by Dave Graybill, August 02, 2014

Fish are mean. They seem to know when you really want to catch them and turn their backs on you. I had my daughter over for a visit recently, and convinced her that she was going to go back home with a load of fresh sockeye. Well, the fish didn’t see it that way.

The week started off good enough. Rollie Schmitten invited Doug Pendleton, from Plain, and me to join him for a morning of sockeye fishing on Lake Wenatchee. We were into fish almost immediately, and Doug, who had never caught a sockeye, was soon posing for a photo with a dandy. There was a fishing party happening on the lake that morning. People were catching fish all around us, too. We lost some fish as usual, but headed in at 8:30 with six sockeye in the cooler.


My daughter, Whitney, had tasted sockeye that I had given her, and was very excited about getting some for her freezer. We usually make a trip to Banks Lake and fish for smallmouth bass. She loves the action and we take a couple of swim breaks during the day on the scenic lake. However, I told her that the sockeye fishing was really good, and even convinced her and my wife Eileen to get up and at an ungodly hour to run up and fish the Brewster Pool.

I am used to rolling onto the fishing grounds with happy waves and greetings and seeing nets up all over the place. This time everyone was glum and quiet. Anglers were holding up their hands in the familiar gesture for “got any fish”, and I was just shaking my head, like everyone else. I have never seen the fishing so poor in the Brewster Pool. The recent rain had dumped cold water into the Okanogan and many of the fish moved up stream. Those that were still in the Pool weren’t biting. My fish finder was full of marks, but I didn’t get a single hit. I tried for a couple of hours and then just left. I never saw a net out the whole time we were there.

I thought, let’s go home, check the wind on Lake Wenatchee, and if it’s calm head up there. It will be easy to get sockeye on the lake. When we arrived home I pulled up the web cams that show both Lake Wenatchee and Fish Lake and they were both like a mirror. Not a breath of wind. We piled back into the truck and drove up there from Leavenworth. When we pulled into the State Park I couldn’t believe what I saw. Big waves were breaking on the beach and there were white caps all over the lake! We decided to bag it and go fishing again on Sunday.

I wasn’t exactly sure what we were going to do on Sunday, until a friend called and said that there were swarms of kings above Wells Dam. He had hooked two and landed one from the shore on a bobber and jig! Well, that made making plans on where to go an easy one. We didn’t need to get up early either, which made it even easier to convince my crew that this plan would be a winner. Not only could we look for sockeye above the dam, the kings were so thick that navigation may be a problem.

When we arrived I made a beeline to the east side of the dam, and sure enough there were sockeye rolling all along the rip rap. I had brought bobber and jig rigs and we began casting to the rolling fish. We cast and cast and actually got a couple of hits, but didn’t hook any. I had my sockeye box along so switched to trolling and still couldn’t catch anything. We had a couple of bites and that was all. I then brought out the Super Baits and began trolling is this area, and clear around the debris barrier to the other side. I have actually caught some nice fish over here, but it wasn’t going to happen for me on Sunday. Not a single strike.

I had an ace in the hole, though. Rollie Schmitten’s daughter was also in town and he invited Whitney and I to come up for a father-daughter sockeye fishing trip on Monday morning. We had just three hours of sleep, but the thought of finally getting some fish had my daughter pumped! We launched the boat and headed to the spot that Schmitten had been consistently getting fish every day, and began trolling. We saw a net out here and there, but nothing like we were used to seeing on the lake. We talked to other anglers as we trolled by and they couldn’t believe how slow it was. Everyone was asking about what depth to fish and if we had got any. We had been getting some bites and lost a fish or two, so we could suggest some depths to try, but we had nothing in the cooler. There were a lot of frustrated anglers on the lake that day. We tried one side of the lake and then the other. Our riggers were sent down as deep as almost 90 feet at one point. Trying every depth, speed and half-dozen different rigs still couldn’t improve our catch. We quit at 8 o’clock, with six good bites but nothing to show for it. Schmitten couldn’t remember ever getting skunked before on Lake Wenatchee.

On the way home Whitney and I agreed. She would not be allowed to fish for salmon anymore. In fact she agreed to be banned from any boat that was even fishing for salmon. She is a jinx plain and simple. See what I mean. Fish are mean.

The good news is that we have some really hot days forecast and that should take care of the problem at the mouth of the Okanogan and the Brewster Pool. Just in time, too. The Budweiser-Lowrance King Salmon Derby is this weekend. The thermal barrier should be firmly back in place and the fishing for both kings and sockeye should be great. We talked to many anglers on our sockeye trips that are signed up for the derby, and you still have time. Registrations are being taken until 9 p.m. on Thursday night. You can get the details on the derby by visiting the web site at www.brewstersalmonderby.com.

I am having the worst streak of bad luck that I can remember, but it isn’t going to stop me. There are just too many great fishing prospects out there and I am going to get back on the horse and go!

FishingMagician.com