Lake Chelan fishing: Smallmouth Bass, Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout
Target species: Smallmouth Bass, Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout
Boat: 4 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Chelan Ridge Community Association Marina.
The lake
Lake Chelan covers 32,691 acres in Washington, across Chelan County. It is a lake: 91.3% of it is 1200 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 1400 feet (426.7 m). Our records hold 5 species for this water.
Depth and bottom
Deepest measured point: at least 1400 ft (426.7 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 91.3% of the water is 1200 feet or shallower. We hold 30 depth contour lines for this water.
- 0–100 ft: 19.9% of the water
- 100–200 ft: 13.4% of the water
- 200–300 ft: 11% of the water
- 300–400 ft: 10.5% of the water
- 400–500 ft: 8.1% of the water
- 500–600 ft: 6.1% of the water
- 600–700 ft: 5.7% of the water
- 700–800 ft: 4.3% of the water
- 800–900 ft: 3.8% of the water
- 900–1000 ft: 3.5% of the water
- 1000–1100 ft: 2.6% of the water
- 1100–1200 ft: 2.4% of the water
- 1200–1300 ft: 2% of the water
- 1300–1400 ft: 6.8% of the water
5 target fish, led by Smallmouth Bass
- Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
- Cutthroat Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- Lake Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
- Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
Stocking: 10,478,423 fish, 1997–2026
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife records list 10,478,423 fish released into this water from 1997 to 2026.
- Lake Trout: 507,577 in 1995–2000
4 more species on the stocking list.
4 ramps and launches on this water
On this water we hold 4 boat ramps.
- Crystal Marina — Chelan. 314 State Route 150, Chelan 98816
- Lucerne Landing — US Forest Service. website fs.usda.gov/recarea/okawen/recarea/?recid=57259
- Manson Bay Marina — Manson. 86 Pedoi Street, Manson 98831
- Chelan Ridge Community Association Marina 6082 South Lakeshore Road
Fee and opening hours are blank for all 4 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.
Water and conditions
Our water temperature readings average 67°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 7. These readings span 2022. The latest reading is from 2022, more than three years ago: read these numbers as history, not as the water today.
What is hard here
Wind is the limit, not the fish: 32,691 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle.
Where this data comes from
- Washington State Department of Ecology — Washington State Department of Ecology: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
- Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
