gills

does anyone know of any good bluegill waters around here? i dont catch many gills they are usually pumpkinseeds. the only place i have caught bluegills are in the potholes area. what kind of structure do they hang around? :confused: . thanks.

Pumpkinseeds- beaver lake, lake sammamish, lake alice, in certain sloughs (wink wink).
bluegill- lake sammamish and thats about it that I know of.

Yeah, Sammy has some decent Bluegill. It's great for frying size Warmouth.

The best lake I know for bluegill (on the westside of the mountains) is Lake Kapowsin with Silver Lake near St Helens coming in a close second. But for size and a sheer numbers....Lake Kapowsin is your best bet. You'll find them in the same structure that bass and crappie love. Unlike the crappie and bass they'll stay in the shallows longer (spawning into late July at times) and they will spawn on a bog bottom like catfish if that's all they can find. They are not as picky as bass and crappie. As long as there is some type of cover they'll spawn. Bass and crappie will try their best to spawn where cover meets a firm bottom.

i've heard that kapowsin is good for crappie and bass but have never tried the lake. i know there i'snt a boat launch so is the dock productive?

Yeah, you can do good off the dock from late April until about the 1st of Nov. Cast back into the little cove along the side of the tackle store there and you'll catch plenty of gills. Better yet, take a trolling motor and battery with you and rent a boat. There are some pretty decent crappie in there as well. Great lake to catch them on a flyrod. Red or yellow foam spiders work great on the crappie there. If you rent a boat, fish the little pockets in the large marsh near the resort. The bluegill spawn back in those marshes and they warm up early. By mid April the bass and bluegills will be in the marshes trying to spawn. The crappie spawn around the island and near the inlet creek on the backside of the island. There are bigger crappie at Ohop which right down the road from Kapowsin but Kapowsin seems to have a bigger population.

The new boat ramp should be done by mid-summer this year ;)

:D thanks for the info slabking :D .

is that a little ways north of alder lake? i think that bluegill/pumpkinseeds might be my favorite fish and i really want to get a one pounder one of these days

Yeah Urban. It's about 15mins past Puyallup. Follow Hwy 161 or 7 and hang a left at Kapowsin Hwy E (aka 304th E). Follow that road to reach the north side of the lake and the fishing dock.

You can also (from Kapowsin E) take a right at the four way stop in front of the small gas station (they sale bait and lures) and go down the westside of lake. You can find a place to park and walk along most of the westside and fish from the bank. Lots of good bass and catfish holes along that side. You can also camp down there.

i know there is a lot of good brush in kapowsin, but how do you pick the right wood that will hold the most crappie? :confused:

take a snorkle, i read an article about how that can really help you understand how fish hang out around different structure and cover, or an underwater camera

i dont know about snorkleing :rolleyes: but i do have an underwater camera. the only problem with those cameras is that when you get the cord off, you need to put it all back on. i guess thats just how it goes.

I'm pissed about my aqua-vu. I have the older version so there are two plugs for the camera to connect to the screen. Well the camera burned out and they don't carry the older versions anymore so I can't replace just the camera. I have to buy a whole new setup :mad:. I guess I did get a lot of use out of it. Even took apart all of the wiring and resoldered it several times to keep it alive:D.


Anyway, Kapowsin has more wood in it than any lake in the state. The old logging companies used to use it float logs out of the hills so there are whole trees submerged on just about every square inch of that lake. You can spend a lifetime trying to fish them all and never hit the same tree twice. I look for trees that are laying on steep banks or are in an area that has a gobble stone bottom. Also, there are several old rows of pilings in the south end that run from the bank all the way out to about 20 feet water. They hold the big gills in the summer and crappie just about year round.

that sucks big time about your aqua view :( . about kapowsin, are the piles near the shore accecible from shore? thanks slab :D .

You might be able to reach the pilings in the south end from the shore. I'm not sure though. I've never walked down that far. There's such good fishing all down that west shoreline that I've never had to walk that far down :p.

has anyone ever caught a pumpkinseed over 7"? my biggest ones have come out of cassidy which kinda surprises me. i catch so many of them at the kenmore dock on lake washington.

urban got a big one last year, I am not sure on the length but it is probably the biggest one I have ever seen.

yea we were perch fishing womewhere in lk washington and i wieged it and i think it said .4 Pounds or something like that, maybe it was bigger than that i can't remember i just got back from having my wisdom teeth out

going to kapowsin tomarrow to see if i can pull up any thing off the dock. maybe try tanwax. wish me luck :D .

any luck out there? it is sunny but the temperature is still stayin cold, i was hopin for an early spring but i guess i will have to wait

I got a Largemouth in 15 feet of water yesterday on sammamish so the fish are liking the sun .

it was still pretty sluggish though wasn't it? i got one in about 8 feet of water last year in january after a sunny period but it was pretty slow. what did you get it on? i have been thinkin about goin out with a jerkbait to some of the smaller lakes around here to see if i can get anything

it was real slow out there today :mad: . it was the same old story, "well, they were hitting last week". couldn't even get the slimers to hit. still needs to warm up a bit. got to explore the lake though.

well i always like to think of unsuccessful fishing outings as scouting trips so that when the fishing warms up you know the area well and don't have to waste scouting when you could be catching

good excuse anyway :D . think i'm going to the gissburg ponds after school to see if i can get a hit. just planted the ponds with slimers ;) . almost forgot what a hit feels like :( .........:D

That fish wasnt sluggish at all it hammered the drop shot. The trick is this time of year is finding the fish and catching them because they are slow but they are eating with these longer days. The smaller lakes will get fish that are out sunning them selves when it is sunny. Those sunning fish will absolutly hammer anything that is infront of them too.

good to know, sounds like i need to get out soon and catch some fish!

well gissburg sucked :mad: . i think i'm gona put up the rods for awhile untill it warms up. planing on making a trip to the potholes over spring break. anyone know of places to look for crappie around that time? including seep lakes.

i might be over there that same time huntin for crappie. my spring break is april 10-14

mine is the 3rd to the 11th. always look forward to spring break :D , especially when you are taking the WASL :mad: .

I am all done with that WASL Crap! Don't have to take it this year!

i just heard a report of many crappie being caught from the shore in lake washington, don't know how reliable the source is but i would sure like to believe it, just thought i would let everyone know in case it was true

where did you get this info? did it say were on the lake they are catching them?

http://www.gamefishin.com/gfboard/fo...TID=16945&PN=1

the guy didnt say where or how he caught them.....

I got a PM from the guy I had to work him for very little info.

yea i don't buy it personally, what info did he give you?

I seen that post as well. Not sure how much stock it'd put into that report but you never know. He may have been fishing off a deep water dock. I've never seen L. WA crappie come anywhere near the shore until at least late April. Most of the fish I marked last time out (two weeks ago) where suspended at 16 feet over 35-40' deep water. I pounded them with jigs and came up empty lol.

that guys story does seem a little hard to believe but who knows. anyway, did any of you guys get the new fishing and hunting news with the article about the good crappie waters in washington? i thought it was interesting that they said roesiger was a good lake.

yea i also did notice that. they didn't include washington or union did they?

They mentioned washington at the beginning of the article. I just read it a second ago...

they also metioned Duck... So I will let you guys know when I get back on sunday.... Maybe some pics....