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Home › Waters › Washington › Lake Chelan
Lake · Chelan County in north-central Washington, running into the North Cascades · Washington

Lake Chelan Fishing Guides

A fifty-five-mile glacial trench reaching from orchard country into the North Cascades, nearly fifteen hundred feet deep and holding lake trout, kokanee and landlocked chinook.

The bow of a boat on flat reservoir water in early light
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Lake Chelan

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Lake Chelan

Lake Chelan is one of the deepest lakes in the United States, reaching close to fifteen hundred feet, and it is shaped like nothing else in Washington: a narrow glacial trench fifty-five miles long, running from the dry orchard country around the town of Chelan northwest into the heart of the North Cascades. The upper end at Stehekin has no road to it at all and is reached by passenger ferry, floatplane or boat. The lake is effectively two fisheries in one basin, and the difference between the lower and upper ends is as much about geography as biology.

The lower basin is warmer, more developed and fishes for smallmouth bass along the rock, plus lake trout and kokanee in the deep water. The upper basin is colder, steeper and wilder, and it is where the big lake trout live. Kokanee are the backbone of the food web and the most consistently targeted species for guided trips, taken by trolling with downriggers. Landlocked chinook salmon are also present and provide the most sought-after fish in the lake, though they are far less numerous than the kokanee.

Practically, this is downrigger water. The depth means almost all serious fishing is trolling with weighted gear, and the length means a guide’s boat covers a great deal of ground in a day. Weather is the other variable: the trench funnels wind, and the lake can turn rough quickly, particularly in the afternoons of the warm months. Winter fishing continues at the lower end, where burbot are a genuine and underappreciated cold-water target taken at night from the deep basin. Anyone planning a trip to the upper basin should also budget for the logistics, because the ferry schedule, the limited lodging at Stehekin and the distance from the nearest ramp all have to be arranged well before the fishing does.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Pool right now

1,098.53ft
  • 24 hours0.00 ft → steady
  • For the dateA little above normal for the date

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 12452000, LAKE CHELAN AT CHELAN, WA. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Lake Chelan.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Lake Chelan State Park - the main public launch and campground on the south shore of the lower basin.
Old Mill Park and the Chelan city launch - the closest ramps to town and to the outlet.
Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park - the last road access up the lake and the departure point for the upper basin.
Manson and Mill Bay - north shore access with a ramp and protected water.
Stehekin - the roadless upper end, reached by ferry, floatplane or boat.
The deep mid-lake basin - the primary lake trout and kokanee trolling ground.
Chelan, at the lower end - lodging, tackle, licenses and the base for the guide fleet.

Seasons

Spring: kokanee move higher in the column and fish well on downriggers as the lake warms through May and June.
Summer: trolling deep for kokanee and lake trout, with smallmouth bass on the lower basin rock and afternoon wind a factor.
Fall: cooling water brings lake trout shallower and the upper basin fishes at its best with almost no boat traffic.
Winter: the lake does not freeze; burbot fishing at night in the deep lower basin is the cold-season specialty.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Lake Chelan?

Anglers target Burbot, Chinook Salmon, Kokanee Salmon, Lake Trout, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass on the Lake Chelan in Washington.

Are there fishing guides on the Lake Chelan?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Lake Chelan. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Lake Chelan?

Lake Chelan State Park - the main public launch and campground on the south shore of the lower basin. Old Mill Park and the Chelan city launch - the closest ramps to town and to the outlet. Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park - the last road access up the lake and the departure point for the upper basin. Manson and Mill Bay - north shore access with a ramp and protected water. Stehekin - the roadless upper end, reached by ferry, floatplane or boat. The deep mid-lake basin - the primary lake trout and kokanee trolling ground. Chelan, at the lower end - lodging, tackle, licenses and the base for t...

When is the best time to fish the Lake Chelan?

Spring: kokanee move higher in the column and fish well on downriggers as the lake warms through May and June. Summer: trolling deep for kokanee and lake trout, with smallmouth bass on the lower basin rock and afternoon wind a factor. Fall: cooling water brings lake trout shallower and the upper basin fishes at its best with almost no boat traffic. Winter: the lake does not freeze; burbot fishing at night in the deep lower basin is the cold-season specialty.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Lake Chelan?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Washington agency site: https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations