Finding Crappie in Washington

Can anyone tell me when and where to find Crappie in WA. I live in Vancouver and would like to fish for some Crappie, I am not asking for your secrets, just where to go and when is the best time.
Thanks
Dennis

Summit Lake south of Olympia, Rife and Mayfield, and just about any smaller lake around that has bass in it could have crappie and gills in it.

Best bet to find out for sure would be to call the regional WDFW office and find out.

Silver Lake in Castle Rock is your best bet, it's open year round.

Being out there look for a copy of Stan Fagerstroms book Catch More Crappie, he list's a bunch of waters you can fish for them

Fatman

i've found that slabs start to bite during the pre-spawn when the water temp hovers around 51 degrees in the sloughs and back water bays with off the main lake. Subtle points along dropoffs, downed trees and brush on a dark, solid sand or pea gravel bottom draw the big hens in close to shore. Find a couple of degrees warmer water in those bays, and they can be Crappie magnets in spring. I typically pitch custom 2" 1/32 or 16th oz. minnow jigs in perch, baby bass or shiner patterns. 14 to 16" slabs are common during april and may. The jigmiester

Does anyone out there in crappie land know where to find 2 inch Berkley micro-minnows?Berkley discontinued making those crappie catching baits...

Dennis...I used to live in your area a long time ago and would catch crappie yearround there in Clark County. I would think most of the backwaters and sloughs along the Columbia would still have crappie. One access was at Ridgefield where there was a boat ramp and fishing dock. When I was there the fish weren't big but were fun to catch. One-pounders were scarce. Also, Vancouver Lake had some fair-sized crappie but was getting quite polluted back then.

This isn't exactly a reply, but it seems to fit this thread.
Most of my 77-year adult life I've fly-fished for trout. This year I want to concentrate on crappie. Would anyone care to share their knowledge of where and how in Washington State, preferably within an hour of Everett, I should look for crappie? I've heard that Lakes Cassidy, Serene, Stevens, Stickney and Washington are worth a look. I'm not restricting myself to fly fishing either. What say you experts? I wouldn't be sorry to hear some of your favorite techniques!

Silver Lake has them in it as do most other lakes and ponds in the area. Focus mainly on the ones that have no real river or stream outflow. I have fished up there a few times and found many lakes that have panfish in them. Didn't know the names of the lakes though so I can't help there.

Thanks fish_4_all. Silver Lake is close. I'll try it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bboard

Thanks fish_4_all. Silver Lake is close. I'll try it.

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Fish- 4- all;
I think the Silver Lake he is talking about is the one down by Castle Rock in Colowitz county. Silver Lake near Everett don't have any crappie that i know of. Your best bet is Lake Cassidy and Lake Stevens in our area. I live in Mill Creek and I'am 65 and retired and fish for them Lake Washington with not too much success and have much better luck on Cassidy. I fish Lake Washington for cutthroat trout and yellow perch and we get a few smallmouth bass when we troll for trout. If you want to e-mail feel free to do so.

Sorry fish for all, i sent this to wrong person, it should of went tobboard

So many silver Lakes, the ones I know of is off I5 with Silver Lake park right there. Looks to be just a little south of the Everett Mall.

I would listen to road runner, I only go up there to fish when things are dead over here.

Dennis. central washington has a number of lakes wirh good populations of crappie. Moses lake was one of the best crappie lakes in the state back in the 70's. After Mt.St Helens blew in 80' it all went down hill. After an aggresive stocking program and slot limits, you can catch slabs there again. Banks Lake and Potholes Res have great oppurtunites in the spring and fall. Mikes bait and tackle, Mar Don Resort and Coulee city playland at Banks Lake can provide you with on the spot info. Remember to be on the water when the Lilac trees bloom...Crappies move shallow then. Also water temps from 51 to 64 degrees are key.The Jigmiester

Mar Don and the potholes are the BOMB! Best lakes I have ever fished. And that was before they put walleye in them.

Sight fishing for slabs is probably the most exciting crappie fishing there is! I 1st did that for trophy sized Black specs under a bridge across from Steamboat Rock state park on Banks Lake a few years back. During the summer, Huge slabs stack up under the I-90 bridge on Moses Lake. I usually hit it three days before the new moon phase in June. The Crappies will suspend on the second row pilings, sitting nearly vertical,usually within a foot of the serface. When I spot one with my polarized glasses, I'll quietly position my Jon boat back far enough to drop a custom 2" berkely micro minnow just above the fish and hang on! They'll inhale that jig like right now! I've caught crappie over 16 inches doing this. The Jigmeister

It must be getting close to that time, CAUSE IT'S GETTING DEEP!!!!!!!11

Hey Dennis, I recently moved here from NV. I had some nice holes back home where I would reliably catch 200 crappie in a day on a 3 weight fly rod with about 20 of those being in the 15-16" range. Since moving here the best I have done is 5-6" in Lake Klakamas while competing with jet skis and motor boat waves. Not a great time. If you hear of a decent hole, let me know, heck if you are short a boat I'll provide that, I have a modest 14' that can lauch most anywhere, I'll spend a day exploring with ya. Klakamas hasnt been that great, I can tell you that. I fished it pretty heavy for about 2 months before giving up. There are a ton of small perch for the kids but the bass are far and few. I dont mind putting in my time but in 3 straight days of agressive fishing I only got 1 bass that was something to brag about. The trout I caught were just planters, you can get those anywhere.

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