I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July Holiday. Summer is in full swing now with lots of great family activities planned I am sure. Something to watch for, you salmon anglers out there, are the numbers of summer runs passing over Bonneville Dam. They are very encouraging!
I recently traveled to Hayden, Idaho to check on the progress of the rigging of the new Thunder Jet Luxor. The folks at Mark’s Marine wanted me to come over and check on the placement of a few items that are going on the boat, like the placement of the 12 inch Garmin at the helm. They also wanted to show me how they had mounted the transducer mount for the Garmin Active Target 360 unit. Instead of the typical gunnel placement, they mounted the bracket on the offshore platform. This assures the best performance of the unit as it clears the bottom of the hull. This placement works with this model of the Thunder Jet Luxor as it is built with a transom door. There is easy access to the mounting bracket to tilt it for travel or remove it from the boat, with the flip of a couple of switches. Since the Garmin Active Target 360 is operated with a remote, there is no need to reach the unit to change the direction that it is reading. This is just one of the thoughtful details that Mark’s Marine puts into the rigging a boat in their shop.
When I was in Hayden, Idaho visiting the folks at Mark’s Marine, I planned to be there a couple of days. John Calder, sales manager, knew I would be around, so he called Tony Johnson, who delivers boats for Mark’s Marine and is an active angler. Tony said he would be happy to take me fishing the next morning and he and his fishing buddy Joe Cimino picked me up at the dealership. He thought the best fishing in the area at that time would be for kokanee on Lake Coeur d’Alene, and we put his Thunder Jet in the water at the Sun Up Bay boat ramp, at the south end of the big lake. We ran out to the bay where a friend had found fish earlier and put two rigs out on downriggers and one out the back on a snap weight. We sorted through blade and spinner colors and found that pink hoochies worked the best. We headed for the dock at about noon with eleven kokanee in the live well, and we lost at least that many. Most of the fish were in the 16 to 18 inch class. What a morning! This week’s photo is of a couple of kokanee that we caught.
I want to thank all of you that have subscribed to the FishingMagician.com Facebook page. It may not seem like much, but it really helps keep me on the road and afloat to do the reports that I do. You will soon be seeing information about fishing opportunities in north Idaho, in addition to the areas that I have been covering for years. All of this costs. The time and travel, fuel and licenses, etc. I also wanted to let you know that I have recently produced a series of videos that include reviews of some of my favorite products. These will be available only to subscribers to the FishingMagician.com Facebook page. Things that I personally use when I am fishing for the different species available to us in this region. There are some tips and tricks that I share with subscribers as well. If you like what I do and want to learn more about what I use to catch fish and the products that I personally prefer, just click on the Subscriber button on my page. Thanks in advance!
I recently posted a success story about the sockeye returns to the Skagit River and the Baker River. It is really great to hear about the rebound of this run. With the closure of the Columbia River to sockeye fishing this year, you can bet that anglers will be flocking to Baker Lake. I have considered going over there as it is a very scenic place to fish and the sockeye are reported to be even larger than the ones that we catch at Lake Wenatchee. However, the prospect of trying to even get out on the water and then the crowd on the lake isn’t something I would not want to experience. While some fisheries are on the rebound the Columbia River sockeye run is tanking. Recently, less than 70,000 sockeye had passed over Bonneville Dam. I think there is very little hope that this run will approach the forecast of 274,000. The sockeye forecast for the 2026 season has been downgraded to 87,200. Even the hope of a season on Lake Wenatchee is getting doubtful, although it is a separate run. There are other fishing opportunities that I have missed out on due to the time I spent on Lake Wenatchee the past few years. This would be the year to take advantage of them.
My neighbor, Heidi Swoboda, is a professional photographer and has hosted meetings for the Professional Photographers of Washington at her home here in Leavenworth. Last weekend was just such an occasion and one of the activities that Heidi offered was to go to Fish Lake to get some shots of the ospreys and bald eagles. I was invited to go along and pilot one of the three pontoon boats that she had reserved for the morning at the Cove Resort. When we arrived, there were white caps on the main lake, and it was decided it would be best to stay in the cove at the resort where the water was calm and it was a lot warmer as we were out of the chilly wind. We were able to get some shots of blue herons, ospreys and eagles right in this bay. The wind settled down a bit, and we were entertained by more ospreys and eagles. I didn’t really get a chance to attract the birds near the boat by tossing small perch out on the water. Still, the chatter of camera shutters was heard throughout the morning, and everyone enjoyed the outing.
