The Fishin' Magician
Brian Nielson, of BJs Guide Service, took this shot of me with one of the sockeye we caught on the best day I ever had! We hooked 14 and landed 11. Now the focus on sockeye has shifted to Lake Wenatchee, which opened on Thursday.
While many anglers are heading up to Lake Wenatchee to take advantage of the sockeye season that just opened, others will be chasing king salmon on the Brewster Pool during the annual Brewster Salmon Derby.
Success at Lake Wenatchee is expected to be pretty good, as it usually is in the early season. Anglers just may want to fish a little deeper than they are used to.
I found that to be the case last season. Instead of beginning our day at 20 feet or less we were getting the best action at 40 feet, even a first light. As many anglers discovered while fishing for sockeye on the Brewster Pool late in the season, just three red hooks seemed to work the best.
I was using a 12- to 14-inch leader in Brewster and will probably shorten these even more on Lake Wenatchee.
I have been getting good reports of kings being hooked even in the Wenatchee area, and Chelan Falls has been very good this season.
I expect to see very high success in this year's Brewster Derby. There are just a ton of kings in the upper Columbia this year.