Sockeye

Baker Lake Sockeye
Brace of sockeye from Baker Lake

This page is the place to find all the tips and tricks to fish for sockeye in freshwater.  These techniques are great for locations like Lake Pateros (Brewster Pool), Well Dam, Lake Wenatchee, Lake Washington, Baker Lake and more.

At a time when it seems like one piece of bad news after another for most salmon and steelhead, sockeye are a bright ray of hope.  In the last 5 or 6 years we’ve seen several sockeye fisheries come back to life, and the words “record run” ringing in our ears.

Many people consider sockeye to be one of the best tasting salmon with its fatty bright red meat.

Sockeye spawn in river systems connected to lakes, since the young sockeye spend their first year living in lakes.  And it is in these lakes that it is the most popular places to fish for them.  Places like Lake Wenatchee, Lake Washington and Baker Lake are well known locations.  Hopefully in a few years we will be able to add Lake Cle Elum and Lake Cushman to that list.

There are also a few spots on the mighty Columbia where due to dams, where the fish slow down and we are able to use our regular lake approach to target these fish.  Perhaps the best well known spot is Brewster Pool inside Lake Pateros.  Other locations are spots like just downstream from Wells Dam.

Some people even target them in smaller rivers, like the Skagit.

Limits of Wenatchee Sockeye
Lake Wenatchee Sockeye

If you are new to fishing for sockeye, then please start with the basics.  That page contains the basic sockeye fishing rigs to use, as well as trolling instructions.

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