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Banks Lake Bass Fishing 2002
by Mike Carey, July 04, 2002
Banks Lake Bass
July 4, 2002
Construction of the Grand Coulee Dam was by far one of the most significant projects to affect Washington State. With the completion of the dam, huge reservoirs were created which became destination spots for spiny ray fishermen. Banks lake is a 32 mile long reservoir that holds a plethora of fish species. It is stocked with rainbow and has kokanee, perch, crappie, bluegill, carp, walleye, and bass.
The bass and walleye fishing on Banks lake are considered some of the best, if not the best, in our state. I recently spent a day with bass guide Mike Carney exploring some of the nooks and crannies of this fine lake.
We launched from the Coulee Playland Resort boat launch. Coulee Playland is the place to go for fishing and camping supplies on the north end of the lake. They have about every bass lure or setup you could want to use. Mike runs a 225 HP Mercury Optimax Bass Boat and I'll tell you, when he pushes that throttle down you better hang on! The weather was changing, cool, variable cloud cover, but no rain. Winds, the bass anglers enemy, were unfortunately picking up. Our first stop was Osborn Bay. In early to mid June the bass will be in spawning mode on their beds. This offers a perfect opportunity to target these bass in the shallows, close to shore. We started with two techniques - drop shooting and split shooting. Drop shooting is a simple method that employs a small round weight on the end of your line and about one foot up a soft bait such as a plastic worm. The rig is cast out and after tightening the line you "twitch" the rod tip and wait for the bass to take the lure. Split shooting is another simple method method for bass fishing. In this method, you have a terminal soft bait like a lizard with a hook buried, then about a foot up the line a small tubular weight. Just cast this rig out and slowly drag and reel the bait back to you. The bass will pick up the bait and you set the hook. Both methods are easy to learn and more important, are effective.
I quickly hooked into our first fish at Osborn Bay, a feisty 12" smallmouth taken drop shooting. We fished the area for about 45 minutes and found no more takers, so we moved to spot number two, the Airport Slough. Mike told me that this area was good for largemouth bass that move into the brushy shoreline.
The area certainly looked like bass habitat. I was not even aware of this type of shoreline on the lake, being more familiar with the rocky shores surrounding Steamboat Rock south of us. We worked this area for a good hour but came up short. Mike was disappointed. "Looks likes we may be here a little late and the fish have moved off their beds.". By this time the wind was picking up, making it hard to cast or keep the boat on line. We decided to head over to the Devil's Punchbowl. Mike had heard that the walleye were active and he also hoped to find some shelter from the growing winds.
The Punch Bowl was a little calmer. There were several boats fishing and we saw walleye being taken. Out came the nightcrawler harnesses. For the next hour we caught several keepers and a tossed a few back. Good looking fish. The wind was blowing out of the south and we fished the north end of the bowl. Apparently the bait was being blown up into that end. It made for some good fishing.
Around 10am the wind seemed to have died down enough to once again search for bass. Mike moved us back north of the Punch Bowl into some back water that reminded me of a bass fishing show down south. He gave me a 4" slug bait with no weight attached. "Just cast this into the shore and twitch retrieve it back". I was surprised at how well this soft plastic cast - much further than I expected. I began to work the shoreline and to my surprise was rewarded with a solid take. I felt a "tap" on the rod tip and suddenly the line started moving rapidly away form me. As I tightened the line I felt the strong pull of a nice fish. The bass made several good runs before coming to the boat. A healthy 3 pound smallmouth.
Because of my son's Little League game, I had to make it a short day. We returned to the boat launch at noon. It had been a good morning on the water and I wished I could have spent a few more hours fishing with Mike, but that's the way it goes sometimes. If you are interested in fishing one of Washington's best bass lakes, by all means take a trip out to Banks lake. You'll find some great scenery and get to fish a lake that can really put out the fish. If you have questions about Banks lake, feel free to drop Mike Carney an e-mail. Or better still, take a trip with him to learn some of the secrets of this giant lake.
Mike Carey