Fishing Season

Sockeye Salmon fishing season opened two weeks early this year (mid July instead of Aug 1) due to record breaking numbers of fish in the Columbia.  Traditionally, the catch limit has been 2 fish but this year, 6 is the limit. Of the two boat launches on the lake, the State Park has the best site for access and parking.  The other site is rather primitive with very few legal parking spots. The line up of trucks and boats begins at 4 AM on Fri, Sat and Sun mornings and only one boat can launch at a time. The Rangers have a system of managing the traffic and parking to get the most use of available space.  Our job was to manage the overflow when the parking lot was full. At 6 AM, we were posted outside the park gate to alert the incoming that the wait line was an hour long and that they would be parking their vehicles out at our location.  Sonny's job was to arrange the vehicles and mine was to shuttle fishermen back to the boat launch. By 7:30 AM everybody's boat was in.  We made breakfast before starting our regular campground chores. 

It was a beautiful warm morning which brought the beach crowd in.  However, the boaters had all the parking spots so those that stayed also had to park outside the gate and walk the quarter mile in.  The confusion began when the wait line stretched outside the park to Nason Creek and the park staff had to separate the beach crowd from the campers trying to get to their site.

In the afternoon, the clouds rolled in and the thunderstorms began circling the lake. As the lightning, wind and rain picked up, the beach began to empty and the boaters started heading in.  Usually, the return of the fishermen is leisurely  over several hours but with the change in weather, most headed in at the same time. The Rangers were out again directing traffic in the wait lines. There was a break in the weather later in the afternoon so we walked the beach picking up litter.  The temperature never got back up to the 90s but the rain settled the dust for a while. In the evening, the sunset was magnificent.

Rain continued off and on during the night which helped with the forest fire containment  but the burn ban won't be lifted any time soon.  At 6 AM, we checked in with the Rangers.  Though the sunrise promised a warm, blue sky day, the fishermen aren't showing up so we were excused. 

Sunday is our busiest day of chores with at least 80-90 of the  100 campsites needing to be cleaned. The Park staff will bring the arrival and departure list around 9 AM and it will take us 2 days to get caught up.  We are only expected to volunteer 2-4 hours each a day  but we like to be busy so we go beyond.  We are free to take breaks and can go into town during down times. We have Wed and Thurs off completely.

One of the parking lots for boaters as it begins to fill.  To get maximum use
of space, the Rangers work with each driver to get their rigs snuggled up
close.

This road circles down to the boat launch.  There are 4 in the circle now
and the wait line  stretches behind me.  As they pull out of the water, the
Fish and Game Department checks for  micro chips and takes a catch
count.  One guy we talked to did get the limit but many were skunked.

The thunder clouds over the lake were impressive.  The peak on the right is
called Dirty Face.  The western side is mostly bare rock.  Last year, we
took the Jeep along the ridge towards Dirty Face.

This is looking down the Wenatchee River from the boat dock.  There
about 15 boats tied along the shore, another 5 waiting to pull in  and
several more on the east shoreline.

The sunset was amazing. This young man was playing his
guitar softly as the colors changed.