With all the reports of monster kokes coming out of Chelan, the Fish Princess and I decided to go on the prowl to find a few of our own.

Left home at about 0445 and was putting the boat in the water around 0800. Made a quick run out from the Mill Bay Park launch and set the gear down. Ran an assortment of sling blades with hoochies, mylar pop gear with wedding rings, and Jack Lloyd's with spin 'n glows. Varied our depth to match the schools we marked and changed speed regularly. Induced two strikes, both on sling blade and hoochie combos. Unfortunately we could not coax either of the aboard the vessel. So 0/2 on kokes, and with the day waning and a long drive in front of us, I decided to go after a sure thing so the Fish Princess could at least bring something home.

Broke out the heavier rods and the Ace Hi flies and sent one to the bottom in about 175' baited with a strip of herring. Kept a couple of kokanee rigs fishing on the other rigger just in case. Took about 15 minutes to get it all dialed-in and get the gear consistently near bottom and as soon as I did it was FISH ON! Offered the rod to the Fish Princess and she decided I should reel it in. Got our prize to the surface and almost to the boat where the Fish Princess was waiting with the net and I'll be darned if this one didn't come unbuttoned too. Bummer too as this was clearly the largest lake trout I had hooked in Lake Chelan. Fortunately for us, the critter was bloated with air from its ascent from the depths so it was struggling to right itself and swim back to the bottom. A quick turn of the boat and an expert scoop by the Fish Princess rendered the struggling mackinaw ours and also rendered the downrigger cable (still trailing 2 rods worth of kokanee gear) prisoner to the kicker motor.

We photographed our catch and got it on ice then set to task on retrieving about 90 feet of downrigger cable by hand and securing it so it wouldn't also foul the main motor. Got back to the boat launch safely and loaded the boat on the trailer. Cleaned the fish and got it back on ice then set to task on unwinding the downrigger cable from the motor and back onto the downrigger before heading for home. Will be replacing the cable soon.

All-in-all a nice day fishing despite the challenges and a Chamber of Commerce day on the lake. Just wish we had landed one or two silver bullets...maybe next time!

Tight Lines!

Fish Dawg

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