Northwest Fishing Reports

I got this e-mail from the WDFW:

Hey guys, my name is Mike Schmuck and I am one of the WDFW warmwater fish bios responsible for manageing Roses Lake. We manage all warmwater lakes in Region Two. We are studying largemouth bass growth in Roses Lake, Stan Coffin, Whitestone, and Desert Lake.

If you find a tagged bass in Roses Lake (or any other lake) please DO NOT remove the tags. We need to be able to identify fish in order to monitor their growth over time. If you can give us an exact length (from the tip of the closed mouth to the tip of the compressed caudal fin (tail)) we wouldn't mind hearing from you (509-754-4624 x 227).

We were at Roses Lake last fall (2009) and noticed that the bluegill were really large and should provide great fishing. I'm glad to see that you guys are enjoying them. The way to manage for large bluegill is to maintain plenty of small bass (10-14 inches) and remove large bluegill. If we overcrowd bluegill (or any other fish species) we will end up with lots of small fish (e.g. bluegill in Whitestone, Stan Coffin, etc..). We love to see these reports and love to hear where we are producing large bluegill and crappie.

Thanks guys!

Tight Lines.

Mike Schmuck
WDFW Fish Biologist
Region Two
Ephrata, WA

EDITED VERSION by Team Bluefin

Thanks Mike (and MIKE). It is good to hear an official statement regarding the removal of the "most appropriate size of Bluegill" for mantainence of this resource at Roses Lake. I know from past experiences that there are many fishermen who will frown upon a person taking a nice basket of Panfish from a given body of water, and even be so bold as to tell you how low they think you are for doing it. It happens at Roses about ever year for us. I enjoy the resource, and the meals it provides, plus the opportunity to introduce newer fisherpersons to the sport of fishing by catching large bluegills. While fishing at Roses this year, we have saw a couple of tagged bass swimming in the shallows, but haven't caught any yet. AND, there are many, can I say many 6-7 inch largemouth bass in the toulees this (and every) spring at Roses. So it has a great population of LMB, and some help from us as fisher persons will help keep it a great place to catch fish.
Hope I catch some of the tagged fish, so I can contribute to the effort. LOL. Go out and catch a fish and enjoy our great outdoors.

:bigsmurf: Thanks forum members for letting me know my wording in the original post needed to be edited. Your assistance is appreciated. That's just one of the many things that make this the great site it is.

Thanks Mike.

I thought I posted that on the Roses Lake forum.. oops.

I'm glad to get the information out and we love to know how the fishing has been.

Another lake worth checking out for bluegill and crappie is Evergreen Reservoir. Nowhere near the numbers of big fish you're seeing at Roses, but plenty to catch.


Mike