Lake Profile: Mayfield Reservoir

[Don Wittenberger]

In order to organize this board more coherently, I think it'll be useful to have a separate thread for each of our tiger musky lakes. I'll start it off by posting some of my file information on Mayfield Lake.

Mayfield Lake is a hydropower reservoir on the Cowlitz River. Mayfield Dam is owned by Tacoma City Utilities and generations enough power for about 57,500 homes. Construction began in 1955 and was completed in 1962 at a cost of $44.5 million. The dam is 250 feet high (from bedrock) and 850 feet long.

Water enters Mayfield Lake from the Mossyrock Dam (backing up Riffe Lake) above, and exits through the turbines or (rarely) over the spillway of Mayfield Dam into the Cowlitz River below. Under normal reservoir operating conditions, the maximum water level fluctuation is 10 feet. There are two safety barriers above the dam, consisting of a log boom and a steel pontoon boom. Watercraft are not allowed in the restricted zone between the log barrier and the dam.

The reservoir is 13 miles long, averages about 1/2 mile wide, covers 2,250 surface acres, and has 33.5 miles of shoreline, which is partially developed. At full pool, the surface elevation is 425 feet above sea level, and the maximum depth is 190 feet in the vicinity of the dam. It is situated in an old river canyon, and is fed by snowmelt from the surrounding hills and mountains. Consequently, the reservoir is narrow, deep, generally with quickly dropping shorelines, has no midlake structure, and the entering water is cold year-around. As a reservoir with water flowing through it, the lake does not develop a thermocline; but there often is a very pronounced water temperature change at a depth of about 6 feet which you would notice if you dived off a swimming dock into deep water. This is caused by the sun warming the surface layer, while the cold water entering from Riffe Lake above tends to sink to the bottom.

The physical structure of the lake is complex. It has two major arms, Winston Cove and Tilton Cove, at opposite ends of the lake. In addition, there is a section of river between the head of the lake and Mossyrock Dam above. The original river channel meanders on the bottom, swinging from one shoreline to the other. In the lower (west) half of the lake, it hugs the north shoreline and averages about 90 to 100 feet deep. In places along the lake, the shoreline drops quickly into deep water, but this lake also has a very large, shallow, weed-covered flat opposite Tilton Cove. There is relatively little shoreline wood (stumps, downed trees), and the major musky-holding structures are weed beds, flats, and dropoffs. Much of the shoreline is undeveloped, but there are some homes and docks along the shore, especially in the area between the highway bridge and Winston Cove.

Mayfield Lake received its first tiger musky stocking in 1988. Apparently these fish did not survive, and the first stocking that "took" was in 1989. The current state record of 31.25 lbs. came from this lake several years ago, and occasionally 25 to 30 lb. class tiger muskies are caught here. In the very early years of the fishery, when the fish were still small, most were caught on bass-sized black-and-silver floating Rapalas. By the mid-1990s, small red bucktails were highly effective. In more recent years, a variety of bucktails and crankbaits have taken fish, and larger sizes of lures are now frequently used here. The most popular tiger musky fishing areas are the two major coves, the big flat across from Tilton Cove, the entire shoreline from Mayfield Lake Park to the state fish hatchery at the entrance to the upper river arm, and the shoreline at Ike Kinswa State Park.

It is generally best to fish this lake in the middle of the week, not only because of crowded boat ramps and heavy boat traffic on weekends, but also because Tacoma Power may release water over the spillway on weekends to put water in the river below for recreational fishermen. This draws off the warm surface layer and puts the muskies down. My experience with this lake has been that weekend fishing usually is a fruitless endeaver; and over the years, I've caught nearly all of my muskies from this lake at midweek.

The best time to fish Mayfield for tiger muskies is from mid-June into September, although the tiger muskies remain catchable until early October. Radio tracking studies indicate they suspend in deep water and are inactive in winter and early spring. WDFW stomach content studies showed they feed almost exclusively on northern pikeminnow (a/k/a) squawfish.

Access and accomodations are available at one private resort and two parks/campgrounds open to the public.

1. Mayfield Resort is located on Winston Cove and has rental cabins, camping spaces, and a boat launch.

2. Mayfield Lake Park is located just off Highway 12, a short distance after crossing the bridge across the lake, and has restrooms, picnic areas, a swimming area, boat launch with large paved parking area, and 54-space campground with a boat trailer parking area. This park used to be operated by Cowlitz County and is sometimes called "the county park," but is now operated by Tacoma Power. New in 2007 is water and electricity hookups. The fees listed for the 2007 season are $20 for waterfront sites and $16 for other sites. It can be difficult to get a camping space without reservations during the summer, especially on weekends.

3. Ike Kinswa State Park is located on State Route 122, which you turn onto before reaching the Highway 12 bridge across Mayfield Lake. If you cross the lake, you went too far. The turnoff has a sign. This is one of the more popular campgrounds in the state park system, so you'll usually need a reservation in the summer, and premium fees are charged here, ranging from $19 for a standard campsite to $24 for a utility site (water and power). There is a $5 boat launching fee. The boat ramp here has a large paved parking area but is steeper and more difficult to launch from than the Mayfield Lake Park ramp. The state park as 103 campsites.

Note: If you stay in a waterfront campsite at either park, don't make the mistake of parking your boat on the bank and tying it to a tree. REMOVE YOUR BOAT FROM THE WATER AT NIGHT OR YOU MAY FIND YOUR BOAT HIGH AND DRY IN THE MORNING because of water level fluctuations ... I speak from experience.

Driving directions to Mayfield Lake Park boat launch: From I-5 about 10 miles south of Chehalis take Hwy. 12 east about 20 miles. After crossing the bridge over the lake, there is a small store to the left, and the turnoff to the park is just after this. If you go into the town of Mossyrock, you went too far. Gas and groceries are available in Mossyrock.

If you find a black Windel's bucktail in a tree 50 feet above the water just north of the swimming area in Tilton Cove, it's mine. It's been there about 15 years.

[dlt074]

no joke on the water level fluctuations! i too have learned the hard way.

[muskie guy]

Nice write up Don. I'm curious about your statement that Mayfield has relatively little shore line wood. The area around Ike K. state park is fairly barren of wood. But the whole shoreline on the south and east side, starting at the bridge working north, is covered in downed trees. There are fish all over in this wood. Do you think a spinnerbait would be best to try and work through the limbs and stumps? I don't want to loose my bucktails in there.

[Don Wittenberger]

I haven't been to Mayfield recently, and things are always changing there, so there may well be a bunch of trees in the water right now. Winter rains bring them down from the slopes above the water. From our point of view as muskie anglers, trees are good because they provide cover for tiger muskies and obvious casting targets for us. Dam operators hate them because they can damage turbines, and hire contractors to remove them from the lake. So if there are downed trees on Mayfield's shoreline, they may not be there very long.

I don't recommend fishing shoreline wood with single-hook spinnerbaits. You'll miss strikes. I work too hard for my fish to give up any to the poor hooking qualities of single-hook spinnerbaits. Having a treble hook under the hair often makes the difference between a hooked or lost fish. So I use single-hook spinnerbaits only in weeds I can't fish with treble hooks.

Some muskie spinnerbaits do have treble hooks, and they're a different story. But, you choose those lures over a bucktail for tactical reasons such as vibration, flash, running depth, retrieve speed, etc. If you're relatively new to muskie fishing and don't understand the nuances of these lures, as a rule of thumb, I'd recommend sticking to the basic in-line single-blade bucktail until you understand exactly why you should use something different. The keep-it-simple principle governs here. With experience, you'll acquire a "feel" for situations that call for tweaking your lure selection. But you shouldn't fiddle with lure selection blindly. The in-line bucktail is your muskie fishing workhorse and you shouldn't switch to something else without a reason.

Wood ordinarily doesn't call for a single-hook spinnerbait. No matter how dense the tree, and how deeply Mr. Muskie is burrowed into it, you don't need to drill into the tree to shovel him out. This isn't bass fishing. Tiger muskies will chase lures, and a cast 20 feet from his lair will do the job. If he's in a feeding mood, he'll come out to get it. If he isn't, he won't take your lure anyway.

The way you fish shoreline trees is put your casts between the trees. One cast is enough. If the first cast doesn't move the fish, he's either not there or isn't going to show himself. Keep moving. The way you play this game is to cover miles of shoreline in search of one active fish. They're scarce; they're scattered; and they're inactive most of the time. (Muskies may feed only once every two or three weeks.) Cover water, cover water, keep moving, keep moving. I repeat, you do not have to put your lure right into the trees, you generally work the spaces between trees and the outer edges of trees. The depth you're fishing is far more important than how close to the tree you cast.

Large logs dropping from the bank into deep water, with most of the twigs and small branches off, are a little different. If the angle of the log in the water is fairly gentle, you fish it like a tree by casting to the side of the log and running your lure more or less parallel to the log. However, if the log slants down at a steep angle (30 degrees or more), you may want to retrieve your bucktail ON TOP OF the log, letting it sink. The idea here is to swim your lure down the length of the log a little above the log. If you are working a log with a crankbait, then you want to swim your crankbait erratically like a meandering baitfish around, under, in and out of the log and its limbs. Try to make it look like a baitfish that is just lollygagging around and not paying too much attention to his surroundings. This will make Mr. Muskie think he's spotted a baitfish who's a ripe candidate for a Darwin Award. After he's hooked, you've got to drag him away from the wood before he realizes he, not your lure, is the idiot. You've got about two or three seconds before he reacts, and if he gets back to the tree you're toast.

[muskie guy]

I agree entirely with your stance on spinnerbaits, I'm of the same opinion. I've been chasing these critters for about 10 years now and while I'm no new fish, I'm no pro either. I've got a good understanding of my favorite lures abilities and how to bring out their best qualities. But I'm always glad to listen to anyone who's got something to say about improving performance.
I would not be a happy contractor at Mayfield pulling those trees out of the water, that's for sure. I use a lure walking technique in wood cover (like you described) on Idaho's Lake Coeur d"Alene while fishing for pike and it gets a very good response. The few really big spinnerbailt's I have, I use on Newman lake. These have treble hooks on them and I prefer the profile, extra flash and vibration in the dark water of this lake.
Begginers would do well to remeber to keep moving and searching for active fish. I use nice calm days to scout my lakes while fishing and continue to develope my milk run.
Thanks for the detailed reply, I really liked the last line.

[Bill G]

Don how about making a map and marking the good spots like I did for Tapps.
Send it to Mike and Aaron so they can post it for all of us to see. This will help the new guys to that water.
See you at the meeting.
Bill

[Don Wittenberger]

Bill, take a piece of paper and draw an oval on it. This represents Merwin Lake. The top of the page is the north shoreline, and the bottom of the page is the south shoreline. Now take a yellow magic marker and draw a yellow stripe all the way along the south shoreline. That's where you fish. If you don't do any good there, try the north shoreline.

[Don Wittenberger]

I hope you don't take offense at that. It's not a joke. I'm not kidding, and I'm not being facetious, either.

[Bill G]

Don, it's cool I believe you. I haven't been able to get on your lake so far. I do have plans for a day trip later this summer. Hope to see you at the meeting.
Bill