Thanks for the report Keith, I'll be heading up there(Chopaka again) next
thursday for ten days. Hopefully by then with this warm weather will start
the hatches.By the way I e-mailed two people at fish and wildlife regarding
a plant of triploids in chopaka and never even got a response. I did however
catch several fish there on the opener that were absolute silver bullets
unlike many of the spawners in the shallows for what thats worth. Any big
fish at Ell?
Patrick
----- Original Message -----
From: Keith Bell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 7:54 AM
Subject: Okanogan Lakes report
> Just finished 7 days of fishing primarily at Aeneas Lake. The weather
> ranged from cool and windy to warm and calm. The bottom line for all of
> these lakes is that significant insect hatches have not started at Ell,
> Aeneas and Blue Lake (Sinlahekin Valley.)
>
> There were sporadic weak hatches of micro chironomids but only for a few
> hours during the week were the fish keyed on midges. Most fishermen
> averaged about a fish an hour on bloodworms, red butts, black or brown
> chironomids, leeches, wooly buggers, scuds and damsel flies. Generally
the
> fish in the shallows were not keyed on any particular fly but cruised
slowly
> looking for a morsel. There were large numbers of fish in deeper water
> noted on my fishfinder. We fished for a while in 19 to 25 feet of water
> with chironomids and bloodworms and this was at least as successful as
> fishing shallow although virtually no one was trying this method. I
noticed
> several fish feeding on plankton and my guess is that is what the majority
> were feeding on.
>
> Water levels were high at Aeneas and quite low at Blue and Ell lakes. At
> Ell lake fish survival may become an issue if the lake becomes too low in
> August since it always has substantial algae blooms. At Blue Lake the
> channel between Blue and Round lake to the south was high and dry. The
best
> fishing at Blue has been during years of high water. The irrigation vs.
> fishing saga continues.
>
> My visitors had timed their visit based on work schedules and last year's
> conditions and they were probably about a week early this year. I'll be
> checking back to find out when things really get started because I'm
hoping
> the fish are eager for a decent meal.
>
> Keith
> Republic, WA
>
