I feel so rummy…

I just returned from a three day weekend of fishing Lake Wenatchee in tough fishing conditions. The wind was howling on Saturday, and then REALLY howling on Sunday, then Monday in comes a cold front with less wind but wet and turning off the bite. That said, what an Epic Adventure!

MY friend Robbie and I departed from Redmond Friday to meet up with NWFR members Randy (rseas) and his wife Karen. The plan was to fish on Saturday with Shane Moon of Moon’s Guide Service in conjunction with a contest we ran, as Shane gave away two seats to lucky NWFR members Rex and Manny. The original winner of the contest Danny was unable to come so he gave his seats to these two lucky anglers.

The drive over Stevens Pass was uneventful and we arrived at Midway RV Park in time for some dinner and a beer before heading off to bed for a 2:30am wake up call. Weekends at the Lake Wenatchee boat launch can be murder and we needed to get on the water and be ready and not in line for two hours. Mission accomplished, we were greeted by just four rigs ahead of us. Meanwhile, much to our dismay, a fairly strong wind was blowing down lake, not the forecasted 5mph winds to start the day. Ouch.

We met up with Shane and our contest winners. I headed out in the guide boat, camcorder gear in hand, and Randy, Karen, and Robbie took my (new) boat off into the lake. That shows you how much I trust Randy’s boating skills. If any of you didn’t know, Randy ran a charter business in California so he’s no amateur. I can honestly say I had no worries my boat was in good hands.

Shane ran us about halfway down the lake on the south shore, and by 5:30am we had four rods out and running. Standard gear for the sockeye on this lake, two red hooks and a “0” silver dodger with an 8-12” leader. He started us right off deep, from 78 to 105 feet on the riggers. Shane runs four downriggers, no stacking. I was impressed by his boating/fishing skills. It’s no easy task running into the wind and running four riggers! We sat back and waited for the fish, which didn’t take too long to start accommodating us. By 6am we had all gotten turns playing fish and it was the start of a good day filled with enjoyable conversation and action.

The morning progressed as we steadily added sockeye to our fish bag. Rex and Manny were experienced anglers so we didn’t loss too many, about what is average for sockeye fishing. The bite would come and go. Hot time periods were the first couple of hours and then again at 11am. We hit several doubles and one “almost” triple. The fish are colored up as is typical for this lake but they do cut nicely and except for one or two fish whose tails had begun to fade the flesh was a beautiful red and solid.

We had our limits by 11:30 and headed into the one lane launch to watch the circus that is Lake Wenatchee. It actually wasn’t too bad, in part because of the wind which kept the smaller boats off the water, and the late morning pleasure boaters from launching. I want to give a big “shout out” to Shane Moon for a wonderful day on the water. He really knows the fishery and fishing it almost daily means he is well aware of where to fish. If you have a chance to go after these tasty fish give him a call. He’ll be taking clients for another week or so, and then switch over to chinook on the Columbia. Moons Guide Service, 509-860-6497.

The next day, Sunday, we again went out at 2:30am, and got to the lake to find the wind howling in our faces. With the weather not so great the boat line was much easier. We launched and waited for daylight, then headed out to the far end of the lake. White caps were already up. We found the best method for boat control and fishing was to troll into the wind. After an ugly tangle of lines on a double that took a half hour to unravel we decided on running just two rods. I ran the main motor and Randy and Robbie ran the riggers. Karen, unfortunately, wasn’t feeling great so for her the day ended up being a boat ride. I will say, she was a trouper about it and would not come in until we were done.

The fish came tough and the winds grew ever stronger. Two foot swells now became the norm. We slowly caught a fish here and a fish there. Again, we were fishing deep, 75 to 105 feet, with the same standard sockeye gear. Randy did try a few variations but it didn’t seem to matter. I will say, we marked a lot of fish this whole trip. Shane was saying there could be upwards of 70,000 fish returning to the lake this year.

By noon I was done and was the first to cry “uncle”. The ride back to the launch was interesting, surfing on the crest of (now) three foot white caps. Everyone else had long since gotten off the lake. I was very pleased with the capabilities of my boat; it handled the weather like a champ! Final count for Sunday - six fish.

Randy and Karen were heading off to Chelan, so it was just Robbie and I fishing Monday. Our plan had been to sleep in late, um, 4am, and then head off to fish kokanee elsewhere. However, when we awoke the wind had died down to a very manageable amount and the lake didn’t look too bad. “What the heck” we decided to give it one more try since we had travel limits we could still fill.

A quick and easy launch followed by a run to the far end of the lake and we had gear down by 5:30am. We even managed to stack one rod. The fishing however, was slow. We saw a fair bite around 9am and had a few bites ourselves, but for the most part the fish were not cooperating. To make matters more frustrating our friend Mr. Wind had returned and he brought along Mr. Rain. It was just enough rain to make things that much more miserable. By noon the bite was dead and after being blown down lake for an hour with no bumps we decided to call it a trip. Final count for today was just two sockeye.

Despite the challenging conditions and early starts it was a blast fishing Lake Wenatchee. The scenery is great and the fishing was pretty good all things considered. Getting up at 2:30AM meant we’d do 2-3 hour afternoon naps which worked out OK. A big highlight of the trip – Randy’s incredible dinners! If you ever get invited to dinner with Randy don't pass it up.

I just finished processing my fish and will have freshly frozen sockeye to share with friends and family and enjoy into the winter.

Another successful fishing adventure to add to my memory book!

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