This report is for the trip with Bryan peck to fish the early Shoot Out Derby at Lake Chelan. We arrived at Chelan State Park late Thursday PM and fished Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Friday we pre-fished for the derby starting with some favorite spots 15 miles up lake. We caught fish on three colors lead core and downriggers set at 75 to 90 feet. Used our usual kokanee dodgers with spinners and orange scented corn. UV on the dodgers and purple spinners worked well along with shrimp flies. We caught a nice batch of fish (for Chelan this year) and figured we had it dialed in for the derby. The weather was pristine; wow!

Derby day 29th of February. Checked weather forecast; oh boy not good! Big wind event with a little rain possible for added fun. We trailered the boat over to Mill Bay for the 5:00 AM Captains meeting and got launched. The wind was blowing pretty hard already. Not good!! Oh well we had a plan and stuck with it. Up lake we went....narley to say the least. Arrived at our fishing spot and tried to fish as the wind blew harder out of the North. Waves BIG waves; don't get caught up there in that stuff without an adequate boat; big boat!! To say it was hairy would be an understatement. No fish for our reward. Moved back down lake and fished another spot finally mustering 9 fish for the day....not good! Did not even place in the derby; that's fishin'.

Awoke Sunday had coffee, hashbrowns, ham and eggs for breakfast. Now were ready to go fishing. Beautiful sunrise, no wind, perfect! Fished close to home and caught some really nice kokanee that would have placed well in the derby...go figure. Boat lunch served on the water, life is good! Another great trip for Bryan and Alan.

Tight lines everybody; stay safe. Alan - iFishSolutions

PS See you at the Big Horn Show in Spokane for some great deals on iTroll and autopilot.

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