Lake Chelan - Fishing Reports

What’s hot is trolling for big Lake Trout on Lake Chelan near Mill Bay early in the morning and late in the evening. Also hot, but changing, is trolling for kokanee in the lower basin of Lake Chelan.


Lake Chelan’s Lake Trout bite continues to be the model of consistency. The spice is that big fish are showing up with some regularity. Troll in the Mill Bay neighborhood with Worden Lures T4 Flatfish in either Luminous Chartreuse or Purple Glow near the bottom in depths of 120’ to 160’ for best success in getting these big fish to bite. When the bite slows, later in the morning, move into the trench and look for piles of eating size lakers. Silver Horde’s Ace Hi Flies baited with a strip of Northern Pikeminnow is the ticket here.

This season’s nice sized Kokanee on Lake Chelan are continuing to bite. These fish are moving in big schools all over the lower basin now. There are still some fish being caught off the Blue Roof Condos, but you are going to have to “hunt and peck” to stay on them now. Putting Pautzke’s Fire Corn in either Natural or Yellow onto the hooks of Mack’s Lures Mini Cha Cha Squidders has been effective for us. Using Mack’s Lures Double D Dodgers in front of a 22” leader completes the formula. Look for those schools on your sonar and with your eyes. We have been seeing them concentrated from the surface down to 120 feet. Don’t be afraid to vary your speed considerably. We have caught these fish pulling that gear anywhere from 1 to 2.2 mph.

This is the time of the year to lay up your bait supply of Northern Pikeminnow. We use pieces of Lake Trout to catch our Northern Pikeminnow. We fillet them and cut them into strips and freeze a dozen or so little strips in a zip loc snack bag for later use.

Your fishing tip of the week is to scatter your Kokanee presentations throughout the water column until you find a depth that works best.

The kids tip of the week is to get them out on the docks on Lake Chelan to catch those Pikeminnow for you. The grandkids love it when they see those fish bite!

The safety tip of the week is more of etiquette advice. When you arrive at the boat launch, park in a parking spot, not the actual launch if you need to prep your boat before launching,. Don’t plug things up and force people to maneuver in tight quarters around you. It’s starting to get very busy on the Lake Chelan boat ramps. Good manners will make it more relaxed and safer for everyone.

Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad's Family Guide Service

1-866-360-1523 or http://www.darrellanddads.com/

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