Northwest Fishing Reports

I looked at recent reports and the fact that there is no limit on lake trout doesnt seem to effect them at all. Would you wanna see a limit on lake trout? For Lake Chelan.

flyfisher31 wrote:I looked at recent reports and the fact that there is no limit on lake trout doesnt seem to effect them at all. Would you wanna see a limit on lake trout? For Lake Chelan.

I don't fish for Lake Trout but I do hit up Chelan for the Kokanee that they feed on. I'm all about lowering the competition.
I can understand why the Lake Trout feed on the Kokanee, they taste better...

Also the lakers compete for the same food that the Chinook salmon in there eat and I think they are the main species of mention in that body of water. The population of lakers is very healthy and I don't see a need to regulate the numbers the fishery has been operating for years and the population of Lake Trout continues to boom.

Bottom line is they aren't native around here. They were planted on the sly some time ago in many of the deep lakes. They've eaten most of the native stocks of trout and other fish.

Other states (Idaho & Montana) actually pay a $ bounty on lakers. Flathead Lake and Lake Pend Orielle both are overly infested with lakers. We've gone over and fished for a week and paid for all of our expenses with bounty money. Once established in a lake they tend to take over the food chain and other game fish species go into decline. They are difficult to manage as they rarely are river spawners. They just broadcast spawn over rocky areas of the lake bottom.

flyfisher31 wrote:I looked at recent reports and the fact that there is no limit on lake trout doesnt seem to effect them at all. Would you wanna see a limit on lake trout? For Lake Chelan.

Hey ya flyfisher31 , just a question of curiosity, and totally conversationally. I was wondering what brought the question to mind. I agree with the others on the lakers in lake chelan. They seem to be proliferating, and they do like to feed on the kokes.

This issue has come up in the past. Here is a letter Anton Jones shared with us a while ago corresponding with WDFW.

Lakes WDFW

And Anton also wrote this interesting piece:

Managing a Complex Fishery, Lake Chelan

I will say, it sure seems like the supplies of lakers haven't been dented - yet. How long this will go on is anyone's guess I think.

I will echo Anton's comments about Catch and Release... It's pretty much futile for the smaller lakers... Their air bladder expands and they are just stuck on the surface. We only need a couple for a dinner or two when we go, so I have tried catch and release a couple of times but eventually had to keep the fish and stop fishing.

Anton recommended that I keep 'em and smoke 'em to take home.

I think the lake gets very little pressure given the size of the lake (we only fish about the bottom 13 miles or so) and complexity of lake trout fishing (go deep), and I don't think we will ever make a dent in the population just with recreational angling, mostly during the summer...

Just make sure you take lots of ice so you can keep them super cold in the hot weather, and they are good eating! We skin them before cooking them to reduce the fishy taste, as well...

agreed, consider the lake is what, 50 miles long? Fish at the upper to middle end will spread south so long as the primary food chain remains intake, the shrimp and koks. Of course, they said something similar about buffalo never being depleted.

flyfisher31 wrote:I looked at recent reports and the fact that there is no limit on lake trout doesnt seem to effect them at all. Would you wanna see a limit on lake trout? For Lake Chelan.

I concur with the above reports. I see no reason to put any limit on the Lakers in Chelan.

Alrighty and to answer your question above. Just because i never saw any big 50lbers in the reports which in lake michigan are not common but certainly not fictional. Just wondering if that had a effect on why we never see any "big" lakers.

For those that have an interest in the various Lake Chelan fisheries here is a link to a 2010 study. Very good info but make a pot of coffee and a sandwich as its a very long report.

http://www.chelanpud.org/departments/li ... /34039.pdf

flyfisher31 wrote:Alrighty and to answer your question above. Just because i never saw any big 50lbers in the reports which in lake michigan are not common but certainly not fictional. Just wondering if that had a effect on why we never see any "big" lakers.

Thanks flyfisher31, I was just curious. That is a good question to ponder though. With a little research I found that the Lake Trout is native to Lake Michigan, but with extensive commercial fishing AND the invasion of the lake michigan sea lamprey, that started around 1936, the lake trout population was decimated by the 1940s and 50s. Lake trout planting began around 1965 in Lake Michigan. In Lake chelan the lake trout was introduced in the early 1980s, and have continued to thrive and increase in numbers. From what I read, the lake trout is a slow grower, so maybe the time present in a given body of water has some bearing on the size of the "trophies". Also I wonder about the difference of the food base if compared between these two bodies of water.. Anyway, I appreciate your response to my question. Maybe some of the more well versed folks will chime in on the comparison of lake trout weights when compairing Lake Chelan to the Lake Michigan Monsters.