Northwest Fishing Reports

I have been trying to find a small body of water to fish local to Kent. I haven't had much bass fishing out there except at Lake Meridian where I got a 4 pounder once. I just can't take fishing there with my little pontoon with all the recreational boating/jet skiing going on. I tried Fenwick but all I get is dinks if anything. If anyone knows where there are some bass with any size PLEASE fill me in.

I've been fishing in my float tube out at shadow lake in kent/renton. Lost a 2.5 pound LM on a spinnerbait. I would try steel lake in Federal Way.

theres also finwick but your gonna catch mostly dinks there.

just look on google maps. on 277th in federal way just past the freeway there star lake and about 10 more as you travel south.

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll give Star a try this weekend, it's fairly close.

Clark lake king co has some nice bass in it if you can get to the other end in a float tube.

Yeah I cant stand feniwick, its real close to my house so I find myself there a lot. Always getting skunked. But I would also reccomend Clark. It is right by Merridian. Iv only fished it once and got skunked. But it has some really good cover. Worth checking out with a float tube

Can you fish Clark with a boat? Is there a boat launch? I've got one of those little mini bass boats but I need a trailer to pull it.

it's a hundred yards from parking lot to the lake but you can get a car topper in there with a mini trailer I've gotten my 8fter in there and I got a 2lb smallie off shore. Someone there said topwater baits are good there and showed me a 5in rapella.

Derrick, you 100% sure it was a smallmouth out of Clark. I have never heard of a SM out of that lake? Sure it wasn't a largie?

what about a place where you''re boatless??

I've fished Clark twice in the past week and haven't been skunked yet. Caught all dinks the last trip, but that was between 10am and 2pm, so the heat and lack of cloud cover probably had them slowed down and on bottom. I fished bottom and only enticed a few 12"ers to bite during the day.

Evening, however, was a good time for Clark. Lots of 12-16" bass in the pads hitting anything I threw at them. Not a lot of size to them but it was a nice change from sitting there waiting for something to grab my powerbait.

I've been meaning to take the float tube out to Fenwick - I've seen lots of nice bass there from the shore and the little dock, but I haven't heard anyone out there really catching any.

Ditto for Steel Lake. I don't think Steel has enough structure to support a healthy bass population. The lily pads in the west end are the only thing there, and those don't really hold too many over 2 pounds from what I've experienced there.

Best bet - Clark. If you have a tube or boat, hit Fenwick, put out directly in front of the swimming area and hit the two submerged logs on the far bank. If there's a fat bass in Fenwick, he hangs out there sometimes. Has to.

Wow, I didnt know I only lived less than 10 mins away from Clark Lake. Never knew there was a lake in that direction.

So there's lot of shore access to fish at?

FishingFool wrote:Wow, I didnt know I only lived less than 10 mins away from Clark Lake. Never knew there was a lake in that direction.

So there's lot of shore access to fish at?

Nope. There's two places to fish from shore - the "dock" (which is basically a launching pad for people's dogs to play fetch in the water), and a small cut-out about 100 yards to the left of the dock, around the bottom of the lake. That's it for shore access. The rest is reedy marsh and not accessible by foot.

I take a float tube out to Clark. I don't think you'll have much luck without one or a small boat. The shore access areas get fished a lot from the locals, and I've never had a bite within casting distance of either of those two spots.

My favorite spot for bass on Clark is to the right of the dock, about halfway to the end of the lake. There's a nice cut-out in the pads there, bottom drops off to about 7 feet and the bass sit on that point and hit anything that comes out of the pads. I've had hits there on a fouled-up spinner. I'd recommend a working spinner, though hehe

AaronE wrote:

FishingFool wrote:Wow, I didnt know I only lived less than 10 mins away from Clark Lake. Never knew there was a lake in that direction.

So there's lot of shore access to fish at?

Nope. There's two places to fish from shore - the "dock" (which is basically a launching pad for people's dogs to play fetch in the water), and a small cut-out about 100 yards to the left of the dock, around the bottom of the lake. That's it for shore access. The rest is reedy marsh and not accessible by foot.

I take a float tube out to Clark. I don't think you'll have much luck without one or a small boat. The shore access areas get fished a lot from the locals, and I've never had a bite within casting distance of either of those two spots.

My favorite spot for bass on Clark is to the right of the dock, about halfway to the end of the lake. There's a nice cut-out in the pads there, bottom drops off to about 7 feet and the bass sit on that point and hit anything that comes out of the pads. I've had hits there on a fouled-up spinner. I'd recommend a working spinner, though hehe

Well, I guess I'll scratch Clark off my list then.

Trout, North, and Fivemile lakes all have decent Largemouth populations as well. They are all located between Kent/Auburn and Federal Way. Lake Dollof has Largemouth and Smallmouth. All four of these lakes are small enough for the pontoon and are rarely busy.

AaronE wrote:I've fished Clark twice in the past week and haven't been skunked yet. Caught all dinks the last trip, but that was between 10am and 2pm, so the heat and lack of cloud cover probably had them slowed down and on bottom. I fished bottom and only enticed a few 12"ers to bite during the day.

Evening, however, was a good time for Clark. Lots of 12-16" bass in the pads hitting anything I threw at them. Not a lot of size to them but it was a nice change from sitting there waiting for something to grab my powerbait.

I've been meaning to take the float tube out to Fenwick - I've seen lots of nice bass there from the shore and the little dock, but I haven't heard anyone out there really catching any.

Ditto for Steel Lake. I don't think Steel has enough structure to support a healthy bass population. The lily pads in the west end are the only thing there, and those don't really hold too many over 2 pounds from what I've experienced there.

Best bet - Clark. If you have a tube or boat, hit Fenwick, put out directly in front of the swimming area and hit the two submerged logs on the far bank. If there's a fat bass in Fenwick, he hangs out there sometimes. Has to.

Steel lake has decent bass but bass fishing there can be extra tough especially with all of the swimmers. When there aren't any swimmers, your chances increase. I consider this my home lake and there are big bass in there and hardly anyone targets them. Are they tough to catch? Most certainly, but they can be had and from the bank or dock to boot (I am shorebound) and certain times of the year are better than others with persistence and patience, both of which I don't have much of!.

A good angler can coax them out from under the dock, but to get them to bite is another challenge altogether. There is a bass in that I dubbed "big mama" and she and I had a little get together earlier this week. I failed to convince her to bite despite bumping her with both line, weight and lure. Yeah, we're that close.



Here are a couple of her sisters

Caught with the drop shot on 6# test


Caught with a Rapala Skitter Pop

Goodness gracious! Perhaps I should have just agreed with you so that I can fish for the bass in Steel Lake all too myself! Just Kidding. I am telling you and everyone here so that you know that while fishing at Steel Lake can be tough, it can still be worth it if you put in the effort. Goo luck!

-ib

Back to the subject, how is Star Lake as an option? I have not fished there, but I do know it isn't too far from Fenwick and it is closer to exit 149 than Fenwick.