Lake Chelan, WA Kokanee Fishing

Lake Chelan is a a prime destination for kokanee fishing in the North West. In this article we look at the amenities of the lake as well as a collection of fishing reports from the lake to help you be prepared to limit out on these fun and tasty land locked salmon.

Kokanee Fishing on Lake Chelan

Lake Chelan is located in central Washington, adjacent to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. It is over 50 miles long, and at 1,486 feet deep, is the third deepest lake in the United States, making it a perfect habitat for kokanee salmon to thrive. The lake is in Chelan County, about 1,100 feet in elevation, and is about a 2-3 hour car ride from Spokane or Seattle, or an hour north of Wenatchee.

Kokanee salmon and Cutthroat trout are the popular target of fishermen, but you can also find Rainbows, Bass, Crappie, and Bluegill in the lake. About a half a million kokanee are stocked into the lake every year, meaning that there are a lot of opportunities all throughout the lake to hook into one of these delicious landlocked salmon. The average kokanee at Lake Chelan is about 12-14″ long, but you can certainly find some bigger than that, and even the 12 inchers put up a good fight and are good eating.

Weather can turn nasty, so pay attention to things, especially if you’re in a smaller boat. Because the lake is so big, it can really get some big white caps and rough water, so pay attention and stay safe.

Amenities at Lake Chelan

As you could imagine for a lake that’s 50 miles long, there are several boat ramps, docks, and amenities around the lake. Probably the most popular boat launch for kokanee fisherman is at the Lake Chelan state park. Other popular boat ramps can be found at Party Point and at Memorial. There is lodging and other amenities in various places around the lake, including campgrounds, RV parks, hotels, and even some nicer resorts, making Lake Chelan a fantastic destination fishing experience for you, and even for family members who may not be as thrilled by the idea of fishing all day.

Where is Lake Chelan

How to Fish for Kokanee in Lake Chelan

The most popular way to fish for kokanee at Lake Chelan is trolling with a downrigger. You’ll want to troll at 1-1.8 mph with a kokanee rig, and I list the most popular gear below for that. You can also jig for kokanee but trolling is definitely the more popular option. You need to find the kokanee, get on them, and then work that school of kokanee until they move on. Then you find them again.

Lake Chelan Kokanee Fishing Spots

• The Yacht Club or Narrows,
• right above 25 mile,
• Mitchell Creek,
• Willow Point.

Lake Chelan is really big, and there are a lot more places where you can find kokanee, but these are the most commonly reported areas of success in the forums, social media groups, and fishing reports. If you’ve got a fish finder, you should be able to find schools of kokanee throughout the lake in deeper water, as long as you know what kokanee look like on a fish finder.

Most Common Depth for Finding Kokanee on Lake Chelan

As it gets warmer, kokanee salmon go deeper. They can be hard to find, but depending on the water temperature, you can find Kokanee salmon from 30’ to 200’ with an average being around 80’, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to consistently find them at 80’. Electronics are very important, and especially at Lake Chelan where the water is REALLY deep and kokanee depths can vary so drastically

Most Popular Kokanee Salmon Rig for Fishing Lake Chelan

I combed through several forums, fishing reports, and social media groups to figure out what tackle or setup most people were reporting having success with. Your most common kokanee trolling setups will probably work, but a little refinement and knowledge from locals never hurts. This is what people are reporting success with.

Best Colors for Chelan Kokanee

We went through years of kokanee fishing reports for Lake Chelan to tabulate the best colors. Here’s what did best:

• Pink
• Green
• Orange
• Purple
• Blue

Most Popular Lure or Hoochie at Lake Chelan

Squid hoochies are the most popular type of lure used on Lake Chelan, though wedding ring lures are pretty popular as well as well. Pink was by far the most popular lure color on the water, with green and orange as secondary choices. Any of the lures below will work well. I personally prefer the double hook kokanee lures, as kokanee strike out of aggression, and the two hooks provides twice the opportunity to hook into a kokanee.

Most Popular Dodger at Lake Chelan

There were several popular kokanee dodger colors according to the forums. According to the forums and groups, a pink dodger is the way to go. People also liked pink combos. Pink and silver, pink and orange, etc. Watermelon, pink and green, also falls into that category.

Most Popular Bait for Kokanee At Lake Chelan

The most popular bait to tip the hooks with at the end of your lure or hoochie is overwhelmingly shoe peg corn. Shoe peg corn is a more firm and resilient type of corn that can stay on the hook better and longer than regular sweet corn. The corn can also absorb scent and flavor, and it provides a kokanee something soft to bite into. If they aren’t hit on the first strike, they’re more likely to strike again. I’m a fan of fire corn, which is a dyed and scented corn.

Most Popular Scent at Lake Chelan

Kokanee are extremely sensitive to scents, so many anglers use a scent spray or gel to help both cover the human scent, and attract the kokanee. Gulp maggots or scented shoepeg corn can help cover that scent, but others like adding a gel as well. According to our analysis of the forums, the most popular scent is Anise, with Bloody Tuna coming in second, and a variety of garlic options coming in third.

About Kokanee Salmon

Kokanee salmon are sockeye salmon that are landlocked in fresh water. They primarily feed on Zoo plankton and are generally found in larger lakes that can maintain a cool temperature, or have enough depth to maintain a cool temperature. Kokanee are native to many lakes in the western United States and Canada including Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho in the United States and British Columbia and Yukon in Canada. Populations of kokanee salmon are also found in Japan and Russia. 

Additionally, kokanee have been introduced to many other lakes in the United States including in those states mentioned above as well as in Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico in the west, as well as in New England, New York and North Carolina in the east. Kokanee have also been introduced to lakes in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

Video of Lake Chelan Kokanee Fishing from Boat to the Belly

Other Fish You Can Catch Trolling for Kokanee at Lake Chelan

Landlocked Chinook Salmon

The Chinook salmon at Lake Chelan like to hang out close to the bottom usually. Even though these salmon are landlocked, these chinook still can get pretty big and are definitely good eating. They’re much harder to catch than kokanee, but its possible to hook into one when targeting kokanee.

Cutthroat Trout

There is a healthy cutthroat trout population at Lake Chelan, and there are 100,000 more stocked in the lake every year. Cutthroat trout are a lot of fun to catch and will often bite on the same gear as what you’d use for kokanee. At Lake Chelan the cutthroat are often in more shallow water than the kokanee.

Rainbow Trout

There aren’t as many rainbows in Lake Chelan as there are kokanee or cutthroat trout, but they’re there, and there’s a chance you’ll hook into one when fishing for kokanee. If you’re looking for table fare, I personally like the taste of kokanee vs rainbow trout, but they’re both a lot of fun to catch.

Lake Chelan Bag Limits:

• Kokanee 10
• Chinook 1
• Cutthroat 5
• Lake Trout No Limit

Lake Chelan Kokanee Fishing Specific Regulations

If you are fishing with bait, any kokanee that is within legal size limits that you catch is counted as part of your daily bag limit, whether you keep it or release it.
Make sure you check the Washington Fishing Regulations to stay up to date on any changes before hitting the water.