Silver Lake, Cowlitz CO

Hey guys! I'm new here but love to chase the slabs... and here I thought I was one of few in Washington but it seems there are more than I thought. I fished Silver Lake all weekend and had really poor luck. Water temp was between 60-64 degrees and I'd have thought I could find fish but man was I wrong. My son kept asking me why they didn't like his jig! I fished the canal edges and then a channel/timber line out i the main lake in about 12 foot of water. I hate to say it but we didn't catch 1 crappie. We did catch some bass, a few perch, and a couple nice bluegills but that certainly what I had anticipated when I left for the weekend. It's all about the experience right? LOL! Anyway, hope ya'll had a fine holiday weekend and caught a boatload.

Andy

Welcome, brokentrail. Can't help you since I don't fish down that way much.

welcome aboard!

Thanks guys! This is a nice forum and I'm glad I stumbled on it.

Welcome aboard brokentail http://www.websmileys.com/sm/fingers/fing25.gif.

I've always had a heck of time finding those fish after the spawn on Silver. From Oct-March has always been good for me. During the late spring and summer I'll catch one here or there by fishing the outside edges of the pads but that's about it for me. Good luck next time ya head out.

go to ifish.net and find a guy named Roger on the bass and panfish forum. He is a former silver lake guide that will share all his secrets

If I was you i would look around main lake areas and stray away from the canals. there used to be a guy on here that used to guide the lake but I have not hearded from him in a long time, check some of the old forums you might find some info.

Aight.... Thanks Slab. If your having trouble, from what I'm reading, it can't be all that easy to find them. ;) I do well in the fall/winter as that is when I make it a point to make it down there I just found it odd I couldn't find them. I'll look up the old forums and the old guide on ifish and see what I can come up with. It's a bit of a drive too but I plan on camping a lot this summer with my boys and I like it down there...IF not, I hear there are plenty of bullheads to keep us busy and I ain't never turned down any kind of fish that wanted to cooperate.

BTW, Slab, you have me wanting to pull my boat a tad north and fish Union now, so maybe I'll see you on the water sometime!

Yeah, it is a nice little drive to get down there. Tanwax, Rapjohn, and Kapowsin (the new launch should be open soon) are great crappie lakes from now until about the end of Sept. Tanwax can be none stop action in Oct. There are some really nice bullheads in Kapowsin. During their spawn in July you can nail a bunch of them off the dock right before dark on the left side of the dock.

Union is a nice lake. There are plenty of big fish and there's a speed limit so you don't have to look out for the waverunners.

So they really are going to be putting in a new launch on Kapowsin? I've heard rumor for the past couple years but have never heard about it actually being started. Any idea when it will be done? I used to fish Kapowsin before I bought a bigger boat and couldn't launch it at Erickson's. I'm thinking it would take a truckload of fellas to pull my skeeter back up that little slide ramp they have, LOL!

I've never had much luck at Tanwax and only sporadic luck at RapJohn. When I get in smaller lakes I think I'm a bit out of place as to where to find the fish but since you say they are there I may try a bit harder this spring. I'm about 15-20 minutes from either of those lakes so I have no excuse for not getting out there and figuring them out.

I will be surprised if they get the new Kapowsin launch done this year, it looks like they just started work. Who knows? I just hope they have enough trailer parking.