The Fishin' Magician

July 10, 12

July 10

I took a drive on Sunday and checked out the salmon fishing areas on the upper Columbia. I started at Lincoln Rock State Park and watched the boats troll along the highway on the opposite side of the river. There was a pretty good pack working this area, and I have learned that they are getting a few kings here, and also some sockeye. I saw four or five boats trolling in the Chelan Falls area. This is a good early morning and afternoon-evening spot. There are some Chinook being taken in this area and I saw a net come out while I was watching. When I got to Wells Dam I saw one of my fishing buddies out off the bar bouncing around in the heavy current. He answered his phone when I called and told me he had two fish in his cooler. He had started early and was using herring, which must have been tied whole, as the current would have tore a plug cut off the hooks. He had to ring off as the boat ahead of him hooked up. I didn't run up to Brewster, but I have got some reports of good fishing here, as the Okanogan is very warm already this year.

July 12

I got a chance to go fishing with my wife Eileen the other night. I told her I wanted to give Chelan Falls a try, and she was eager to go. We arrived about 4 p.m. and fished until about 8. We were along when we started but had four our five boats for company when we left. Only one boat had any action, they got two! I am going to give this same spot a try in the morning, and see if I can do any better. If you have visitors or kids that haven't seen a salmon up close, this is a great time to go to Rocky Reach Dam and watch the fish pass by the viewing windows. My uncle took some people there last week and they were astonished at both the number of salmon they saw and the how big they were.