What still continues red hot is trolling for big Lake Trout on the Lake Chelan “Bar” early in the morning. We are trolling for those Mackinaw in depths of 120 to 150 feet on the Bar just out from the Mill Bay boat launch. The uplake half of that piece of structure has been absolutely loaded with quality fish the past few weeks. This pattern has been solid for over a month now. We have had consistent success pulling T4 and U20 flatfish in Purple Glow at 1.2 to 1.5 mph. Mack’s Lures Cha Cha Squidders in glow colors with a purple blade also worked fine. Additionally Silver Horde’s Ace Hi Fly in glow colors baited with a strip of Northern Pikeminnow also worked great. Don’t forget that you can add an Action Disk from Wigglefin.com to give all those squid rigs a bit of a different action. Big Smile Blades from Mack’s Lures are another fine choice. Although early and late in the day continue to be best, we have caught nice numbers of fish throughout the day.
Also continuing to provide entertainment for our deckhands is fishing a chunk of laker entrails from the dock to catch Northern Pikeminnow that you in turn can use to catch lakers. The great circle of life at work.
Fishing for Chinook and Sockeye Salmon has been slow off the mouth of the Okanogan River. The fish counts just aren’t there yet.
Your fishing tip of the week is to have that “ticker” going in your head. You should never leave an untouched presentation down there on Chelan for more than 45 minutes without checking it. You don’t want to be pulling a fouled up presentation around all day with no chance of catching a fish. You would be surprised at the number of guys that leave things down there for two or more hours. Also, if you are in an area for one and a half hours without a bite, you want to change something. That means either your location or your presentation. Remember, it’s a sucker bet to leave fish to find fish…
Your kids tip of the week is to remember snacks to keep the younger anglers from acting out. Doling out a favorite snack can stretch out the fun part of your fishing day and keep it from being an endurance contest.
Your safety tip of the week is to really pay attention out there. There are loads of people that are first time boaters. Don’t be afraid to slow down and give way to avoid collisions. This is our busiest time of the year. Summer in Chelan! Another day in paradise!
Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad's Family Guide Service (http://www.darrellanddads.com/ or 1-866-360-1523)
Pictured: 7/12/11 A group of players from the Seattle Mariners came out and caught a nice pile of Lake Chelan Mackinaw with us on the All Star Break! What a nice bunch of guys! They got the guides and the deckhands in the picture too!
Also Pictured: 7/12/11 Aaron Laffey of the Mariners with the big fish of the day, an 18.6 pound laker.
Finally Pictured: 7/12/11 - Brian Hale of Australia with a 16 pound late evening Lake Chelan Mackinaw
