Lake Wa Report

Sorry for the long post

Headed out on the big lake around 2pm yesterday. I spent most of the afternoon run'n and gun'n, marking every piece of major structure and cover as waypoints on the GPS. I found some pretty amazing structure in a section of the south lake that I'd never really checked out before. Huge sunken trees, steep drop-offs, and humps all in the same place. So I mark it as a waypoint then turn around to cruise over it again when I mark a HUGE school of fish suspended at 14 feet of 37.5 feet water.

I pounded those fish with every color jig I had in my box (over 30 colors) before I found one that worked. I only managed to get two of those bad boys out of there but they were nice! The second one would have easily went over 2lbs. I don't know if it was all that sun we had over the weekend or all the heavy boat traffic where I was but those fish were tight lipped like I have never seen before. If anyone knows where to get good bait right now please send me a PM. I couldn't find any bait yesterday so I had to use Gulp Maggots. I know I could have caught more with good fresh bait.

I'm going to hit that area again next weekend but this time it'll be early in the morning before the speedboaters wake up:D. Water temps where at 47* in most of the coves.

I also went to three of the biggest spawning areas to check them out. They were devoid of life any were near the shallows lol. I found a few small schools scattered outside of each area in 22-31 feet hanging pretty tight to wood pilings. It looks like the young males are slowly starting to stage but for the most part the bigger schools are still out in the big water. I'd guess that maybe in another 2 or 3 weeks they'll be stacking up outside the spawning areas or points near by.

Nice! Ive been meaning to get a GPS for a while because Im sure it has a better memory than me! I havent fished in a while...as soon as it starts to warm up ill be out there everyday. We should get a flotilla going on somewhere when it heats up.
My dad has some guppies if you want to use them for bait:D

Yeah, it's still pretty tuff fishing out there right now. At least I got a couple to bite. The last few times out I ended having to fish for perch just so I didn't go home skunked lol.


Those Comet feeder fish at PetCo are looking really good right now:D. I'd bet those crappie would suck one of those bad boys down in a heartbeat.

what kind of bait were you lookin for? i think i might know hwere those sunken trees were at too. nice job stickin with it and gettin those fish!

i think u can get maggots and mealworms at lincs tackle by chinatown

Well tell us when you are going to go out again I would not mind chasing you around...

On washingtonlakes.com there are people claiming to have caught walleye and channel catfish as well as witnessing a sturgeon being caught in one day. I seriously doubt these reports, are there really catchable fisheries in the lake of any of these species, i mean i know a few might exist but can any be consistently caught?

i've been hearing more and more about the walleye in the lake. i think the population of fish is getting larger fast. you have caught some out of there right slab?

yea i know for a fact that the sturgeon report is not true. there are channel catfish in lake washington and also walleye just got to know where to find them, that last piece of information is not given up too easily by the people that know

WDFW a few years ago found a 200 pound dead sturgeon in lake washington......

Thanks for the heads up ajacobs. I always go to Linc's but sometimes he doesn't carry them until late April. I'll have to give him a call today and see what's up. I can order packs of 500 online for $5 so I may just do that if he's not stocking yet.


The thing is....I'm not sure (neither is the State) how many sturgeon are really in there. They used to head up Sammamish Slough from the Sound to spawn every year before the locks where built. The state figures that the reason only large fish are caught is becuase they were in the lake when the locks were built and became landlocked. Sounds reasonable to me but then again there's an older Native gentelmen that fishes for them all the time. I seen him at the launch one day and noticed the heavy rods he had onboard so I asked him what he was going out for. He claimed he has been fishing for them since the 60's.

There's no doubt about the channel cats and walleye in there. At least one 10lb cat was caught last summer in the Slough. I don't know if they have been illegaly stocked or what but there's some in there. The walleye have been in there for at least the last 8 years or so to my knowledge. I was able to get two of them out last year thanks to someone marking a few spots on my map for me to check out. I don't think the population is huge but it's fishable. The Juanita Bay area seems to hold the highest numbers. I'd be willing to bet that they head up the Slough to spawn if there's any gravel beds in it.

I just think most people head out there and focus on bass, trout or perch for the most part. If more guys starting searching out the other species of fish in that lake we'd learn more about it than the state ever could. They figure if they can't catch a fish in their nets are with the electro boats....they are not in there or they are not spawning in the lake. Hell, I've never heard the State mention the Tench population in there and there are a ton of those things in the lake. Same for the Warmouth and flounder in Lake Union.

thanks for the info. i had no idea that there were some walleye in lake washington. i might have to give that a shot sometime

I am planing on going out this weekend to try to get some trout, but if that does not go well then slab you are going to have to tell me where to find some perch.

yea i can't wait to get back out on the ater this weekend, i need to remember what it feels like to catch a fish!

well if you are going out with me i dought you will get to remember.

Im going to win a tournament this weekend,.....Hopefully. Koke dont sound so negative you wont catch any fish that way. And if you catch any fish kiss them and throw them back they will come back for more. Its non stop action then.

The perch are stacked up on Groat Point right now. I'd try running back and forth over the point from 80 to 40 feet until you hit paydirt. You can also run right down the middle of the east channel south of the bridge and find a school but you have search for the them. The deep points are easier to work. I'll be out there Sunday morning so wave me down if you guys are out.

Ill be out there sunday morning trying to catch some cutts. When I fail, Ill go try to get some perch.

Getting ready to play bumper boats off the mouth of the Cedar huh?:D Nah, it wasn't that bad but there was a good number of boats over there last Sunday. Get there early if you can. I saw a few guys fishing off the South tip of Mercer as well but I didn't stop to if they were catching anything. Good luck out there.

Looks like I may be out there Sat and Sunday. Pray for the clouds to roll in fellas. Those damn pleasure boaters where already out in full force....wakeboats and all. I couldnt believe how many people were out skiing. The water was only 47*:eek:

hey slab, for the perch what kind of lure do you use. i have never really given deep water perch much of a try. i've heard that white grubs work good. one of the thoughest things for me is my boat is only 14' and the wind pushes me around easy. so it is very hard to stay over a school. i think i am going to sell it soon and get a better one.

It's pretty much a drop-shot rig. 1/4 oz sinker on the bottom with two jigs tied about 18" apart up the line.

If they are in water less than 50 feet deep I'll tie a 1-1/2 inch white grub with a 1/16oz jig head on the bottom with a red/white crappie jig with a 1/32 jig head about 18" up from the grub. Let it down to the bottom then run the trolling motor on setting 1 to slow troll until you get on top of a school.

Any decent way of selectively catching the larger perch? I've been able to catch lots of fish but most are so small they aren't worth dealing with. Seems like the only time I catch a decent size perch is when I'm fishing for smallmouth and they hit a Blue Fox minnow spin or something of the likes.

for me the smaller perch come out of shallow water. i have a small point i fish on lake washington that if you fish in 15' of water you will get mostly 6"-7" fish. but if you go to 25-30' you will catch more 9"-12" fish.

Your're dead on CK14. I'll either move out deeper or switch to a bigger bait and fish deeper. The 2" crappie jigs are killer for the bigger perch. Also, a 3inch grub will always catch the bigger perch. The big ones seem to roam on their own. They only time of year I have found schools of big perch is early in the fall in water that's at least 20' feet and has a rocky bottom.

Perch, like other spiecies school by size, if you are catching smallones move untill you start hitting the larger fish..

Wassup ? Fella I Haven't Brought Out My Arsenal Yet This Year. Still Kind Of Early For Me To Play In The Southern Pierce County.as For Maggots You Might Not Find Any Really Quality Ones Till Just Before The Season ,it May Be Because Of The Seller Or Stores Not Taking Care Of The Bait.the Gulp Maggots Are Cool Because I Use Green And Do Pretty Well, But They Can Also Make You Change Your Set-up. Do Ur Thing Boy!!!!! Badboy