It is no common to see trout in your catch. Those are some dandies. Thought they were steelhead they are so biiiiiiiiig. Had to do a double take, checking the tails to see if you did a lake Chelan trip and a Rufus trip. What is the length and weight of those Rainbow trout Joe? Also, are the Renbow caught a the same depth as the Lakers? I would think not.........but??????????

Caught on the surface in Lake Chelan...This time of the year it's not uncommon to get some nice Bows in the lower basin because of the bug life disappearing in the upper lake so these bows migrate to the lower basin where food is more plentiful..Length on these bows were 22 to 24 inches..2 to 4 lbs..They are more like little steelhead than Rainbows..they are really Gorgeous Fish!!!!

WOW, Your catches continue to amaze and astound. 29 fish in a half day trip, Happy customers and loads of fillets. Hate to say it Joe, But you're going to have to get a bigger pole to hold the fish. LOL Keep up the awsome work.

Joe, this is the best catching report I have seen from lake Chelan, congratulations to you and your party, beautiful Rainbows.

I was told by a Chelan PUD biologist that on Memorial Day weekend 2011, they stocked a truckload of triploids in Lake Chelan, all 2-4 pounders. My spike in incidental catches of rainbow (over past years) while bass fishing this year seem to indicate some truth to that story. Further proof seems provided by Joe's pictures. I would like to hear a biologist's scientific data on the validity of rainbows migrating from the upper lake to the lower basin. To me, the evidence (increased catch of large rainbows) seems to point towards proof that the stocking did occur, rather than a feeding migration. Regardless, no on can argue that those are nice rainbows.

You are right that they stocked bows in the lake and they hung around the lower basin for sometime but they did spread out. We did fish up lake and caught these Triploids that they planted at the Dock in Safety harbor in September so I do know even the Triploids Migrate. Right now I am fishing in the Deep water and managed to catch a Rainbow last week 148ft deep...that is the first bow I have caught in Lake Chelan below 100ft.

Don't the triploid trout have worn tails if freshly planted in a lake? The trout in your pictures do not look like they have beat up tails at all. Is looking at the condition of the tails a reasonable method for identifying trips and non triploid trout?