lake, but nothing doing.
Everyone fishing Lake Wenatchee for sockeye was hoping that a change in weather would improve their luck. Not so. I took the Bob Feil Boats and Motors Smoker Craft out on the lake last Monday, and the sockeye action continues to be awful. This was on a calm, clear and warm day. For a change the Minn Kota didn’t have to work that hard to keep us on course and the right speed. My fishing partners for the day were my daughter Whitney, my brother in law Tom Verschuren and my long-time friend Steve Goodfellow. Under orders from my brother Rick, Steve changed the leaders that Rick had provided every fifteen minutes, until he found one that worked. It was a plain three black hook rig. I had put on a plain three black hook rig that caught three fish the day before and it worked again. However, only two fish made it into the cooler for our efforts. Sure, there may be a few anglers out there that had better luck, but the average is holding at two fish per boat right now. Maybe this consistent warm weather and calm water will have an impact.
I took a day off from fishing Lake Wenatchee sockeye so I could get caught up on some of the work I needed to get done. Number one was getting the July Update to the Fishing Magician E-Letter out to my subscribers. I delayed getting the Quarterly E-Letter sent out, due to the frequent changes to the upper Columbia River salmon seasons. There were new Emergency Regulations being announced weekly. First there was the changes in the Chinook and sockeye fishing. Chinook fishing was closed in many areas, and the sockeye fishing limit was reduced. Finally, sockeye fishing was completely closed on the upper Columbia River and Chinook fishing was only allowed from Rocky Reach Dam to Wells Dam. The good news was that Lake Wenatchee was opened to sockeye fishing with a four fish limit. I delayed the delivery of the Monthly Update to subscribers until I had actually fished Lake Wenatchee, to share what I had learned about the fishing this year. In the Monthly Update I talked about hook selection, use of double dodgers, depths I am fishing and the best speed. In addition to Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishing, in the Monthly Update, I also talk about Walleye Fishing and some other often overlooked fisheries in the region. To subscribe to the Monthly Updates, go to my website and click on the E-Letter button.
