Lake Chelan Fishing Report For 1/26/2017 From Anton Jones

Lake Chelan continues to be hot, trolling for Mackinaw in the Barrens and for Kokanee along Colyar Ledge.

    Trolling for suspended Kokanee is terrific.  Pull Mack’s Lure’s Mini Cha Cha Squidders in Orange on a short leader behind their Double D Dodger in the 7.6 size at about 1mph.  Bait the Mini Cha Cha’s with Corn.  Jeff has a lot of confidence in Pro Cure’s Bloody Tuna while Anton likes the color variation that Pautzke’s Fire Corn provides.  We have caught these silver bullets anywhere from 45 to 200 feet deep.  You may catch some Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout with this pattern.  Remember that unclipped Cutthroat Trout must be immediately released, unharmed.

   Laker fishing has been terrific in the Barrens and the Trench.  Fish within 3 to 5 feet of the bottom and keep your speed around .8 to 1.3 mph.  Jeff’s Drift Lures fronted with a Mack’s Smile Blade and baited with a piece of Northern Pikeminnow has been our best pattern. 

    Your fishing tip of the week is to remember to take it slow and easy when fighting Kokanee.  It is easy to overpower when reeling.  That is how you lose fish.  When they are thrashing, stop reeling and enjoy the tug.  Pulling hard against them will pull the hooks.  In general, if you are getting 2 of 3 or 3 of 4 you are doing fine.  If you are catching under 50% work on your technique.  Sizing up to #4 or even #2 hooks seems to help the landing percentage too.

    The kid’s tip of the week is to get them on the rod when a fish jumps on.  They will be reluctant at first.  Fear of the unknown.  They will learn a lot from losing fish.  When they lose a fish, don’t make a big deal out of it, in fact, don’t say anything about it for a while.  Then just review with them what happened.  If the fish simply won, say that.  If they did something wrong, just provide the corrective information.  But, with experience, they will get better.  We call it “a self-correcting program”.

    The safety tip of the week is to be prepared for icy conditions pulling your boat out of our lake.  A shovel, sand or kitty litter and chains would be a good idea.

    Winter is finally letting up a bit so get out and enjoy our fishery.  Remember, we have a canvas enclosure and propane heat on our North River, so you don’t have to be tough to come out and enjoy it with us.