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Hi all, just coming from Ft. Stewart GA and now on Ft. Lewis. Have always loved crappie fishing and just looking for some good advice on some nearby lakes. Still working on getting into a house so haven't started begging the wife to get a boat. Any nearby lakes where you can rent a boat or when do the crappie start their spawn? Any advice would sure be great
Welcome to Washington State. Just so you know, I did my Army time at Ft. Stewart. I was an air traffic controller at the airfield. (Then called Wright Army Air Field, now called something else) I was there when they built the new (now 45 year old) tower. I really miss Georgia. The soft pines, warm weather, pecan trees & red clay. One day with the Lord's blessing I'll be able to visit again. Anyway, I'm sure you will find some folks here who can steer you in the right direction for crappies and gills. If you were more in the middle of the state, I would recommend Mar Don Resort at the Potholes Reservoir just south of Moses Lake. Around here (eastern Washington) you can find them at Eloika Lake just north of Spokane. But the sizes aren't anything to write home about. Anyway, welcome to the forum. Have fun and share.
By The Way, what's your MOS? Mine was 93B20.
I went to school in Seattle. Escape/Evasion at Ft Lewis. Love them big ol' Ant hills out there.
There's a couple good Crappie lakes down I-5 from you.
Lake Washinton and Lake Sammamish both have lot's of Crappie.
I'll bet yo get hooked on Trout, Steelhead and Salmon long before you find that good Crappie lake though. :)
I grew up in the north Tacoma area. Harts, Tanwax, Kapowsin and Ohop are in your neighborhood and all have crappie. Most people in the area focus on salmon, trout, or bass, so the crappie don't much attention. They sometimes get to decent size, but the crappie are smaller than you're used to thanks to the short growing season. Anything over 12" is considered a whopper. Crappie in WW start spawning around late May or early June, depending on the water temperature.
In the summer months there is a lot of pleasure boat traffic on these lakes, except one. If you want to stay away from the jetski/waterskier crowds, Kapowsin is your best bet. It's got tons of standing flooded timber, so going fast would be suicidal thanks to all the stumps that end just below the waterline. There used to be a boat rental place on Kapowsin, but I haven't been there in years and I'm not sure if it is still around. It has some really nice bluegill too. When I was a kid, my friend's mom caught one all of 12" on a family fishing trip. I saw the picture they took of it next to a measuring tape. It was huge.
I'm also kind of new to Ft Lewis area. We've been here since Sept. My wife is a 68W in the Army. We came from Ft Polk where the fishing is awesome!! I haven't gotten out to fish yet, cuz it's so cold and the fishing license starts in April here. I will surely be getting my license in April. I own a 2012 Hobie Outback kayak and love Crappie fishing. Maybe we can hook up and find some slabs some day.
This is weird. One post about a transfer from Ft. Stewart to Ft. Lewis and I did my duty at Ft. Stewart. Another post about a transfer from Ft Polk to Ft Lewis, and Polk is where I did my basic training. I'd love to visit both Ft. Polk & Stewart, but I wouldn't trade my home ground anything.
Hey guys, really appreciate all the replies and we ended up buying a home in Graham. My MOS is 92F but up for re-enlistment and hope to change that. Love my MOS but if im gonna stay in and hope to get promoted gotta switch to something I can further my career in. Thanks again and wish you all tight lines in the near future :)
You are real close to a couple good lakes down there.
Kapowsin, Ohop, Silver
Welcome to Washington
Hey guys this is my first post. I spent my basic training time at lewis this time of year. Nasty time any where for Basic training but hiking and camping on rainier is unforgetable as it was 45 years ago. And no it wasn't during the last ice age but there was some perhistoric critters running around. Most were in muddy fatigues. Not to many happy campers, I wasn't hard of hearing but people like to yell a lot just the same.
Anyway you guys, I have a small RV park " not much of a park" 14 miles from Mardon that I will offer to let you camp if you find yourself over here. I try to save one full hook up spot for such cases. Not pretty,not so nice, but can't beat the price. Have a few Jon boats for the same basic 5 star package.