Here is the latest fishing report from Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad’s Family Guide Service:
We have made it through our first big cold snap of the winter and now we are getting our first significant snow fall, but our early winter pattern of trolling the Barrens and the Trench for Mackinaw on Lake Chelan continues hot. Also continuing hot is bank fishing and trolling for planter Rainbow Trout on Lake Chelan. The occasional holdover triploid rainbow is a bonus. Roses Lake has received it’s winter rainbow trout plant and is providing hot action for planter sized rainbows. The Upper Columbia River has been providing fair action for steelhead and other fish in the early fall.
We troll for these mostly eating sized Lakers from 220 to 245 feet deep. Fish within 3 to 5 feet of the bottom and keep your speed around .8 to 1.3 mph. Glow in the dark Smile Blades from Mack’s Lure continue to be the go to attractor here on Lake Chelan. Put those in front of a 4 inch needlefish squid rig by Silver Horde, bait them with a piece of Northern Pikeminnow and scent everything with Pautzke’s Krill Juice to keep yourself consistently into the fish. These fish are completely jammed full of Mysis shrimp. This in turn makes the meat especially delectable. While we find those mysids in our Lakers all year, this late fall / early winter time really concentrates that feed in the lower basin to fatten up our fish.
Rainbow trout on Lake Chelan can be caught by a variety of methods. Catch them from shoreline locations with Pautzke’s Firebait in American Wildfire using a 30” leader on a slip sinker rig. You can also catch them trolling using Mack’s Lure Mini Cha Cha Squidders behind a Mack’s Lure 0000 Double D Dodger. Bait those mini cha cha’s with a piece of worm or a small nugget of Pautzke’s Fire Bait.
Pautzke’s Fire Bait will also work well from the shore on Roses Lake for planter sized Rainbow Trout. WDFW planted approximately 16,000 fish that were 2.4 fish to the pound. Those are about 9” fish. So far, Roses hasn’t frozen over and shore anglers are limiting in less than an hour.
Your fishing tip of the week is to take a page out of the tournament anglers strategy book and prepare plans A, B, C and maybe even D to make efficient use of your precious “on the water” time. This could mean rigging trolling gear and lining up lures so that if plan A’s presentation you can work through your progressions without having to search and then tie knots with chilly fingers. If you are going to switch from still fishing to casting, have those rigs prepared and ready to put into action. This requires thinking ahead and preparing at home. Keeping your presentation in a prime location in an attractive way will make you more successful. It’s only logical.
For more information go to Darrell & Dad’s Family Guide Service website or 866-360-1523.