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Red Rock Lake Report
Grant County, WA

Details

07/23/2011
Top Fishing From Boat
Crappie
Worms
Jig
Afternoon
07/24/2011
2
2586

We spent mid-day fishing on this hidden little lake. While the scenery was quite striking, unfortunately, the fish were not. My fiancee and I caught more deer fly bites, than we did fish! Word to the wise, bring DEET...and, WEAR IT! As for the fishing, we hooked numerous small (6”) Perch, and that was it. The Perch were voracious, and bit on anything! They bit a yellow Crappie jig, a red flatfish, nighcrawler on a bobber, nightcrawler hooked up on a Carolina rig, you name it. But, that was all we hooked. Judging from the size and hunger of the Perch, it seems the lake is full of stunted Perch. Maybe over-fished of the bigger predator fish, or lack of food/nutrients for the Perch, but the results were the same...lots of little perch. We did not fish the reedy shallows for the bigger bass. These shallows were only a foot, or two, deep. It seemed too shallow for the overhead sun, and lacking in structure for these kind of fish. There were, however, and abundance of mid-size Carp cruising the shallows, and in through the reeds. In fact, we did not have a depth/fish finder, but rough guess dropping a weighted line is the lake only ran from around 5' to 15' deep at any location. Supposedly, this lake contains Perch, Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Crappie, Sunfish, Carp, Mountain Whitefish, and Crawfish, all according to the WDFW website. Well, we even dropped a Crawfish trap at the beginning of our fishing, and four hours later we pulled it, and did not find one Crawfish in it. Dissapointing. As a side note, and mentioned by another poster, you cross what appears to be private property to get to this lake. It is very misleading. My guess is that the well maintained gravel road heading in is a public road, but all the property surrounding it is private. Someone has put up so many signs of “Private Property,” “No Trespassing,” “Do Not Enter,” and “Beware of Dog,” that it is rather deceptive and intimidating. So much so, that being someone who respects private property owner rights, I headed back up the main road, stopped and asked locals if I was missing the correct way into the lake. I was informed this was the way in, and after driving in a short distance on the gravel road in, the WDFW signs for the lake are posted. It would have been nice if these signs were posted on the main road – Rd E SW, just east of Royal City. You turn right on Rd E SW (the WDFW site says turn right on Smyrna Road, but I suspect it's maybe an old name for it,) drive about a mile, drop down a small canyon, and turn left onto a gravel road as the paved road is going through a right-hand curve. Just look for all the “No Trespassing” signs, and turn there. Yep, still irritated about that. I think I can see from the tree configuration where “No Name Slough” that Jigmeister wrote about (above the lake) is located, and would love to figure out how to get in there, as it looks like he did quite well catching Black Crappie. Still not convinced it's good fishing on Red Rock Lake, but it's a very picturesque, out-of-the-way place to spend a relaxing day.


Comments

BMGW
7/25/2011 9:20:00 AM
Right on, it's worth another try on the Crappie. Even the best of Crappie waters can make one believe there are none to be found when they go into lockjaw. Next time bring some of the Crappie nibbles or my favorite Eagle Claws Nitro Trailer..
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709