The Fishin' Magician: Failure on Chelan

One of the first things I wanted to do when I got back from my trip to Belize was to get back to Lake Chelan and catch some more of those big kokanee. I had visions of filling my freezer with prime fillets. Well, I fished Chelan last Thursday, and things didn't quite go as planned.

The weather was fine, and there was a big fleet of boats in the lower basin, all trolling for kokanee. Where the kokanee were I don't know. We tried our favorite fishing areas and spotted a few small schools, but couldn't get the fish to bite. We tried some areas that I hadn't fished yet this year, and still couldn't find any fish. We tried different depths, different lures, speeds and other tricks without any success.

It seemed like a perfect day to be on Chelan for kokanee but it wasn't. We only managed to get two bites and land one fish all day. I think anglers that got on the water at first light had better success, but we only saw on kokanee landed the whole time we were fishing. I haven't given up, though. I know I'll do better next time.