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Lake Chelan Kokanee & Lake Trout, Roses Lake

What’s hot is trolling Lake Chelan for jumbo Kokanee. Also hot, is trolling the Monument area on Lake Chelan for Mackinaw. Additionally, Roses Lake is hot for rainbow trout fishing. Finally, I have been hearing that Rufus is getting Triploids planted again. On Chelan, kokanee are being caught in the trench, just above Lakeside, along the face of Mill Bay, up at the Yacht Club and over by the Monument. Most of these landlocked Sockeye are from 15 to 17 inches. They are hard fighting acrobats on light gear. Continue to work depths of 50 to 100 feet. Look at your sonar and troll a Mack’s Lures Double D dodger trailed by one of Mack’s Lures orange or pink Mini Cha Cha Squidders baited with some Pautzke’s Fire Corn just above the fish. Speeds of 1.1 to 1.4 mph will work best. When you find biters, pull your gear, turn and go back through them. Depths in the 70’s have been the most productive for us. Lake Trout bit numerous trolled presentations by the Monument. Worden Lures F7 Flatfish in Luminous Chartreuse and fishing the above- mentioned Double D Dodger and Mini Cha Cha combo worked on these mostly 14 to 20 inch fish. Roses Lake is still productive for winter hold over rainbows. Fish from the bank with a slip sinker rig and Pautzke’s Firebait in American Wildfire or cast Worden Lures Roostertails. If you are trolling, try a combination of Mack’s Lures mini Cha Cha Squidders, Wooly Bugger flies with an action disk by wiggle fin or a plain Worden Lures 1/8th oz Roostertail in black or green. Your fishing tip of the week is to create a salt, ice and water slurry to keep those kokanee firm as the weather gets warmer. It will keep them fresh much longer and preserve the exquisite table quality. The kid’s tip of the week is to get them out to Roses to catch some rainbows even from the shore. There are 9 to 10 inch catchables that were recently planted, 12 to 14 inch winter holdovers and some 16 to 17 inch one and a half pound triploids to catch. The safety tip of the week is to not let your enthusiasm overload your good judgment. When spring winds come up on Chelan, it can be treacherous for small boats. I saw 3 guys launch a 10 or 12 foot flat bottomed boat in the teeth of switching wind that was 15 to 25 mph with gusts over 40. Yikes! These short coupled waves in the lower basin can be real trouble for boats under 16 feet. Please, be safe out there. Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad's Family Guide Service 509-687-0709 or www.darrellanddads.com
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