Northwest Fishing Reports

I have been searching online for several hours however no real luck. Does anyone know where I can find lake stocking records for Tigers in WA. Also does anyone have a website or a sports shop that has good lake maps... specifically for WA's tiger lakes?

I just relocated to Seattle from MN and I am trying to get in the know before the spring.

I look forward to competing in the Muskie tourneys out here!

Thanks for your help!
Travis

Welcome aboard Travis, we have a few Minnesota transplants on this website.
Your nearest tiger lake is Lake Tapps(This lake has been stocked for several years and is receiving a plant of fingerlings this spring)

Next is Mayfield in Lewis County,originally stocked in '88,then Lake Merwin near Vancouver,Wa.
On the easternside of the state their is Evergreen Resevoir,Lake Curlew,Silver and Newman.
I believe most if not all these lakes have maps that can be accessed from this website,I'll try to post a link.
http://washingtonlakes.com/ViewPhoto.as ... Pierce.gif

http://washingtonlakes.com/ViewPhoto.as ... ewtopo.gif

Hope this helps a little,goodluck out there.

Welcome to the NW, Travisah! You just missed the Muskies Inc. Chapter meeting (Nov. 20th) where they had a great presentation on lure and leader making. You will get a big welcome at any Chapter meeting with lots of info, too. The next one is in December. I will send you a PM with more info. Chapter #57, of Muskies, Inc. sponsors this Forum with the great support of Mike and Aaron and you will meet many of our wonderful Chapter Members here on these threads. We are the fastest growing Chapter in M.I. recent history and I think you will really enjoy our beautiful tigers, too. We discuss lakes and maps and best locations to fish at the meetings, too. Don W. gave a great report on the Merwin map at the August meeting.

What lakes did you fish in MN? I've been on a few and over on the Big Chip.(I'm married to a native Minnahsohtawn.)

Welcome, Travis, from the NW TIGER PAC!
check out our web site: www.nwtigermuskies.com and click on Area Muskie Lakes


KUP

Yup, Welcome. There are a few of us Tiger Pac members here local to ya, Im about 3 miles from the local Muskie Hole. Feel free to PM or email me.

List of Lakes


Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife, Fishing

Rules and Regulations Pamphlet

A handful of our larger lakes (e.g., Banks Lake and Lake Washington) are mapped, but you generally won't find lake maps like those available for many midwestern lakes. The reason is the market here is much smaller. This web site has crude topo maps for many of Washington's lakes. You pretty much have to create your own detailed lake maps, though. In any case, maps aren't as important here as in the midwest, because our tiger musky lakes don't have much (if any) midlake structure. This is mostly a shoreline and dropoff fishery, and your best bet is to gain experience by fishing with local anglers or learn where the productive spots are by spending time on the water.

Tiger musky stocking information isn't available online, and to the best of my knowledge, there isn't a comprehensive set of information available anywhere. I've compiled some piecemeal data on my own. Here's a rundown on the lakes that have received tiger musky stockings:

Lake, Acres, Depth, Year, Comments
Curlew, 870, 130, 1998, Continuously stocked
Evergreen, 247, 54, ?, Continuously stocked
Fazon, 32, 2000, One-time stocking; no surviving population
Green, 255, 24, 2000, One-time stocking; no surviving population
Mayfield, 2200, 185, 1988, Continuously stocked
Merwin, 4090, 190, 1995, Continuously stocked
Newman, 1190, 30, 1992, Continuously stocked
Red Rock, 217, 1997 & 1999, Stocked twice; no surviving population
Tapps, 2296, 38, ?, Continuously stocked
Silver, 486, ?, 2002, Continuously stocked

In general, WDFW stocks about 6,000 tiger musky fingerlings per year in the 7 lakes that are continuously stocked, although this number can vary depending on egg survival and hatchery output; for example, only 2,000 fingerlings were available in 2007, and there was no stocking in 2008 due to a temporary 1-year moratorium while VHS fish disease prevention measures were put in place. The hatchery crop for 2009 is about 9,000 fingerlings, of which 1,000 have already been put in Merwin and Mayfield Lakes. It appears the 3 western Washington lakes -- Tapps, Mayfield, Mapps -- may receive 2,000 fingerlings apiece next spring, which is a higher than normal stocking level for these lakes.

These are the stocking figures I have for Merwin Lake:

1995 - 2000 - unknown
2001 – 1017
2002 – 1310
2003 – 1130
2004 – 733
2005 – 667
2006 – 830
2007 – 1130
2008 - 700*

* 1,000 of the surplus 2009 hatchery crop was planted in September 2008, of which 700 went to Merwin Lake and 300 to Mayfield Lake. These fish are undersized fingerlings (7" versus 12" - 14") and are part of the 2009 year class.

WDFW biologists estimated Tapps Lake's tiger muskie population at 719 fish in 2007, not counting the 194 fingerlings stocked that year, which is a density of 0.313 fish per acre.

These are the stocking figures I have for Merwin Lake:

1995 - 2000 - 0
2001 – 0
2002 – 0
2003 – 0
2004 – 0
2005 – 0
2006 – 0
2007 – 0
2008 - 4


Was out there last week caught 0!

Hey Travisah,
Welcome to the Great Northwest. I think we spoke awhile back..memory isnt what it used to be. You can find some good contour maps. I'll get back to you on those. I see there are a bunch of Tiger Pac folks here. Well I'm not affiliated with a group and do pretty good on my own. If your looking for a fishing partner to show you around abit I'm your guy. Just wait a few weeks and we can hit the water..talk at you soon.

Welcome.

Kenster

Welcome Tavisiah,

Don, Muskyhunter and Kenster are all great musky fishermen and you would do well to hook up with any of them to learn what you can about our local waters. I do when I can. Heck, I even get lucky once in a while and hook one!

Fishing with the locals is the best way to learn our waters, as many of them contain a lot of hazards such as tree stumps and shallow reefs.

When you get ready to go, just post a message on this forum and someone will probably take you up on it.

Richard

I've fished Lake Merwin for Kokanee & I am wondering is there any info on how much the Muskies affect the Kokanee population?

Kokonuts wrote:I've fished Lake Merwin for Kokanee & I am wondering is there any info on how much the Muskies affect the Kokanee population?

You might want to post that question on this threadand ask Stacie..

Kokonuts wrote:I've fished Lake Merwin for Kokanee & I am wondering is there any info on how much the Muskies affect the Kokanee population?

WDFW's diet studies at Merwin Lake found only 2% of the tiger muskies' diet consists of kokanee. Other factors also point to a conclusion that tiger muskies have minimal impact on the kokanee population: (1) Hatchery personnel haven't noticed any decline in kokanee spawning runs; (2) Merwin continues to have a robust kokanee fishery, renowned for both numbers and size of fish, despite the presence of tiger muskies; (3) the two species are physically separated in the lake because they utilize different habitats; (4) the small size of the muskie population further limits the predation potential, for example, even squawfish, their preferred forage, remain abundant in Merwin Lake.

kevinb wrote:Welcome aboard Travis, we have a few Minnesota transplants on this website.
Your nearest tiger lake is Lake Tapps(This lake has been stocked for several years and is receiving a plant of fingerlings this spring)

Next is Mayfield in Lewis County,originally stocked in '88,then Lake Merwin near Vancouver,Wa.
On the easternside of the state their is Evergreen Resevoir,Lake Curlew,Silver and Newman.
I believe most if not all these lakes have maps that can be accessed from this website,I'll try to post a link.
http://washingtonlakes.com/ViewPhoto.as ... Pierce.gif

http://washingtonlakes.com/ViewPhoto.as ... ewtopo.gif

Hope this helps a little,goodluck out there.

Thanks for the heads up on the maps!
Travis

KUP wrote:Welcome to the NW, Travisah! You just missed the Muskies Inc. Chapter meeting (Nov. 20th) where they had a great presentation on lure and leader making. You will get a big welcome at any Chapter meeting with lots of info, too. The next one is in December. I will send you a PM with more info. Chapter #57, of Muskies, Inc. sponsors this Forum with the great support of Mike and Aaron and you will meet many of our wonderful Chapter Members here on these threads. We are the fastest growing Chapter in M.I. recent history and I think you will really enjoy our beautiful tigers, too. We discuss lakes and maps and best locations to fish at the meetings, too. Don W. gave a great report on the Merwin map at the August meeting.

What lakes did you fish in MN? I've been on a few and over on the Big Chip.(I'm married to a native Minnahsohtawn.)

Welcome, Travis, from the NW TIGER PAC!
check out our web site: www.nwtigermuskies.com and click on Area Muskie Lakes


KUP

KUP, I wanted to make it to the meeting but I am still getting settled in with work and our housing situation. I plan on making the Jan meeting for sure and to sign up then with Chapter 57 so I am eligible for the early spring touneys! I fished quite a few lakes back in MN, WI and CA... Bemidji, Plantan, Little boy, White Bear, Bald Eagle, Waconia in MN, Lac Courte O' reilles & Big Sis, in WI, and the eastern fingers on the canadian side of Lake of the Woods. Never made it to Chip... probablly won't for a few more years ;).

Talk to you soon.
Travis

[quote="Don Wittenberger"]A handful of our larger lakes (e.g., Banks Lake and Lake Washington) are mapped, but you generally won't find lake maps like those available for many midwestern lakes. The reason is the market here is much smaller. This web site has crude topo maps for many of Washington's lakes. You pretty much have to create your own detailed lake maps, though. In any case, maps aren't as important here as in the midwest, because our tiger musky lakes don't have much (if any) midlake structure. This is mostly a shoreline and dropoff fishery, and your best bet is to gain experience by fishing with local anglers or learn where the productive spots are by spending time on the water.

Tiger musky stocking information isn't available online, and to the best of my knowledge, there isn't a comprehensive set of information available anywhere. I've compiled some piecemeal data on my own. Here's a rundown on the lakes that have received tiger musky stockings:

Lake, Acres, Depth, Year, Comments
Curlew, 870, 130, 1998, Continuously stocked
Evergreen, 247, 54, ?, Continuously stocked
Fazon, 32, 2000, One-time stocking]

Don, it is all about TOTW "Time on the Water". Thanks for the insight on the stocking. Very key info when judging a fishery especially here since a trip to the lake is more of a comittment with drive time! Sounds like Merwin and Mayfeild are really being cultivated by the WDFW and MI #57 (should be landing nothing but Hog Jaws in 2014!!!). Is there similar focus on Curlew? I used to take a Vermillion trip every summer in MN and was thinking this would be a WA substitute of sorts... your thoughts?

Take care,
Travis

Don Wittenberger wrote:

Kokonuts wrote:I've fished Lake Merwin for Kokanee & I am wondering is there any info on how much the Muskies affect the Kokanee population?

WDFW's diet studies at Merwin Lake found only 2% of the tiger muskies' diet consists of kokanee. Other factors also point to a conclusion that tiger muskies have minimal impact on the kokanee population: (1) Hatchery personnel haven't noticed any decline in kokanee spawning runs]
There are always similar concerns about the impact muskies have on Walleyes in the midwest... results show that stocking muskies has minimal to no impact on walleye populations.... however this is a heated debate and preventing many lakes in MN from being opened as muskie fisheries...

T -- Yes, I'm aware of the Minnesota DNR studies of muskie predation, which generally show that muskies exist in too low numbers to have a significant impact on populations of other gamefish, and I'm also aware of the resistance by lake associations and others to stocking muskies in additional Minnesota lakes. One of the problems is that in the internet age you have all kinds of information being put into the public domain, and people don't know what to believe, or they believe stuff from unreliable sources.

As you're new here, this is a good time to introduce myself. Like many Muskies Inc. Chapter 57 members, I'm a Wisconsin transplant, although I came out here a long time ago -- 1967, to be exact. So, you'll likely find a lot of the muskie anglers here are familiar with the Wisconsin and Minnesota fisheries. I know about the rock pillars in Big Sissagama, for example, having busted a prop on one of them. So, you can talk about Wisconsin muskie lakes here, and find people who know those lakes.

I'm a member of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Inland Fisheries Policy Advisory Group, a group of citizens appointed by the WDFW director to provide public input to the department on fisheries management policies, and also the legislative liaison for the local Muskies Inc. chapter. I'm not an official spokesperson for WDFW, but I work closely with WDFW biologist staff on issues pertaining to Washington's muskie fishery, and much of the information I post on this board comes from WDFW internal sources. So, as a practical matter, I'm often relaying the state's field science data to readers of this board, as I did above in relation to the diet studies.

Washington's lakes tend to be dynamic. By that I mean, the fisheries are constantly changing. For example, Banks Lake used to be Washington's top largemouth fishery, but because of changes in water level management there, the largement are struggling there now, and today Banks is primarily a smallmouth and walleye fishery. Likewise, Moses Lake formerly was noted for large panfish, but after walleyes got into that system they took it over and the panfish are all but gone. Because all of our muskies are hatchery-produced sterile hybrids, and the population is wholly dependent on stocking, the population level in a given lake can fluctuate quite a bit from year to year, which obviously affects the fishing both in terms of numbers and sizes of muskies caught. For example, the fishing has slowed down quite a bit at Merwin in the last couple of seasons, probably due to a combination of increased fishing pressure and a population drop as more abundant older year classes died off. Mayfield, Merwin, and Tapps are all slated to receive larger-than-normal stockings in 2009, which should translate into more muskies in those lakes in 3 to 4 years. Of Washington's 7 tiger muskie lakes, Curlew bears the closest resemblance to a typical midwestern lake in terms of size and structure, and should be a good big-fish lake in 2009. To date, though, most of Washington's truly big fish ... 28 lbs. and up ... have come from Mayfield and Merwin. Big water = big fish, here as elsewhere. However, the population of trophy fish may be temporarily down in those lakes, as the 50-inch minimum size rule went into effect only this year; before that, it was 36 inches, and a lot of those big fish were harvested. Fortunately, because tiger muskies grow quickly, we don't have to wait 20 years for the next crop of big fish; it takes them about 6 years to grow to 25 lbs.

Travisah...you know Josh Stevenson at Blue Ribbon?? Those are my stompin grounds as well.....White Bear....WOW. Welcome, and the PAC 57 is an AWESOME group, not a member, but that is THE group to get in with. Just look at the pic's!!!!

Rollin with Rolland wrote:Travisah...you know Josh Stevenson at Blue Ribbon?? Those are my stompin grounds as well.....White Bear....WOW. Welcome, and the PAC 57 is an AWESOME group, not a member, but that is THE group to get in with. Just look at the pic's!!!!

Not personally but I saw him at the MN metro muskieetourney in June. I went to WBL high school. Small world.

T

for your map question i don't know if any one has pionted you at a site called angling-technologies.com they have a mapping data base system for the whole country and a lot of the lakes are listed with conture maps i don't know if the ones in question are done but it is worth a lookand at least be a starting piont i just checked the two by spokane silver and newman and sorry to say they are not done but it may be worth a look any way