Lake for fishing/waterplay with year and a half old baby

[odddoylerules]

Looking to do some shore fishing and playing in the water with the family Monday. Was thinking of hiking to an Alpine lake but most are 5+ miles in. Any south sound area ideas? If it's an hour or so from Tacoma and has a nice place to picnic and play that'd be perfect but I'll drive a little further if needed for a good spot to spend the day.

Fine targeting bass n bluegill, or trout but it's getting a bit warm and Monday should be in the 80s.

Docks are cool but not necessary

Wdfw boat launches that don't get much traffic would be fine too if there's fishable shore nearby, and most launches hold fish anyway

Ok guys, I'm all ears. Whaddaya say?

[Larry3215]

Lake Tapps has a nice park and beaches and plenty of shore line to fish from and a nice launch with nice docks and nice bathrooms.

Thats the nicest one I can think of within an hour of Tacoma, but there are several others - American, Spencer, Long Lake and Kitsap Lake and a bit further is Wildcat Lake.

[odddoylerules]

What about rapjohn, I've talked to ppl that fish it and it seems quiet and the boat launch is big. Looks undeveloped around the lake and the launch is on a game access road.

Sounds like more shore to explore than just the launch, forums say the west side shore has fish but I just wondered if anyone has been out there and can verify whether or not there is good access

[Larry3215]

Never been there but the satellite views dont show any beach type shore line. It all looks over grown to me.

[gaSSer41]

I would not try Kitsap. It is real weedy at the public park of the docks. You have a lot of boat & jet ski noise from the launch. The weeds keep getting taller each week. The fisherman's boat ramp on the side of the public park is all so very shallow. It is a pretty tough lake to fish. Either the bite is good or not! It does hold some pretty nice fish in the lake though.
Butch Duke

[Scheindogg]

Luther Burbank park on Mercer isalnd has a terrific park area for kids. A beach . And a fishing pier. Next to the fishing pier is also some shore area! The fishing pier goes down to easily 40ft deep water on the end. I saw a guy catching small sunfish at the very shallow part, and have also heard of ppl catching Cutts from the deep water at end of dock! Lots of good options there!

[odddoylerules]

I think more ppl are coming so were headed to wildcat lake to picnic.

Any panfish or bass near the county park area??

[Larry3215]

You can look up almost any lake in the Lakes index and check out reports and look at the hotspots. Ive never actually fished Wildcat but the park is nice.

[odddoylerules]

Folks are saying they'd rather stay closer so kitsap horseshoe lake it is. I've only fished there as a kid unsuccessfully for trout, can anyone tell me about panfish and bass this time of year there?

Some reports show lunkers but most reports are from may spawn times or late into fall

[DavidA]

I've fished Kitsap, Wildcat, Spencer, American, Long and Horseshoe, but all by small boat. Horseshoe is comparatively small and has shallows around the whole lake i.e. no sharp drop-offs from shore. A nice thing about it is that bass seem to be along just about every shoreline and it has variety: trout, perch and crappie as well. I know where the camp/public areas are but can't say I can picture all the fishing opportunities/variety they offer. I believe there is significant shoreline available. Except for trout, they should all be biting this time of year. It's getting warm for the trout, so trolling is harder, but I think bottom fishing would likely be more successful. Different flying bugs are dominating and so at certain times of the day, something on the surface might be best for trout and it can be easy to spot them surfacing all over. Good luck.

[odddoylerules]

Lookin for bluegills n bass boys! I'll report back

[riverhunter]

Tye lake in Monroe. It's a drive and not the prettiest to look at but has swimming beach, picnic tables, playground and charcoal grills

[odddoylerules]

No fishing yesterday just scouting and boy let me tell u the guys fishing for planter trout's here are missing OUT. I will definitely be learning this lake in depth over the coming months/years. Definitely down to meet some regulars/locals if any see this and wanna hit some structure up for some lessons!