Northwest Fishing Reports

Taking my girlfriend fishing for the first time ever this weekend. Assuming trout fishing would be easiest and would like to be somewhat close to home(King/Snohomish County). I know they just stocked Cottage Lake with fish a month back. Any other suggestions?

bank or boat?

BentRod wrote:bank or boat?

Sorry, should of included that. Bank is our only option for the next few weeks.

Hey Cozmo,
I agree trout would likely be best for someone new at this. A couple of things to consider though: The water is still quite cold so they aren't biting much. Trolling the last 2-3 months hasn't been very productive for me in Kitsap, Jefferson & Mason counties. I did have some luck with floating Rapalas, but that seems to be very spotty = either they are there and you get action within 3-5 casts, or move on around the lake. Fishing up off the bottom might be your best best, or down from a bobber.
Most lakes are still closed until the last weekend of April so check before you go.
The weather will likely be cold, if not rainy as well - are you sure you'd rather not wait until the opener when a limit for each of you is quite likely? I know .. waiting to fish!? .. but if you can get her 'hooked' ...
Anyway, you might want to let her know that fishing should start getting noticeably better (success and weather-wise) every week or so you wait, until mid to late April. That way if she goes now, and doesn't like it, she might be willing to consider it again in a month or so.

DavidA wrote:Hey Cozmo,
I agree trout would likely be best for someone new at this. A couple of things to consider though: The water is still quite cold so they aren't biting much. Trolling the last 2-3 months hasn't been very productive for me in Kitsap, Jefferson & Mason counties. I did have some luck with floating Rapalas, but that seems to be very spotty = either they are there and you get action within 3-5 casts, or move on around the lake. Fishing up off the bottom might be your best best, or down from a bobber.
Most lakes are still closed until the last weekend of April so check before you go.
The weather will likely be cold, if not rainy as well - are you sure you'd rather not wait until the opener when a limit for each of you is quite likely? I know .. waiting to fish!? .. but if you can get her 'hooked' ...
Anyway, you might want to let her know that fishing should start getting noticeably better (success and weather-wise) every week or so you wait, until mid to late April. That way if she goes now, and doesn't like it, she might be willing to consider it again in a month or so.

Thanks for the tips, but believe me I've mentioned all of this to her countless times and shes still determined to go. Its more of a chance for her to get outside since we both work office jobs and get some practice in. We're going no matter what but at this point we just need to decide where.

I don't have any experience with Cottage Lake, but Beaver Lake has some decent shore access at Beaver Lake Park and functional facilities. There is no fishing dock/pier, but there are some larger trout in that lake that can be taken from the shore with PowerBait if you're lucky. The park is nice and shouldn't be crowded this time of year. FWIW.

Cozmo,
If she's that eager, in spite of it all, it sounds like you've got a 'keeper'! Good luck out there!

IMHO the best place to try would either be the bank area north of the dock @ Lake Ballinger, or the North dock @ Blackmon's Lake in Snohomish. Ballinger is a bit bigger and the water has some flow so it shouldn't be quite as cold, but Blackmon's has been my luckier spot. They put about 6000 planters in each of them last year and some holdovers are still kicking around I'm sure. Green lake docks might even be a good choice. They got 12000 planters last year including about 1500 triploids. A nice long light or med-light action rod with a 6lb main/2-4lb 4' leader egg slip sinker power bait rig should get ya in business. From the recent reports below fish are being caught.

Blackman's report http://washingtonlakes.com/ReportList.aspx?id=597&t=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ballinger report http://washingtonlakes.com/ReportList.aspx?id=596&t=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Green report http://washingtonlakes.com/ReportList.aspx?id=446&t=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would 2nd the Greenlake recommendation. The 65th street dock on the East side is a decent choice. The T-dock near the boat rental, N. E. side as well. Again though as was said.. cold water = slow fishing, but they are being caught.

I know that "Hate" is a strong word... but i HATE ballinger. not too mention it is a small dock.

Lake Stevens has a couple of public docks, and a decent winter fishery.
I expect to troll Cambell lake tomorrow, near Anacortes. However I don't know what it has for banks/docks.

Oh.... you know what you should check out, is Riffe lake. Can't remember if you had a limit on distance? You will need to go into lake reports and get the logistic of location, etc. This lake has a dam or some structure thingy that people fish from. It is all about either landlocked silvers, or some species of landlocked (mini salmon) LOL... I've fished for them there, and I can't even remember what they are called. but the reports under Riffe lake will def. be nice to read.

Edit: http://www.washingtonlakes.com/LakeInfo.aspx?id=147&t=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
LOL.... ya,, the last 3 reports were all 5 stars. Game on.

DavidA wrote:Hey Cozmo,
Most lakes are still closed until the last weekend of April so check before you go.

Actually they are only closed if specifically mentioned in the regulations as being so. But still check the pamphlet anyway.

The Quadfather wrote:I would 2nd the Greenlake recommendation. The 65th street dock on the East side is a decent choice. The T-dock near the boat rental, N. E. side as well. Again though as was said.. cold water = slow fishing, but they are being caught.

I know that "Hate" is a strong word... but i HATE ballinger. not too mention it is a small dock.

Lake Stevens has a couple of public docks, and a decent winter fishery.
I expect to troll Cambell lake tomorrow, near Anacortes. However I don't know what it has for banks/docks.

I never have any luck from the Ballinger dock. I always go north of the dock to the grassy picnic area and fish from shore. there is a nice little honey spot as far north as you can go between the bushes and the fence separating it from the golf course. About 75' straight out is a nice hole about 5-7 ' deeper than the surrounding water. Blackmans is a good choice as the south dock goes about 60' out over the water, but there are 2 fish slaying holes that can only be reached from the kinda rickety north dock (my secret spot). ;)

Per the WDFW Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet page 60, Cottage Lake is closed for all game fish until the fourth Saturday in April.

rseas wrote:Per the WDFW Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet page 60, Cottage Lake is closed for all game fish until the fourth Saturday in April.

Misread that in the regs. Looks like we'll be heading elsewhere. Blackmon or Beaver Lake sounds like the top contenders as of now.

I've taken a few ladies fishing at Blackman's over the years , and always got some nice action .

Caught a few fish, too.

I just picked up 4 new trout rods yesterday so if you are heading to Blackman's tomorrow (I'm working today) I might see ya out there!

Rattlesnake. You can walk the entire shoreline right now since it is low. Though...you gotta release everything and use single barbless hooks/no scent/no bait....etc.

Thanks for all the suggestions fellas. I had her out on Hood Canal with me last weekend and she finally got her first fish. The excitement on her face made the whole trip worth it.

We pulled the boat back over on Sunday and shes eager to go again either Saturday or Sunday. She likes to cast and I'll be storing the boat in Snohomish, so I was thinking of taking her to either Flowing or Panther for some bass since they're both only a half hour drive, open year around and have decent boat launches.

What do you guys think?

The launch at Panther is shallow and not very wide, but parking across the street is decent. I didn't know it was open year round. I know that around the traditional opening and for a month and a half after, getting your limit of Rainbows isn't too difficult. There are bass in there, but I haven't tried until the lake gets warmer. Unfortunately, that's when the jet skiers and motor boaters come out. I'll probably see you out there sometime though. I really like that lake.

DavidA wrote:The launch at Panther is shallow and not very wide, but parking across the street is decent. I didn't know it was open year round. I know that around the traditional opening and for a month and a half after, getting your limit of Rainbows isn't too difficult. There are bass in there, but I haven't tried until the lake gets warmer. Unfortunately, that's when the jet skiers and motor boaters come out. I'll probably see you out there sometime though. I really like that lake.

Storm Lake is closed until Opening Day. Flowing and Panther stay open all year. Flowing allows internal combustion but Panther doesn't according to WDFW. Figured it was worth a shot since its a pretty close proximity to where I'm keeping my boat unless anyone else has suggestions.