The buzz on the street about what to expect for salmon fishing this summer is getting louder. As the usual July 1st opening day approaches I get more and more questions, and I thought I would share my best guess on what is going to unfold for this season. If the summer run fish show up as expected, which should be close to what we saw last year, we will have the same fisheries at about the same time as last year. That means we will be fishing off the mouth of the Entiat, at Chelan Falls and in the Brewster Pool. The season will open late, but we should be able to keep one hatchery Chinook. The real bright spot is the forecast for sockeye. They are already coming over Bonneville Dam in numbers that support the forecasts. When I looked at the dam counts last week sockeye are coming at a rate that is almost four times what it was last year at this time, and above the ten year average. This not only means we will likely be fishing for sockeye on the Columbia River this year, very possibly Lake Wenatchee. Better get your supplies. Sockeye gear will go fast this year.
Catching sockeye on Lake Wenatchee always puts a big smile on my face! This was taken on a nice August day a few years ago.