I've never fished Keechelus lake before, but from what I've heard, it means "No fish" in the local native language. From what other anglers have said about the lake, that description seems accurate, although there are some fish there. They're just hard to catch. You might want to try Kachess Lake on the other side of I-90, behind a few mountains. It is stocked with a lot more trout than Keechelus. It does get pretty deep too though. If you only have a kayak, it might be difficult to have gear that will reach down deep enough. Rattlesnake Lake would be a better sized lake with a better chance at catching a fish! Good luck!

I have fished Kacheelus for about 25 years and have always had excellent results fishing for kokanee. The boat launch is at the upper end of the lake and accessed by taking the Hyak exit and going back towards the WDOT station. There is a road just before you get to the station that goes to the right and following it all the way to the end sets you right at the boat launch.
All of the kokes I caught were always caught using a Jack Lloyd pop gear and a wedding ring with a small piece of nightcrawler and a single piece of white shoepeg corn. The daily limit for both Kachees and Kacheelus for kokes is 16 and that limit can include 2 trout (so 14 kokes and 2 trout). With the road construction going on the lake has changed a little bit but the best fishing was (July 30th, 2011) going down the freeway side just below the island and down to the point before the snowshed. We were going out about 25 pulls which is about 15 feet and trolling as slow as possible. Hook ups were regular and got a little heated a few times. Four of us in the boat and usually a hit every 5 minutes with multiple hook ups not uncommon. we took home 25 kokes in less than 2 hours then spent the rest of the day wake boarding and pulling the inner tube around.
Am heading to Lake kachees this weekend and will be camping out on the lake so will report our luck later this week.

cwb - if you accessed the lake at the damn, I am assuming you took exit 62 and followed FS54 and then the road that goes along the Iron Horse Trail? If so then where you stopped you were about 4.2 miles from Lost Lake. Just stay on that road a little further and it will "Y", go to the right onto FS5480. Go about 4 miles and you will run into Lost Lake. There is a primitive boat launch right there at the west end - One of my favorites - especially with a small craft. Holds rainbows, brook and small kokes, they also have been putting some trips in there the last few years.