Eastern Washington Fishing Report 05.02.19
Mother nature threw us a curve for the opener for our area lowland lake opener this last weekend. Colder temperatures and high winds made fishing a test for the most dedicated angler.
Chopaka Lake (WA)
Even with the temperamental weather, those that plied the water were rewarded with some hard-fighting rainbows. The weather must have kept a few of our traveling fly angler home for the weekend because the number of boats on the lake was only moderate. In between the rain, snow, and high winds, you could see several rods bent over with fat feisty rainbows on the other end.
The diehard chironomid anglers were anchored up in their normal areas on the south end of the lake, and the action was pretty good with strike indicators going under on a pretty regular basis. Black chironomids or other styles of dark chironomids seemed to be enticing the best results. Casting leeches was the next best action. Those that were working more of the shallow waters in the five to 10 feet range were having good results. Some of the leeches that were being used were; #8-#10 olive 420 Cali, #10-12 olive or black simi seal leeches, and a #10 slight leech in olive and black. Now that the opening weekend is behind us and if the weather improves, angler activity at the lake will pick up considerably.
Blue Lake-Sinlahekin (WA)
Blue Lake is one of my go-to lakes because of the possibility of catching a nice size brown trout. Based on the smiles and pictures I was shown from a few of the guys that came into the shop, I would say blue was doing well. The biggest smile came from a gentleman that showed me a photo of a 24-inch brown that he caught. There have been good catch reports of browns from 16-inches all the way up to the aforementioned one along with tiger trout in the 16-inch range. Plus, there were a few rainbows from 14 to 18 inches. Once again, #16 to #14 chironomids in black and dark olive were working well. Plus, small leech patterns in the #12 to #10 sizes in blacks and olives were getting most of the attention too. Chan’s BMW in dark/olive or black or a black/olive, olive or black slight leech will do the trick also.
Aeneas Lake (WA)
The pressure on the lake this last weekend was light. There was, maybe, a half dozen boats on the lake at any given time. Even though the wind was fierce on Saturday, there were some brave souls that pushed on. I guess you can say they were justly rewarded with their due diligence. Most of the rainbows were between 14 to 18 inches with a couple pushing the 20-inches mark. Also, there were a couple of browns reported -including one that went over the 22-inches range.
Black unweighted leeches seemed to be the go-to fly. Based on what the guys were restocking, the #10 black hale bopp leech was the choice. A couple of other leech patterns that were working well were the #8 black/red goat leech and the #10 black/red swimming leech. A couple of anglers reported doing okay with #16 black and red chironomid and a Rowley’s gray boy #14. Finally, the water clarity is really good and should fish even better with improved weather in the forecast.
Omak Lake (WA)
Better late than never. We now are starting to see pods of fish moving throughout the shallow areas. Now mind you, this can change from day to day, but it is happening. Of late, the size of the fish seems to be a little more than what they were in the last few weeks. The south area, (Cowpie Beach) has seen a little more in the area of the number of fish being caught compared to the north end, (Nicholson Beach). A number of fish over the 20-inches mark are being caught as well as a few over 30 inches.
With that being said, I would recommend using a 6-weight to an 8-weight rod. It seems an olive, black, or purple balanced leech is the go-to fly pattern. You’ll want to suspend that under an indicator at about five feet and adjust up or down until you find what the fish like. Also, some of the other patterns that are working too are bloodworms, also under an indicator. If you have a boat, you’ll want to work the far east side of the lake in some of the small bays and rock face areas that have structure. If it looks like a sunny day with little wind, be on the water at sun up and fish till about 11:00 a.m., then come back around 4:00 p.m. and fish until dark. If, however, it is overcast or a little windy, fish until 12:00 p.m. and then return around 2:00 p.m.
Things started out slowly but are now picking up and should continue to be good for another three to four weeks but, I am talking about fishing and my crystal ball fell on a rock and cracked. So, I can’t make any guarantees.
See past reports from the Omak region, or click here to view all northwest regional reports.