nycfishguy
2/10/2009 4:07:00 PMI'm the guy that organized the trip with Darrell & Dad's (with Joe Heinlen guiding) this past weekend and boy did we have a blast! Both Joe and Darrell & Dad's did a fantastic job of making us feel at home both in their "Hideaway Cabin" and out on the boat. The real secret treasure when you take the weekend charter is getting to stay in the "Fisherman's Hideaway". I was expecting a small rustic cabin in the woods and was quite surprized to find a gorgeous lakeview location and spacious 3 bedroom nicely furnished home. The accommodations were 5 star and it really set a nice tone for what was going to be a GREAT weekend of fishing.
Saturday started off a bit slow - because the flatfish weren't working. The good news is that Joe had a nice propane heater on-board and we were toasty warm that morning. Joe quickly made some adjustments and we were catching fish in NO time. I know it has been said before...JOE REALLY WORKS HARD TO MAKE SURE HIS CLIENTS GET FISH. He was working those downriggers like a madman, constantly adjusting to accommodate the change in depths while trolling. He was great and it's obvious that he loves what he does. When he isn't catching fish, he was offering great coffee and and some very funny jokes. Way to go Joe! I can't tell you how much fun we had with him...By the end of the weekend he was definitely "one of the guys".
In summation - We didn't catch a twenty pounder like the previous weekend, however, we had a GREAT time out on the lake and have already eaten and given away about half of the fish that we caught. The Lake Chelan "lake trout" taste just as good as salmon. Apparently, this is due to their steady diet of shrimp beds on the bottom and kokanee.
Hope to fish with Joe again in the bear future!