Fishin' Magician: Dave Graybill

It was fun while it lasted, but the sockeye fishery on Lake Wenatchee will close on Sunday, August 18th, one hour after official sunset. Fish can be taken at the lake, although week day pressure and success fell off sharply in the past week.

There were an estimated 6,000 sockeye available for harvest out of a total of nearly 29,000 fish that passed over the Tumwater Dam. Rollie Schmitten, who lives on the lake invited me out for a last trip this week, and although we only had a couple of hours available to fish, we still landed three nice sockeye. Some of the fish were showing signs of nearing spawning, but the fillets were still gorgeous.

I told Rollie that I was actually happy to see this fishery come to an end, as it will give us time to hit some of the areas small streams with our fly rods. We both really enjoy fishing the White River, from the trail head at the end of the road, down stream a mile or so.

If you plan to fish this stretch, you will need a parking permit, and these are available at the Forest Service offices.