Northwest Fishing Reports

Does anyone know if the boat ramps are open this weekend at kachess?

also any tips and hotspots for kokanee?

The national forest campground will be open for the memorial day weekend. It has the only public ramps on the lake and the paved one is very wide and will work at any lake level, the charge is around $7.00. There are no docks so, if it is windy, two people are almost a must to launch or retrieve a boat. Here is a link to the campground info and reservation page.

As for koke tips, this time of year you don't need go get too deep, 15' to 25' should do you just fine. If it is bright and sunny with no wind you may need to go deeper. If you run almost straight across from the paved launch you can start fishing once you 60+ feet in depth. Be mindful that this is a reservoir and you may encounter trees in waters less than 150' deep so keep an eye on the finder and mark them if you have gps. As for lures, I found that a small silver and red wedding ring type of spinner behind a small dodger or Mack's Flashlites works great. Tip with corn, maggots, worm, shrimp, gulp maggots, etc. and you should be good to go. The kokes aren't big, 10" is a good size for this lake, so don't horse them in or you'll tear the hook(s) right out of their mouth. You are allowed 16, I think, so keep whatever you catch, the lake needs some serious thinning. If you get froggy, you can go for Macks as they are in there in OK numbers. Also, make sure you know what a dolly/bull trout looks like as they need to be released, there will be signs at the launch.