Sockeye returns to the upper Columbia have been consistently good in recent years. Often, like last year, they show up in numbers higher than the forecasts. Some anglers chase them all the way up the river. In my area the first real concentration of anglers that intercept the run is at Wanapum Dam. They pile up below the dam and you can see schools of them swirling around near the shore at the upper end of the “toilet bowl”, where anglers troll for both Chinook and sockeye. The next dam that offers good opportunities to get them is below Rocky Reach Dam. Anglers get in the line of trollers who circle the area below the dam, and heaven help the boat that goes against the grain or doesn’t get the speed right. You don’t want to have your boat over the baits of the boat ahead of yours. When everyone cooperates, this can be a pleasurable fishery. It only takes one boat to make things difficult. There is a “safety area” below Rocky Reach that everyone who fishes here should be aware of. A photo of this safety area is shown on the Fishing Magician dot com Facebook Page.