What’s hot is trolling for Lake Chelan Mackinaw early in the morning on Mack Bar.  Fishing up by the Yacht Club and along Minneapolis Beach has been sporadically productive.  One of our guides managed to boat and release a number of smaller Chinook between Lucerne and Stehekin during the reporting period. 

T-4 Purple Glow Flatfish off the downriggers and K-Lures off the outriggers have been the standbys for this morning pattern.  After 8 AM or so try the trench and the south shore intermediate water between 180 and 230 feet deep.  Fish F-7 Luminous Chartreuse flatfish, or Ace Hi Flies baited with a Northern Pikeminnow fillet off the Downriggers and Rushin Salmon Wobblers or whole herring off the outriggers.  We use 24 ounces of lead to get the outriggers down to the bottom.  For all of these presentations, 1.4 to 1.8 mph is the target speed.  Remember to keep your lure or bait as close to the bottom as possible without dragging to be consistently effective.  Also, remember to smear lures with a scent to cover up any sun screen, gasoline or other unpalatable scents that might have gotten on the lures. 

Whole herring and those baited Ace Hi Flies are the ticket for our landlocked Chinook.

I would recommend getting off the water between 11 AM to about 5 PM to avoid the heat and the pleasure boat traffic.  This is a great time to fish evening trips on Lake Chelan.  Those evenings are spectacular. 

Start to plan those October and November fishing trips to Rufus Woods.  Maybe that thirty-pound mark will get crushed up there this year. 

Roses Lake has been tough during the reporting period. 

The kids’ tip of the week is to use distraction as a tool to avoid confrontation.  Especially with 4 to 8 year old boys, redirecting off task annoying behavior is much easier using distraction rather than “stop” commands.  You would be amazed how many times my eyes fail me so that I need their help to read my downrigger readout or I see deer on Rocky Point or over at Sunnybank to divert their attention.  It really does work. 

The safety tip of the week is to watch out for that driftwood and remember to keep a safe distance from other vessels. 

Remember those $10 raffle tickets for four guided fishing trips being offered by the Lake Chelan Sportsman’s Association for their fund raiser.  Call Nicky Markey at 509-670-1118 for more information.

Pictured:  8/3/08 - James Smith (13) of Seattle with a 10 pound Lake Chelan Laker.  Darrell & Dad's Deckhand, Dominic Romiti is looking on.

Also Pictured:  8/1/08 - Brothers Paul and Curt Killian originally of Manson with their mornings catch of Lake Chelan Mackinaw.