Lake Chelan offers a variety of fishing action in the Spring
Dave Graybill photo This is a close-up of a typical Lake Chelan kokanee. You can see the Wedding Ring Spinner that was used to hook the fish.
I know you've heard me say that I enjoy getting out and exploring new fishing opportunities in Central Washington. I like to learn about new places to go and to share what I learn with my readers.
There are some places that offer such great angling for a variety of fish at certain times of year that I just can't help but keep going back, year after year. Lake Chelan is just such a place. In the spring you can catch big mackinaw, smallmouth bass, kokanee and even Chinook salmon-all in the same day and in the same area!
Mackinaw, also known as lake trout, are so abundant in Lake Chelan that there is no season and no bag limit. Anglers are encouraged to catch and as many as they can and take them home. They aren't really too difficult to catch, if you have a boat outfitted with downriggers and are able to troll for them, commonly at 200 feet deep or more. The fish range in size from young fish that can weigh two or three pounds to giants of over 30 pounds. The state record for mackinaw is from Lake Chelan and stands at 35.7 pounds.
One of the favorite foods of mackinaw are kokanee, and these become abundant in the spring in the lower basin of the lake. They migrate from the spawning areas all the way up in Stehekin and move all the way to the very bottom end of the lake; when the kokanee move down the mackinaw follow. It is possible to catch even large mackinaw in water that is only 20 feet deep. I have had to boost the size of leader material I use when fishing for kokanee. The chance of hooking a mackinaw and breaking off is too great.
A variety of lures can be used to catch mackinaw. If you can take them on a spinner baited with corn, they aren't too particular. The local guides like to tip lures with a strip of pike minnow meat, and a variety of plugs work well. One very popular style is the Flat Fish.
Anglers can also have good success with Super Baits, stuffed with tuna fish and trolled behind a flasher. I like to troll herring, particularly in the spring. I will launch at Mill Bay and troll my way down to the kokanee fishing grounds near Lakeside Park. I'll use plug cut herring and put a couple of feet behind a small flasher. I will always hook mackinaw and have caught kings doing this, before I get to Lakeside.
Kokanee populations in Lake Chelan go in cycles. One year they may be abundant and large (12 inches is a good one) and the next, scarce and small. The guides that fish the lake year-round have reported seeing large schools very deep in the Yacht Club area this winter, and predict a good kokanee season this year. When they reach the lower basin there is a fishing party at Lake Chelan.
The area near Lakeside Park will be littered with boats, all trolling for kokanee. Other areas that produce good catches in the spring, usually beginning sometime in May, are Mill Bay, Chelan Shores, and the area just up lake from Lakeside. They can be caught as shallow as 20 feet and as deep as 50 feet. It is important to know that kokanee, as do the mackinaw and Chinook feed on the Mysis shrimp in Lake Chelan. These will be found in the upper water column in the evening and early morning and then go deep as the day brightens. The fish follow.
A standard set up for kokanee is a gang troll trailed by a Wedding Ring Spinner or Kokanee Pro, baited with white, shoepeg corn. Most anglers have abandoned the old Jack of Diamonds style of gang troll. They create a lot of drag in the water. The new Flash Lites, which have Mylar blades, work very well and produce very little drag in the water. There are times when small trout dodgers are very effective, too. I will add a rubber band between the gang troll and the leader to the spinner. This shock absorber will help keep the hooks from tearing out of the soft mouth of the kokanee. I also take a long-handled net along when kokanee fishing. These fish tend to go crazy when they get near the boat, and having a long reach helps put more of them in the cooler. The daily limit for kokanee on Lake Chelan is ten.
Even before the kokanee fishing hits its stride you will see bass boats working the lower basin. Smallmouth start gathering near sunken structure in the spring, preparing to spawn. It is easy to see these fish in the clear water of Lake Chelan, and fishing the beds for them can be amazingly good. When a bed is found occupied by a smallmouth, just about anything dropped near it will be attacked. The biggest smallmouth of the year are taken when they are on the beds and aggressive.
The area just below Mill Bay is a good place to find smallmouth. The bottom here is covered with sunken logs. There are stumps and other structure near the shore from Lakeside Park, too. Anglers can fish both sides of the lake from here all the way down to the dam below the last bridge, in the river section. Anywhere there is something on the bottom, whether a rock pile or pipe is a likely place to find smallmouth. There are a number of docks in this area, and bass hiding under them will rush out and hit a bait.
Drop Shot rigs can be lowered to a bed. Large worms or lizards will get the attention of a smallmouth protecting a nest. I have seen jerk baits used effectively in the spring here, too. I once saw Jerrod Gibbons hook a small Chinook salmon while casting a jerk bait for smallmouth in the shallows.
When the smallmouth have spawned they don't go far. Sometimes I will take my bass gear along with me when I am planning a kokanee fishing trip. After getting my fill of kokanee fishing, I will move close to shore and cast lizards or grubs and to catch smallmouth. The kokanee fishing in the Lakeside area will kick off sometime in May and taper off in early July, when the fish move to deeper water and further up the lake. The bass fishing is good through this period, too.Many anglers can remember the days when Chinook were so plentiful in Lake Chelan that there was even a salmon derby, held in May for several years. The Chinook numbers dwindled to the point that there was only a one-month season. However, a program that plants triploided Chinook in the lake has had some success and anglers can now catch Chinook again, starting May 1, with a one-fish per day limit.
Success on Chinook varies. There are some that can catch them with fair consistency, and how they do it, I don't know. I seem to be able to catch them when there is a good kokanee year. I think that when there are big schools of kokanee in the lower basin there are better numbers of kings feeding on them in this area, and I have a better chance at hooking a few. I am not an expert on catching Chinook, but I will share with you what I have done to catch them.
I mentioned earlier that I will troll a herring on my way down to the kokanee fishing grounds, in hopes of attracting a strike from a Chinook. I have caught them on small, plug-cut herring, trolled behind the smaller Pro Troll flasher. I know other anglers have had success with the Super Bait, too. I like the Pro Trolls because they have a fin that helps them dive. I put the bait about 100 feet behind the boat, and put the downrigger down to145 feet. I keep an eye on my fish finder. Most of the mackinaw will be very close to the bottom and the kings will often be suspended. If I see a fish at 75 feet, it is likely a king and I will bring my rigger up to put my bait where the fish can see it. You really have to watch your rods, too. If you're not paying close attention a king will hit your bait and eat it, and you'll reel in empty hooks. It happens. If you see any bounce, better set the hook.
Right at the beginning, I said I like to find new places to fish, but when a lake like Chelan has this much to offer it's had to stay away. As much as I am devoted to learning about new places to go, there is just too many things I really like to do, like catching mackinaw, kokanee, smallmouth bass and Chinook to be anywhere else in the spring.
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