The Fishin' Magician

Summer run salmon fishing continues to attract a lot of attention here in Central Washington. Both kings and sockeye continue to move up the Columbia in great numbers and anglers are out in force on the many known hot spots on the upper river. You can expect to see heavy traffic from salmon anglers on the Columbia from Rock Island to Rocky Reach Dam this weekend. The 2nd Annual CCA Wenatchee Salmon Derby kicks off on Friday, July 19th.

Last year the derby was won by Stuart Hurd, with a 31-pound king and it took exactly 100 pounds to win the total weight category, taken by Brandon Collins. Cash and prizes to be handed out at this year’s derby will be nearly $10,000.00. There is a skippers meeting on Thursday, July 18th at 6 p.m. at the Eagle’s Hall in Wenatchee, and the derby starts just after 2 a.m. on Friday. All fish are weighed at Hooked on Toys, and the results for each day will be posted there. Everyone will be fishing hard Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then the derby culminates with the banquet on Sunday evening. There are many local sponsors, with Hooked on Toys and Town Ford the primaries. The derby benefits the Coastal Conservation Association, which is dedicated to the conservation and the recovery of our salmon and steelhead runs. If you want to learn more about the derby you can visit the web site at HYPERLINK "http://www.wenatcheesalmonderby.com" www.wenatcheesalmonderby.com. I expect the number of participants to be even higher that last year, as the derby organizers did an excellent job with their first effort.

I got out after kings myself this week. My wife and I fished a late afternoon and evening at Chelan Falls. It was a beautiful evening for fishing and there were only five boats working the area above where the Chelan River enters the Columbia. I don’t think anyone even got a bite, other than one boat, but that boat put on a show, landing two very nice kings that evening. I went back to Chelan Falls on Friday morning, with Rollie Schmitten and his grandson Noah. I figured that I was bound to get a fish after whiffing on Tuesday. I came close. I got one good bite and when I set the hook I felt the hook pull out, and that was it for me at Chelan Falls. I saw just one jack caught among the half-dozen boats fishing there on Friday. I ran up to Wells Dam, thinking that we could at least put some sockeye in the cooler. I don’t know what was going on Friday, but even the sockeye weren’t biting. I saw just two sockeye landed. Oh, well. There is always the next time. I am off to a slow start but I know my time will come and I will be putting some nice kings in the boat soon.

When I am not on the Columbia after kings or sockeye, there are some other great fisheries going on in our region that I like to take advantage of this time of year. One is the great fly fishing for trout on our area rivers. I took a drive up the Icicle the other night and was surprised to see that the river is low enough for good fishing. This is one of my favorite things to do in the heat of the summer. It may be 90 to 100 degrees in Leavenworth, but in a few minutes I can be wading in the cool waters of the Icicle casting to small rainbow. It’s not unusual to catch 30 or more of these little trout in an evening. It is a really fun way to cool off.

The Methow River is also coming into its prime for summer fishing for rainbow and cutthroat. Those who are familiar with the Methow know that it has an abundance of great water. Rainbow over 20 inches can be taken on this stream and cutthroat over 24 inches have been caught and released on the Methow, too. Other small streams, like the Twisp, Entiat and White River also offer great fishing for smaller rainbow and cutthroat. We have lots of great water available to us, and you will often find yourself alone on these scenic streams.

Something that families around here have enjoyed for decades is going on right now at Fish Lake near Lake Wenatchee. Perch are on the bite and this is something I enjoy every summer. I gather some pennywinkles from the Wenatchee River and use them for bait, and it doesn’t take long to get your limit of 25 fat perch at Fish Lake. These are fun to catch and a meal of filleted perch is hard to beat. I remember doing this when I was just a kid. My Dad would put a bunch of us in a rented boat and we each got a reel, no rod. He would put a split shot on the line, bait the hook and put the line out to the bottom. When we got a bite we would just hand line the perch into the boat. He didn’t have to deal with all of us trying to cast in a small boat. We got plenty of perch this way.

Well, best of luck to all of those who will be fishing in the CCA Wenatchee Salmon Derby this weekend. I will be checking in to see how it goes. In between fishing for salmon on the Columbia, perch at Fish Lake and trout on the Icicle myself!