The Fishin' Magician

Fishing for sockeye salmon on the Brewster Pool has been nothing short of fantastic this season.

The fish are stacked up off the mouth of the Okanogan River by the thousands and hundreds of boats are lining up every morning to get at them.

I fished the Pool twice last week and after I got things figured out did very well. If you pick up a copy of the NCW Nickel Ads anywhere in Eastern Washington you can read about what I used to catch them.

The sockeye are running much bigger than the ones we were catching last year, and I even got a keeper king on my sockeye gear one morning.

This is not unusual and quite few kings are being hooked by the sockeye fleet. Anglers are fishing all the way down to the big pumps at the bottom of the channel all the way up to the mouth of the Okanogan. Most anglers are fishing a pink hoochie and dodger set up with the lead hook tipped with a shrimp.

Leaders are 12 to 14 inches. Fish close to the boat to avoid getting tangled with the other boats when you hook a fish or try to make a turn.