Deepwater Trolling For Lake Chelan Mackinaw

August 2011
Deepwater Trolling For Lake Chelan Mackinaw
By Anton Jones, Mack’s Lure Guide Staff
guided fishing, I have fished over
2,000 days on Lake Chelan.
In 2001 WDFW removed the limit
on mackinaw in an effort to keep the
fishery in balance. Since that time,
we have averaged between 1 and
2 fish per hour per boat. Although
there is a large variance in that number, the consistency of this fishery
on a day-to-day basis is amazing.
Basic Principles:
Knowing the right techniques for fishing for Big Mac’s on Lake
Chelan can produce these kind of results.
I fish for a living on Lake Chelan for mackinaw (aka: lake trout).
These unique fish were introduced
into Lake Chelan around 1982 to
capitalize on the lake’s burgeoning Mysis Shrimp population and
to provide additional big fish recreational opportunities beyond what
the existing landlocked Chinook
provide.
Mackinaw get big in Lake Chelan
- really big! The lake and state records currently stand at 35 pounds
7 ounces. Most fish average 2-7
pounds. What defines a big fish at
Lake Chelan? Personally, I believe
10 pounds qualifies, and anything
over 15 pounds on Lake Chelan is a
trophy. There are a few fish caught
over 20 pounds every year and on
rare occasions some lucky angler
will even reel in one weighing 25
pounds or more.
I fished for mackinaw on Lake
Chelan for the first time in 1993.
It marked a time when mackinaw
were surpassing Chinook as the preeminent fish on Lake Chelan. I began guiding for mackinaw in 2000.
I estimate between recreational and
While there are a variety of ways
to fish for lake trout, I specialize in
deepwater trolling. This allows me
to contact more fish than jigging
or still fishing. The first and most
important thing to remember when
fishing Lake Chelan is proximity
to the bottom. No matter how you
choose to fish, what you choose to
use to entice fish or what geographic location you choose to fish on in
Lake Chelan, you must fish close
to the bottom to consistently catch
fish. The depths we troll make everything about it more technical
than most other recreational fishing.
Over ninety percent of my fishing
is in depths from 120’ to 350’ deep.
Most days that I fish, I am fishing
within five feet of the bottom in
depths over 200 feet. I rarely fish in
depths shallower than 100’.
The second most important thing
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for this deepwater trolling application is speed control. Because of the
depths we fish, it can be difficult to
maintain that correct “fish catching”
speed. Drag created by the gear you
are trolling and wind can greatly affect your speed. Remember each
lure or bait that you troll with has an
optimal speed. To consistently and
effectively troll them you must be at
that speed. Some lures have a very
narrow range of effectiveness.
Something else to keep in mind is
scent control. Remember that over
200’ deep there is no light penetration. Therefore, mackinaw must use
their sense of smell to locate and attack prey. Don’t let your trolled lure
or bait have a “bad” smell on it!
Tools of the trade:
A boat that is laid out well, and is
seaworthy enough to handle threefoot waves in windy conditions is
what you want. The boat should be
equipped with a high-powered depthfinder, electric downriggers and a
way of monitoring your speed. While
not necessary, a Autopilot will make
your life a lot easier. I have a depthfinder with 8000 watts of power
and a 10.5-inch screen. This allows
me to identify fish and bottom density well below 400 feet with a high
degree of certainty. Electric downriggers are the most efficient way to
help you maintain that proximity to
the bottom, which is the prime directive on Lake Chelan. I have used
electric downriggers since the mid
‘90’s and have found them suited
to the task. I spool them up with
more than 500’ of 200# test, attach
a 12-pound downrigger ball and a
Pro Release. You must constantly
touch the bottom and raise the ball
to maintain that tight proximity to
the bottom. Other methods such as
manual downriggers or using heavy
weight attached to your fishing line
will tend to fatigue you.
I use the GPS to monitor my
speed. Newer GPS units have finally achieved reasonable accuracy below 2mph. It’s additional capability of showing your map location,
marking “hot spots” and allowing
you to precisely return to them are
additional advantages. The less expensive option is a mechanical speed
indicator. The Auto pilot allows me
to set a heading and a speed thereby
allow me to focus more of my attention on keeping the lures near the
bottom by making more downrigger
adjustments.
I believe in long limber rods with
a parabolic bend. I have used 9’
light action rods for years and believe them well suited to the task.
A reel should have a smooth drag
and large cranking handle. A large
number of mackinaw manage to get
away because they shake their heads
as well as twist and turn which can
tear hooks out of poorly hooked fish
if they get the leverage to do it. A
long limber rod and a light drag setting can prevent fish from getting
that leverage.
I spool all our trolling reels with
30# test. Because of its small diameter and low stretch, this super braid
is the line we choose. The low diameter reduces the resistance in the
water, which lessens “blow-back”
from the rod tip to the downrigger
ball. The lack of stretch allows us to
“read” what is happening very accurately. I have found that by attaching a stiff mono leader to the braid
before attaching a lure we increase
our bite rate. We choose 30# Fluroclear for this task.
Almost any lure or bait that you
can catch other game fish on can be
used to catch mackinaw. The trick
is to precisely present that lure at its
optimal speed near the bottom in
great depths. I highly recommend
that you initially use lures that func-
tion well at speeds less than 2 mph
with low drag. This lessens “blow
back” and makes turning less complicated. Mack’s Lure Cha Cha
Squidders in glow colors are a great
choice. They feature a Smile Blade
which definitely allows for the slow
trolling speeds and low drag.
Locations:
Remember, proximity to the bottom is more important than geographic location on Lake Chelan.
With that being said, we fish primarily in the lower basin of Lake Chelan, the bottom 15 miles of the 53mile long lake. Our three primary
areas are: Mack Bar just off the Mill
Bay boat launch; the trench, which
is the centerline of the lake that extends downlake from Rocky Point
for approximately 1 mile and in the
Narrows near the Yacht Club. That
will give you a start. The trench is
the kindest bottom for this style of
fishing. The area around the Yacht
Club will cost you the most gear
due to a rocky and obstruction-laden bottom. As you get confidence,
there is plenty of fish and space to
develop your own locations.
If you follow the outline presented here, you should be able to have
some success, begin to build confidence and hopefully come to embrace deepwater trolling for Mackinaw on Lake Chelan.
I’ll see you on the water.
Page two
left. He assured me that wasn’t nec- for years.”
essary.
Stan’s Space
“How wrong that turned out to
be!” I doubt he had ever attempted to
Practice Makes Perfect
cast with a level wind reel. He never
It Also Puts More Fish In even picked up one of the outfits I’d
brought along for him. His experiThe Boat
ence with a spinning reel had evidently been limited to trolling. He’s
By Hall-of-Fame Angler
a heck of a good guy and I value
Stan Fagerstrom
his friendship, but if anybody could
Part 2 of 3
have used a little practice before
Practice casting is certain to put getting on the water, it was him.
more fun into your fishing. It’s also
It takes practice to learn how to use a
going to make it a whole lot more
level wind reel successfully. The sooner
pleasant for your fishing companyou accept that, and then do something
ion.
about it, the sooner you’ll be assured of
When I wrote my previous colgetting your share of the fish.
umn about the importance of pracSo what was the result of my
tice, I immediately thought of what
friend’s experience? If you’re an exa friend told me about a couple of
perienced angler yourself, you could
friends he had taken along on fishundoubtedly guess. The first guy,
ing adventures, each at a different
the one who didn’t see the need for
time.
practice, had an awful time. When
he wasn’t hung up in the trees, he
was picking at tangles. As a result
he didn’t catch as many fish as he
should have.
See that submerged stump in the
“That wasn’t how it went with
foreground? That’s where that bass
Bob,” my friend told me. “He was a
was holding. The successful angler had
pleasure to have in the boat. He was
to get his lure in there just right to get
able to put his lure on target darn
the fish to hit.
near all the time. As it turned out,
“I well remember the reaction of he caught more fish than I did and I
the other friend who I invited to ac- think he went home happy about the
company me on the same kind of entire experience.”
trip. I was again to provide all of
I expect I’ve done about as much
You can bet Joe Bullock, of Califorthe equipment we’d use once we preaching about the importance of
nia, knows how to match his tackle to
got there. “Jack,” this friend said, casting practice as anybody in the
the problems he’s up against and that
“any chance I could come down and country. As I mentioned in my prehe has practiced enough to be expert in
spend a day or two with you before vious column, I’ve been at it since
using whatever gear he selects. That’s
we go? I’ve not used a level wind I gave my first casting exhibition
what lets him take huge bass like this
reel much and I’d like to practice more than half a century ago.
monster out of Mexico’s famed Lake El
with it a bit if that works out for
There’s no question about it, castSalto.
you.”
ing practice is essential if you hope
My friend went on to tell me how to ever catch your share of fish. The
“I asked both of these guys a few
questions well ahead of the time we the second of his two friends did sooner you accept that, and do somewere to leave,” he says. “I was to come to stay with him a day before thing about it, the sooner you’ll join
provide the equipment and I need- their departure for the trip. He set that 10 per cent of anglers who catch
ed to know what kind of gear they up a couple of targets out in his yard about 90 per cent of the fish.
and gave this guy, his name was
There are certain steps to take that
could handle.”
“Charlie, the first of the two I Bob, a couple of the same reels he’d can be of great help if you do decide
took, assured me he was familiar be using when they got to where to practice your casting. I’ll detail
what some of the important basics
with both level wind reels as well they were going.
You’d like Bob. I’d heard that are in my next column.
as open faced spinning reels. As a
result I put together four bait cast- he was competitive in anything he
ing rigs and a couple of spinning tackled. He sure as heck was. In no
-To Be Continuedoutfits. I asked him if he’d like to time at all he was handling my level
do a little practice casting before we wind reels like he’d been using them
Page three
Cookin’ Your
Grilled Mackinaw
Lake Trout
Mackinaw lake trout are very
similar to the salmon. They are
abundant in the waters of Lake
Chelan, Priest Lake, Lake Tahoe,
and other area lakes. They have a
tender pink flesh that is very reminicent of the Salmon. Although
there are many ways to cook this
fish; baked, broiled, fried, grilled,
poached and steamed, the recipe
below is one of my favorites. I like
to serve this with a Wild Huckleberry Sauce.
Ingredients:
• Large lake trout, cleaned
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange
juice
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries,
huckleberries, or blueberries
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
Question of the Month
Have a question? We’d love
to
answer it! Contact us at
Directions:
mackslure@mackslure.com if you
have
a question you would like to
Place the trout on a large piece of
aluminum foil. Rub the trout with
oil and season with salt and pepper. Q: I recently watched, and enjoyed,
Pour orange juice over the trout. a TV show on the Versus channel
Place berries over the trout. Fold up where they were fishing on Apache
the aluminum foil to create a sealed Lake. There was a rigging I saw
packet. Place the packet on the grill which got my attention, a swimand cook for about 4 - 10 minutes ming Senko with a Smile Blade in
per side (depending on the size of front of it. I was wondering if you
your fish). Remove from the grill could explain how to rig it?
and let rest for 5 minutes. Carefully
open the foil packet (there will be A: That is a very effective way to
steam) and sprinkle with the basil.
rig. Stan Fagerstrom did a great 3part article about how to use and rig
the Smile Blades that way called
“He Busts ‘Em with a Blade” and it
is posted on the Mack’s Lure website. Go to Stan’s Corner, archives,
2008. Part 3 has illustrations of the
rig as well. Here is a direct link
http://www.mackslure.com/index.
php?c_ref=61
LET’S EAT!!!
Photo of the Month
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This 29 lb. 14 oz. Lake Trout was caught on Lake Chelan using a 1.9 Glo
Gold Tiger Smile Blade. Photo submitted by Guide Joe Heinlen.
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