Northwest Fishing Reports

Despite the fact that I have lived by Lake WA my entire life, I have only fished it maybe, MAYBE 20 times and more than half of those trips were for sockeye, a couple coulon park trips and fished it 1 time for bass wich I got skunked. But I have never caught a crappie out of there and have no clue where to even start. I have heard stuff about the UW area and lake union area. I mean come on, crappie might be my favorite species to target, the state record came from there, and I live with in 15 miles from the lake. I dont know what my problem is, any help would be greatly appreciated.

i heard from a really reliable source that the coulon area near the ceder river is a good spot for spawning crappie. i havent checked it out though. i usually just fish 5 mile for crappie. there is some big ones in there to.

tnj8222 wrote:i heard from a really reliable source that the coulon area near the ceder river is a good spot for spawning crappie. i havent checked it out though. i usually just fish 5 mile for crappie. there is some big ones in there to.

Intresting. I remember you mentioning the 5 mile crappie before, and the picture you posted with that nice crappie. How do you fish 5 mile? I have only fished the dock and by the lilly pads. I have a small aluminum, do you think it would be worth lugging that thing all the way down there? Its only 10.5 feet and is pretty easy to carry but thats a good little walk to the water from the parking lot.

Lake Union is usually what I hear the most...

i like the dock at five mile. usually just a small jig in white or chartrouse. try to keep it really still and very slowing bring it up, unless its spring then just cast out and slowly reel in and you will catch a bunch. i have never taken a boat out on this lake though. trout lake right around the corner has good crappie in it as well.

tnj8222 wrote:i like the dock at five mile. usually just a small jig in white or chartrouse. try to keep it really still and very slowing bring it up, unless its spring then just cast out and slowly reel in and you will catch a bunch. i have never taken a boat out on this lake though. trout lake right around the corner has good crappie in it as well.

I have also heard good things about the crappie in trout lake, I fished the lake 1 time for about a half hour from the boat launch, deffinatly need a boat there.

Have you ever caught crappie durring the winter at 5 mile? (or is it seasonal?) When you say a bunch, how many are you refering too? I drive all the way to potholes for most of my crappie fishing and if we bring home 30 keepers (9" min. size) on the weekend, I think of that as a good trip, but when its all said and done a weekend runs a few hundred bucks, hardley worth it for 30 crappie. So all I need is a couple from a local lake to make me happy. The picture that you posted, would that be a typical sized 5 mile crappie or a rare occasion? There isnt a min. size or limit at 5 mile, right?

tnj8222 wrote:i like the dock at five mile. usually just a small jig in white or chartrouse. try to keep it really still and very slowing bring it up, unless its spring then just cast out and slowly reel in and you will catch a bunch. i have never taken a boat out on this lake though. trout lake right around the corner has good crappie in it as well.

Is there public access to trout lake? I assumed it was private becuase of all the houses.

Toni wrote:

tnj8222 wrote:i like the dock at five mile. usually just a small jig in white or chartrouse. try to keep it really still and very slowing bring it up, unless its spring then just cast out and slowly reel in and you will catch a bunch. i have never taken a boat out on this lake though. trout lake right around the corner has good crappie in it as well.

Is there public access to trout lake? I assumed it was private becuase of all the houses.

Kind of. Its pretty much just an alley between 2 houses that leads down to the water where you can launch a boat. Star lake ( the one in Fed. Way, real close to trout) has the same deal, but I have never fished there.

trouts open year round but i havent fished it in winter never fished five mile in winter either but im going to both today for crappie they should be moving close to shore pretty soon. i tried a couple of weeks ago but it was frozen. trout lakes launch can be a good spot for crappie bluegill perch and bass heres a video of me catching a 2 or 3 pounder from trout off the launch before we took the boat out of the truck. caught it on a black and blue jig with a kgm craw trailer. we were about to take the boat out but i saw splashes which i figured a bass was chasing bluegill or perch, i was right :geek: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... &plindex=2

tnj8222 wrote:trouts open year round but i havent fished it in winter never fished five mile in winter either but im going to both today for crappie they should be moving close to shore pretty soon. i tried a couple of weeks ago but it was frozen. trout lakes launch can be a good spot for crappie bluegill perch and bass heres a video of me catching a 2 or 3 pounder from trout off the launch before we took the boat out of the truck. caught it on a black and blue jig with a kgm craw trailer. we were about to take the boat out but i saw splashes which i figured a bass was chasing bluegill or perch, i was right :geek: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... &plindex=2

I enjoyed the video, kinda cool to attach a face to people whos posts you read.

Cool way to preserve the moment. I think that I will take the video camera along this season to do the same. Thanks for making the boat just that much heavier!!!

The problem with Lake Union is the severe water polution.When I catch Blugill,Pumpkin Seeds and crappie I want to go home and eat them.Lk Unioin for me is strictly C&R.Those boats in that part of the lake have been spewing gas ,oil, diesel and contaminates for years .I remember couple years back they found some human waste pipes comming off Capitol Hill draining in Lk Union.Thats why fishing is so good in Lk Union .Nobody dares eat fish from there.

2000subaru wrote:Cool way to preserve the moment. I think that I will take the video camera along this season to do the same. Thanks for making the boat just that much heavier!!!

i bought a memory card for my phone and it will record videos up to 2 hours and 45 minutes. i have a BUNCH of pics already and still take pics of the better fish, but theres something about having video that makes it that much better.

I definately want to learn how to fish Crappie. Does anyone do well for Crappie in Lake Washington in the summertime? Like May - September? Do they school up like perch? Do they act like perch? I have no clue when it comes to panfish other than occasional perch.

cutthroatkiller wrote:I definately want to learn how to fish Crappie. Does anyone do well for Crappie in Lake Washington in the summertime? Like May - September? Do they school up like perch? Do they act like perch? I have no clue when it comes to panfish other than occasional perch.

At least crappie from the south and midwest can be tough to catch them during the summer. Best time to go after these guys is the spawn. They head to the shallows usually some sort of brush or laydown and hold in schools. The summer they head off to the deep, they're picky in the summer usually in the evening is the best time, sometimes at night.

This may be way out of the way gpc, But I will say to try OHOP when it opens. That lake is awesome for crappies. There is a huge school in that lake. Not many folks fish it for crappie. Mostly for Bass and trout. I will say that Ohop will to, some day produce a record Crappie. Or even now with the new access built at Kapowsin. that place BUDDY, will be where its at. Just watch out for the stumps! Motor tilted up high and go slow. Just watch out for the Meth heads trying to bust into your vehicle. Ah the land of Methheads. Bummer! Anyway give those 2 a try sometime!

muskyhunter wrote:This may be way out of the way gpc, But I will say to try OHOP when it opens. That lake is awesome for crappies. There is a huge school in that lake. Not many folks fish it for crappie. Mostly for Bass and trout. I will say that Ohop will to, some day produce a record Crappie. Or even now with the new access built at Kapowsin. that place BUDDY, will be where its at. Just watch out for the stumps! Motor tilted up high and go slow. Just watch out for the Meth heads trying to bust into your vehicle. Ah the land of Methheads. Bummer! Anyway give those 2 a try sometime!

Thanks muskyhunter I will have to keep that in mind. I drive past the lake all the time on my way to Mineral, there is quite a few lakes out in the eatonvile area but I have never really fished any of them. But I will have to hit up Ohpo now. Thanks

Where in lake union can you find the Crappie? I have been wanting to fish that for a long time...have a pal who lives on a boat down there.

Clam Man

WHEN I WORKED @ WESTLAKE & MERCER, THE SPOT WAS BY IVARS RESTARAUNT, UNDER THE DOCKS. 4 YEARS AGO. LITTLE RED/WHITE CRAPPIE JIGS. WITH SOUTH END OF LAKE UNION CHANGING BY THE DAY, I WOULDNT KNOW WHERE THEY ARE AT TODAY!