Northwest Fishing Reports

Hello all,

I'll apologize in advance if this is all spelled out somewhere else on the site. If so, please feel free to redirect me...

I just moved to Kirkland, WA a few weeks ago and am trying to get settled into the Pacific NW. I grew up fishing for striped bass with my Dad and I've been meaning to get back into the sport for years. Now that I live in such a great area for it, I figure the time is right. What I'm looking for are some pointers to get me started fishing in this area. Here is a bit about me:

-I don't own a boat, but am an avid hiker and would prefer shore/dock fishing spots
-I'd like to focus on trout/bass fishing, but any other regional favorites would be great, too
-I need to get a new rod/reel combo and some new lures (might as well start fresh!)

If anyone could give me some quick tips I would greatly appreciate it. Ideally, I could spend the winter getting used to the new area and gear (and not catching much) and be ready to hit it hard when Spring rolls around. If you can point me to some good lakes/gear choices, you'd be lifesavers!

Thanks in advance. I can't wait to start fishing again!

-J

Welcome to the state and the site. As far as lakes goes i'd look at the reports section of the website. You can view them by county, highest rated, or just browse the list. That is a good way to find some lakes that might suit your fancy. Also, look at all of the info under the Features tab and Links tab located at the top of the page. There you will find tons of info about all of the fisheries in the state, seasons, and which lakes are year round, limits, and special rules for specific lakes. Great to have you here!

Chris

Welcome DeepBlue. The winter time in this state is the slowest fishing season, but that dosnt mean there isnt any good fishing options. I would hold off on the bass fishing for at least another month or so. Right now your best bet would probally be trout, panfish and steel head. There are a couple of lakes that arnt too far from you that are known for there better winter trout fishing.

The closest is beaver lake in Issaqua. For years its been a great winter trout fishery and this year they loaded it full with some monsters a few months back. A lot of bank acces and a nice clean little lake

This one is a little further out but its spanaway lake. Also a winter trout lake. This lake has a good park and good bank acces and they rent row boats for about $4 an hour.

The last one is quite a ways from kirkland. Its black lake by olympia. I have never fished it but have heard of a couple of public acces spots and it also got loaded with over sized trout a month or so ago.

If you want to take a short drive over snoqualmie a few lakes got stocked in Ellensburg as well. Fio Rito, Mattoon and Mcabe I believe. Fio Rito is the only one of these lakes that I have fished but there is great bank acces and they just received 5 - 10 lb trout YES 10LB TROUT. Some lakes in Yakima also got stocked

If you are intrested in driving a little farther there are a number of decent ice fishing lakes that will be picking up really soon. There are quite a few but it seems that fish lake by Leavonworth and Rosses lake by Manson are at the top of the list. I have never ice fished but have fished fish lake for many years and love it.

The top dog of all the winter trout lakes right now is Rufus Woods. The last 3 state record bows came from here and they are killing them right now. I have never been but I am goin there tomarrow.

Lake chelan is pretty hot for lake trout right now but you will need a boat for that.

Good stores to go to are Cabelas (of course), outdoor emplorium (sp?) in seattle, Auburn sports and marine, Joes, sportmans warehouse, both of these are in Federal way right acrros the street from one another.

A good magazine to get is the fishing and hunting for WA state. It comes out twice a month and is loaded with great info. Also the Washington fishing book is key. Its published by foghorn outdoors and is written by Terry Rudnick. It has 100s of lakes, directions to the lake, facilities on the lake, contact numbers and species of fish. I never leave home w/o it.

There are more good fishing spots but this should get you off to a pretty good start. March 1st the quincy area lakes all open and have fresh stocked fish. Then there is the April 1st opener, then the tradditional trout opener at the end of april. A lot of the rivers open up on June 1st. Then the warm water species are in their prime, then salmon season starts picking up come july.

Good luck, feel free to ask any more questions

Deep Blue,
Welcome back to WA. You are on the Columbia River there. Great for smallies and steelhead above Mcnary in the spring and fall. Moses lake has the potholes and lenore. Spokane has 90 laKes within a hundred miles. It is about 2 hours from there. Mcnary is a flippin hot place to catch steelhead. Welcome to the site. Check out the reports and videos.
Jim:cheers:

if youre in kirkland then you are a stone's throw from lake wa - great smallmouth fishing, decent lm fishing... has some trout and whatnot (easier to get to if you have a boat, for all species, but can be done from shore).

no stripers unfortunately - wish to fish for them one day myself.

Thanks for all of the responses everyone! I appreciate all of your help getting me acclimated to the area.

bpm2000: Do you (or anyone for that matter) have any suggestions for shore/dock fishing spots on Lake Washington? I'm about a half-mile from the water, so if there is anywhere I could head for a quick fix every now and then, I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks again everyone and if you have some advice, please chime in!

-J

Hey there

There is Waverly park pretty close to Kirkland - its a decent spot for trout I hear, and panfish/perch in the warmer months. There are quite a few parks actually dotting that side of the lake - I am not too familiar with it myself since I am on the west side of the lake but that should get you started. Check out google maps or msoft live local maps and see if there are docks.

DeepBlue, welcome to Washington, but also to Kirkland! I live here too and I think you will find a great amount of fishing to be had on area lakes. I'll point you towards Lake Washington (LW) and urge you to get a boat. It has some of the best cutt fishing this side of the cascades long with Sammamish and Samish, which are often over/underlooked. If you are interested at all in fishing these lakes let me know, as I have a lot of hours logged and invested in the Lake Washington fishery for cutts/bows/and koke's. Welcome to WL.com!

WELCOME! ALTHOUGH, I FISH EASTERN,WA 85% OF THE TIME. THE GUYS ON THIS SITE ARE GETTING ME MORE AND MORE COMFORTABLE ON LAKE WASHINGTON. I LIVE RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM COULON PARK. BEFORE I HAD A BOAT (EARLIER THIS YEAR), I SPENT ALOT OF TIME ON THOSE PARK DOCKS. THERE IS ALOT OF BANK ACCESS, IT JUST TAKES SOME TIME TO FIND THEM ALL. I WAS A LIL OVERWHELMED AT FIRST WITH THE VASTNESS OF THE LAKE, BUT, IM STARTING TO SORT IT OUT. IF YOUR EVER WANTING TO TRY THE TRI-CITY AREA LET ME KNOW. I WAS BORN AND RAISED OVER THERE ON A FARM. AGAIN, WELCOME! YOU PICKED A GREAT SITE.

I did some checking for you regarding fishing piers and bank fishing on Lake Washington. Here is a piece of information off of one of the sites I visited:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/outreach/fishing/wfg2000/k_cty.htm Bank access is abundant. Numerous fishing piers dot the perimeter of the lake. Some of the more popular piers near Kirkland are located in Waverly Park, Marina Park and at the Old Ship Museum Park. Near Renton, Gene Coulon Memorial Park offers public fishing piers, and on the southeast side of the lake, a fishing pier is available in Seward Park. On the north end of Mercer Island, Luther Burbank Park offers a finger pier and boat docks for fishing.


Here are the public fishing areas in Kirkland listed on the City of Kirkland web site. All but one has public docks.


David E. Brink Park 555 Lake St. S. Fishing, picnic tables, public dock

Marina Park 25 Lakeshore Plaza Drive: Fishing, picnic tables, boat moorage, boat launch, public dock, restrooms

Houghton Beach Park 5811 Lake Washington Blvd Swimming, fishing, picnic tables, public dock, volleyball, restrooms

Juanita Beach Park (fishing but no dock listed) 9703 NE Juanita Dr. Fishing, picnic tables, playground, tennis courts, volleyball, baseball, restrooms

Marsh Park 6605 Lake Washington Blvd. Fishing, picnic tables, interpretive walk, public dock, restroom

Waverly Park 633 Waverly Way swimming, fishing, picnic tables, public dock, playground, restrooms

Settler’s Landing 1001 Lake Street S Fishing, picnic tables, public dock

Hope this info helps out. Good luck and good fishin.