Previous Next

Packed up the boat and family and headed to Lake Kachess for a camping, hiking and fishing weekend.. having never caught a Kokanee or put much effort into it yet, that was going to be my main target.. when we woke up friday morning the lake was pretty breezy already by 8am so we opted for a hike up to Baker lake which is a very small lake up in the hills of the Gold Creek area below the microwave tower. we hiked in and i started casting a mepps and within minutes had my 1st good size brown trout on, 10 minute later another 14" beauty.. both released in water and set back for another day.. after a little bit longer we hiked back out and down to camp for lunch..

the winds died down by the afternoon so the boy and I set out to go find where the kokanee were hiding.. we launched the boat and started to head south. about 1/4 mile from the boat launch I was spotting schools of fish around 120 to 160ft deep.. so i setup a long lining setup with 5oz banana weight, dick nite dodger, and wedding ring with some shoepeg corn (all techniques learned on youtube) fish were around 130ft so i gave the line about 120 to 150 12" pulls and trolled varying speeds, fwd, neutral, fwd, zig zags.. etc... not a nibble. I switched up wedding ring colors and nothing again after another hour or so.. So we headed back in, still smiling cuz we made a fun little boat ride out of it on the glassy afternoon water.
we got back, ate dinner, and then walked to the beach where my son fished with a worm and bopper and caught a few of the small, tiny small 5 to 6" shakers.. super stoked and happy both the boys got fish for the day we went back, had a campfire, played geetars and sang songs and eventually went to bed a little tipsy.. :)

Saturday morning I woke up early around 6am, by 7am i was on the water solo, it was nice and glassy and i charged back south to where i spotted fish the day prior.. i started out by trolling a wedding ring setup, then switched to a krokodile spoon, and even a squid type hoochie (all techniques i saw on youtube). i did this for about 3 hours, solo, until i called it quits on Kokanee (for now)

so i went to the beach got the wife to bring some lunch over and picked her and the kid up and headed up to the north end of the lake.. once up at the far north end we anchored up after spotting some fish on the finder closer to shore in 30 to 10ft water.. must be some smaller trout i'm thinking.. this mission was about getting the wife and son into some fish and they wanted a worm and bopper (my son caught a few real small shakers on that setup a couple nights before from shore).. So worm and bopper it was.. after only a little while my wifes bopper on a reel in, sinks fast and deep! whammo! fish on! she's freaking out, i have to get her to calm down a little and concentrate on landing the fish. after a couple nice runs on her light gear and some aerials i got the fish in the net and it was 'high fives'.. she just started fishing this summer with me and hasn't caught a fish yet.. and this was a legit fish! so we snapped a couple picks and fished a little while longer until the wind started picking up again.. so we headed back, the crossing from the north end point by the campground to the boat launch was a wet one, but we laughed the whole time.

so, not a ton of fish caught but each person in my family caught something and that's worth writing a report to me.. :)
the campgrounds were nice to camp in and the boat launch was right next to our camp. there was a group of Owls every night that would start out with a hoot hott here and a hoot hoot there, after awhile and on into the wee hours of night they were making the craziest sounds i have ever heard a bird up locse make.. they sounded more like crazy monkeys on the prowl.. but they were owls.. sometimes with in feet from our tent.. the ranger when asked said "they are hunting" really? and they have to make all that ruckus? haha. it was interesting to say the least.

we dropped the boat in Kachellus on the way home yesterday just to cruise around and hang out some more on the water before heading home and to complete the 3 lakes in the central cascade string.. Cle Elum, Kachess & Kachellus - all marked off the check list... not a lot of fish on the finder on the north end..

pics..

-alpine lake - baker lake, trout
-the wife with her 1st trout/fish of the summer and i think ever...
-fish finding

Jake Dogfish

7/30/2012 3:41:00 PM

The Baker (Thetis) Lake fish are Brook Trout. I have never had any luck with the Kokanee in Kachess. I have never fished at 120-150ft for them either though! Thanks for the report.

oneshot

7/30/2012 5:00:00 PM

thanks,. I always mistake calling them brown or brook.. we snowmobile this area all winter long.. the lake usually has 10ft of snow on top of it when i'm there :) we go down and and rally all over it and then up and over to the next areas..
https://maps.google.com/?ll=47.351988,-121.300972&spn=0.004885,0.009967&t=h&z=17
does it trickle down to Thetis creek?

my fish finder was spotting a lot of fish that deep, so i'm assuming that was schools of kokes, it was bright, sunny and fairly warm and with the lake being at 100% right now its very deep.. i'd love to figure out how to get into these fish on Kachess, its such an awesome lake to be on. some of my favorite areas of this state in summer and winter.,.

Gringo Pescador

7/31/2012 7:25:00 AM

Thanks for the report - it is good to see you getting the hours on that new boat! My guess is the fish that deep might be Macs..

bothellfisher

7/31/2012 8:28:00 AM

Sounded like a good trip, Too bad more fish were not caught. Glad you got to go out on your new boat more. Have you ever been to Lost Lake up there. I love fishing that lake, I have caught some real nice trout out of there. We should all hook up and go get some Silvers next month! Tight Linz

oneshot

7/31/2012 10:11:00 AM

i was spotting a lot of fish and they were not that big according to my hummingbird.. which made me think kokes, since kokes have the schooling mentality.. i sure would like to spend more time out there and dial in the deeper fishing in kachess, thats my favorite lake of the 3 out there and quite possibly of all the lakes i have been on i think, the scenery is awesome and its not overcrowded at all.. need those downriggers setup!

i've been out a couple times a week with the boat, its getting used for sure..

silvers in september! :)
i'm all over that!

oneshot

7/31/2012 11:37:00 AM

Bothellfisher, i was up at lake Tuquala/fish lake area last weekend actually, we camped with some other families. thats way up past Salmon La Sac. I got skunked, but did see fish rising and feeding on flies. i was chucking the wrong gear

The Quadfather

8/2/2012 9:47:00 PM

I have to 2nd the comment regarding Lost Lake up off of Stampede Pass road. About 3 years ago on Father's Day, the Gringo Pesicdor and myself had an awesome day of trout fishing from our tubes. Covered the entire lake by tube. Consistent large trout. It is a little dicey at times with launching a trailored aluminum in there.... best to scout it out first for heavy log jams at the launch end. Good times with your boat!

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save