Northwest Fishing Reports

If you fish a body of water that has a lillypad flat or two get out there now and note on a map or piece of paper where all the structures are now that get covered in the warmer months.(ex; deeper channels,logs,gravel or any other places that are going to offer bass extra cover or comfort!)

a lot of lakes dont lower anyways. Silver lake my main lake has a lot of pads but it gets lower in the summer and high in the fall, winter, and spring. so i do what you say in the summer time its for sure a good thing to do. i always look for new structure and stuff when im out anywhere and note it down or mark it.

thanks, Casey

Great idea.

I took my boat out for a test ride yesterday, and noted some of that stuff. I will go back on a clearer day and note the structure though.

I also saw a turtle slip off of a log, which surprised me considerably, because I didn't think deer lake (island county) had any. Does anyone know if they are bad for the fishery?

Clam Man

turtles are more of a sign of a healthy body of water than any threat to the fishery IMO. Not like we have any big snappers here.

bpm2000 wrote:turtles are more of a sign of a healthy body of water than any threat to the fishery IMO. Not like we have any big snappers here.

funny you should talk about SNAPPERS.

alligator snappers and other varieties of snapping turtles are released into our waters regularely because people buy them when they are little as pets and then they get big and people release them. a very large (30lb) snapping turtle was pulled out of round lake in clark county a couple years back by a fisherman that thought he got snagged. its not to far-fetched to have snapping turtles in our favorite fisheries. most of the turtles we see are the red-eared sliders that i think are native but i could be wrong. they have little to no effect on a fisheries quality, they eat little minnows and the like so maybe they even help by eating stunted perch which can make a fisherman angry. (at least me)

Red ear sliders and painteds are opertunistic, more like scavengers and weeding out the week, sick and cleaning up the dead.

Fisherman_max wrote:

bpm2000 wrote:turtles are more of a sign of a healthy body of water than any threat to the fishery IMO. Not like we have any big snappers here.

funny you should talk about SNAPPERS.

alligator snappers and other varieties of snapping turtles are released into our waters regularely because people buy them when they are little as pets and then they get big and people release them. a very large (30lb) snapping turtle was pulled out of round lake in clark county a couple years back by a fisherman that thought he got snagged. its not to far-fetched to have snapping turtles in our favorite fisheries. most of the turtles we see are the red-eared sliders that i think are native but i could be wrong. they have little to no effect on a fisheries quality, they eat little minnows and the like so maybe they even help by eating stunted perch which can make a fisherman angry. (at least me)

man i do not want to run into a snapper anywhere around here!

yea i am surprised nobody lost their toes while they were swimming/wading.:pale:

ha ha thats a good one man!

Casey