Washington Fishing

The Online Source for Washington Fishing Information

I think we can all agree that lakes we fish all change one way or another as far as fish quantity/quality over the years some for the good, while others not so much. This got me thinking about some of the bodies of water I fish on a regular basis, how they've changed and where they are at now in the cycle. Here's my list on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being low and 5 being the best on quantity and quality:

 

Sammamish: The quality of smallmouth these days on average seem to be alot smaller then what it was about 4 years ago. Largemouth fishing seems to be about average.   

  • Quantity: 3
  • Quality: 2

 

Washington: Smallmouth fishing seems to be about average for quantity while the size is probably a little down from just a few years ago.

  • Quantity: 3
  • Quality:  3

 

Potholes: The largemouth fishing definitely seems to be one of the best in the state and results in last years NWB and ABA circuits as well as the potholes open can attest to that. Don't fish smallmouth there enough to know, but would love to hear someone weigh in on the brown there.

  • Quantity: 4-5
  • Quality: 5

 

Moses: With the increased pressure since the Nixons Open it seems like the days of upper 20lb sacks of green are gone, but the brown fishing is alive and well. I'm going to split this one up:

  • Quantity: Brown- 4   Green- 2
  • Quality: Brown- 4     Green - 4

 

Roosevelt: Undoubtedly the lake with the most prevailent change in size in the state, while maintaining a ridiculous number of smallmouth.

  • Quantity: 5
  • Quality: 3

 

 

Would love to hear some others weigh in on places like Tri-Cities, Banks, Whatcom, American, Silver, etc... I'd also like to hear your thoughts on my rankings.

 

 

 

 

Views: 1057

Replies to This Discussion

Interesting how subjective our lists are.  Probably not very accurate I'm guessing.  Just because we catch x number or x size of fish on a body of water doesn't mean that's what is there at all.  For example, I don't consider Potholes a good place to stick a 7 or and 8lb LM.  Why?  Because I never have and don't think I've ever seen one weighed-in.  That doesn't mean they don't exist in good numbers.  Moses Lake, I would say the opposite about.  

I've had a few people tell me that there are lots of 4 and 5lb SM on Banks.  I've just never seen or experienced it, so its hard for me to think of it as a place to catch a quality (trophy) smallie. 

Bunch of lakes down south this last fall/winter where people thought there weren't very many good fish, only to find out different.

Who's Doug??  I rated Silver Lake pretty high in quality, trust me I know exactly whats there Russ didn't have to prove anything to me.  People catch a 5-6 lber there and freak out thinking its the best bass lake in Washington and it just blows my mind.  It is what it is there is a really good average size but not a ton of catching really going on like in past years.  I barely ever have caught an undersized fish the last couple years.  As for the lake being in an up cycle I hope so there's not much more room to go down.  People pull some monster bass out of there in March/April every year despite conditions so I'm gonna have to see more than one 6 lb fish to think anything has changed.  I've caught 6 lb fish in March before and had it be a pretty decent year for Silver Lake but that didn't mean the lake was on an upswing it was actually on a downswing.  The weather and pressure the last couple years has not helped anything though either.  There are only like 3 tournaments this year on Silver maybe some things will change.

Nick Culver said:

Hey Doug after last weekend down at Silver. I'm hoping it's on slight rebound. I believe weather patterns last year really put the fish into a funk. Russ Baker proved last year that the lake still does have quality fish and more than people believe. I'll be heading back down this week. After catching a 6+ last saturday with Russ I'm wanting to see if I can duplicate it again. As for lake cycles I believe every lake goes up and down do to pressure. Look at Moses. It was dynamite before the first Moses Lake open. Then I believe more people started fishing it after seeing those weights. As for Potholes, its on an absolute up swing. No lake in this state holds more quality fish. I credit that to the Meseberg's extensive habit building program. It has helped increase the forage base. Which in turn has helped increase the bass population and feeding abilities.

I'm not saying that's what I catch, I'm saying you can catch fish that size all day long. The big fish tend to school up in the summer, and if you get lucky you can be in for it. Our club tournament two years ago in August was won by Willie, and he only had 15+lbs for a two day total. Nothing against Willie!  I personally had around 11-12lbs. We did have one boat who found the mother load on the second day right before weigh in, and they had 2nd and 3rd place come out of their boat all due to them getting into that RIGHT school of fish. Potential is there, and there is some toads, but it isn't what it used to be. It's not like the weights were that overly impressive for the qualifier on Chelan last year. There was only 5 bags over 10lbs which is exactly what you had on Roosevelt.  Those fish get beat up pretty good during the spawn, and it's tough for them not to be. However, that's a whole other topic.

Russell Baker said:

Chad,

 

I don't run into 10-12" fish in Chelan all day long in the summer. Next time you want to hit Chelan give me or Tyler Walcker a call we will put you on much bigger fish.

 

I don't fish Silver alot, but from what little time I have spent and what I've seen/heard from down there, thats sounds to be pretty accurate Joel. Need to get rid of this carp down there, pretty soon we'll only be able to hold carp tournaments down there.

Joel Booth said:

Who's Doug??  I rated Silver Lake pretty high in quality, trust me I know exactly whats there Russ didn't have to prove anything to me.  People catch a 5-6 lber there and freak out thinking its the best bass lake in Washington and it just blows my mind.  It is what it is there is a really good average size but not a ton of catching really going on like in past years.  I barely ever have caught an undersized fish the last couple years.  As for the lake being in an up cycle I hope so there's not much more room to go down.  People pull some monster bass out of there in March/April every year despite conditions so I'm gonna have to see more than one 6 lb fish to think anything has changed.  I've caught 6 lb fish in March before and had it be a pretty decent year for Silver Lake but that didn't mean the lake was on an upswing it was actually on a downswing.  The weather and pressure the last couple years has not helped anything though either.  There are only like 3 tournaments this year on Silver maybe some things will change.

Nick Culver said:

Hey Doug after last weekend down at Silver. I'm hoping it's on slight rebound. I believe weather patterns last year really put the fish into a funk. Russ Baker proved last year that the lake still does have quality fish and more than people believe. I'll be heading back down this week. After catching a 6+ last saturday with Russ I'm wanting to see if I can duplicate it again. As for lake cycles I believe every lake goes up and down do to pressure. Look at Moses. It was dynamite before the first Moses Lake open. Then I believe more people started fishing it after seeing those weights. As for Potholes, its on an absolute up swing. No lake in this state holds more quality fish. I credit that to the Meseberg's extensive habit building program. It has helped increase the forage base. Which in turn has helped increase the bass population and feeding abilities.

The canal I most frequently hit seems to cycle every 28 days.

 

T-Bone

LOL

T-bone said:

The canal I most frequently hit seems to cycle every 28 days.

 

T-Bone

Yup the general consensus is that people are wanting to see the carp go, and it must be a coincidence that I want to try my hand at some bow fishing.

Jordan Doucet said:

I don't fish Silver alot, but from what little time I have spent and what I've seen/heard from down there, thats sounds to be pretty accurate Joel. Need to get rid of this carp down there, pretty soon we'll only be able to hold carp tournaments down there.


RSS

Blog Posts

Old Farts Tournament on Potholes

Posted by Tom Melowitz on September 7, 2019 at 2:45pm

New Group Added!

Posted by Eric Urstad on April 3, 2019 at 7:38pm

© 2024   Created by Jordan Doucet.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service