Thread: Moving to Tacoma

Thanks for all the info, glad to hear my boat will be functional up there. I sure didn't want to sell it and have to start all over. What do you guys think about Yelm? I have been looking at houses on line around there and there is some water around there, I wouldn't call them lakes, but they do. Im thinking they're more for recreational type stuff. Is there any good game fish lakes around there? Thanks

Yelm puts you within close shot of Lawrence Lake which I hear has some decent bass fishing as well as your just around the corner from St.Clair where there are crappie, bluegill, bass, perch, trout etc. Most of the lakes here you would likely call a pond after being in Texas but there are some larger lakes/reservoirs that you can fish if you like bigger water. American is decnt sized, Alder is a reservoir that's pretty big and you can always drive to Seattle area and fish lake Washington.

Brokentrail, do you fish mostly fresh water or salt? And what about the rivers? I have a buddy who has a sled, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to take a glass boat up the columbia but are there other deep rivers that are navigatable? Thanks

I only fish freshwater in my boat, and I probably fish saltwater once a year in a buddies boat. I've seen plenty of glass boats running the Columbia though. Although that is the only river I can think of that you'd wanna run your glass boat in, rivers like Chehalis, Cowlitz, etc, are probably better left to the sleds. While I love to river fish, 98% of my fishing is lakes/reservoirs up here.

I went out today and marked alot of fish but no takers on downrigging. Then headed off to another spot and the FF was Red, the hybrids were stacked about 16 feet high. Drift fished with live bait and slabs and caught a few good ones, but released everything for another day. I wish I had my camera today to take a photo of the FF because I have never seen them stacked so high. I even caught a few crappie mixed in which is very unusual since there was very little structure. Thanks for the info on the rivers, I will have to email my buddy who is up there at Madigan. I thought he told me he fishes the Columbia and that he wouldn't recommend me taking my boat on it.

Originally Posted by brokentrail

Yelm puts you within close shot of Lawrence Lake which I hear has some decent bass fishing as well as your just around the corner from St.Clair where there are crappie, bluegill, bass, perch, trout etc. Most of the lakes here you would likely call a pond after being in Texas but there are some larger lakes/reservoirs that you can fish if you like bigger water. American is decnt sized, Alder is a reservoir that's pretty big and you can always drive to Seattle area and fish lake Washington.

Hey Brokentrail how big are the Crappie on average in lake St.Clair? I've never fished it before so I am kinda curious. The only lake I've caught Crappie outta in Washington was Duck lake out in Ocean Shores. The Crappie there were 8 inches if you were lucky.

8 inches! What't the legal limit there? Boy, I have already caught three lake records this year here if I would have taken the time to officially weigh and do the paperwork. I still have one in the freezer. All three were 2 lbs and 15 inches. Thanks for more info. Gonna check out nisqually on the net.

Originally Posted by TexFisher

8 inches! What't the legal limit there? Boy, I have already caught three lake records this year here if I would have taken the time to officially weigh and do the paperwork. I still have one in the freezer. All three were 2 lbs and 15 inches. Thanks for more info. Gonna check out nisqually on the net.

I caught all of them back when I was in High School so I dont know how the Crappie population is now on Duck lake. Where did you finally settle down?

Smitty, I'm still in Texas. I don't report until March 10, 2008. I'm still looking at places, but may have to rent for awhile. I own two houses here and the market is not good for selling so I don't think I could or should I say the bank would allow me a third mortgage. Might start looking for rentals soon just in case.

Originally Posted by SMITTY 58D

Hey Brokentrail how big are the Crappie on average in lake St.Clair? I've never fished it before so I am kinda curious. The only lake I've caught Crappie outta in Washington was Duck lake out in Ocean Shores. The Crappie there were 8 inches if you were lucky.

Ya know, I have never done very well on crappies in St. Clair, I think I've caught two and I'm pretty sure that was by accident, although they were decent, 11-12 inches probably. I was chucking a small spinner bait for bass and caught those two. I am usually bluegill fishing if I'm on St. Clair...