The Fishin' Magician

Friday, June 10

My wife Eileen and I decided to try to beat the heat on Monday by getting out on Lake Chelan.

I hadn’t fished for kokanee on Chelan for weeks, and although we got a very late start we launched at Mill Bay and put the gear out.

I had heard the fishing right off Mill Bay was good, but I didn’t find any fish here. We pulled the gear and headed for Lakeside Park, arriving there after 3 p.m.

I put out two rods 30 feet down on the riggers in about 40 feet of water. I had Kokabow blades and spinners with stained shoe peg corn on the hooks.

We were into fish in about ten minutes. The bite was so good I had a hard time getting both rods out. I did find that the fish liked orange spinners and not pink the best.

The bite slowed when the wind came up and when we quit we had eight kokanee in the cooler. Not bad for a late-afternoon excursion. I’ll bet that anglers who arrive in the morning and fish this area will get limits of kokanee in no time.

The fish were mostly fat, 12-inchers, and they are abundant.