Northwest Fishing Reports

Heading up to Salmon La Sac for the first camping trip of the year. Love to wet a line and wanted to see if anyone had any luck catching anything in the reservoir? I don't have a boat, so this will be all from the bank. I've tried a few times but never had any luck. Anyone know what might work from shore and what type of fish I should target? Thanks in advance for any helpful tips. Much appreciated!

tight lines!

I camped there a couple of years back and managed a few up at the end just below the mouth of the river. Ultra light gear and woolly buggers or nymphs. I crossed the flats and fished the far side of the river down to the lake. Beautiful Country with great water.

Thanks, chrome! Believe we're camping about a mile from the mouth. Will bring my ultra light gear and my walking shoes. Excited to get out of the city and spend a few days next to water and a campfire! Thanks again for the help.

yup, fish by the mouth, the lake is probably super high right now, not much beach access as late in the summer, but still plenty.. there are some fishy holes on the river above the lake too.. i usually go all the way up to lake Tuquala, its a long dirt road drive but super cool and scenic area if the snow has melted.. have fun!! one of my go to camping areas and winter snow riding locations.. love it

Thanks, Oneshot! This trip is definitely more about camping, but can't leave the pole at home being that close to water We've fished there once before, but only caught one or two very small trout. Saw a few schools of fish swim by near the bank, but couldn't figure out what they were or what they wanted. Guessing they were Kokanees. Heard there were some Mackinaw in there as well, just not too sure if we could find those close to the bank. Thanks again for the response and pointing me in the right direction. Hope to hit the river with you sometime this summer.

If u have the time, go up to Cooper lake and wet a line. Just up the way from lake Cle Elum. Let us know how u do, either way.
If u are really hard up for a fish on the line, U can't miss at the Suncadia pond. Selective gear/catch-release of course.

I've fished Cle Elum several times from shore near the inlet , and taken quite a few nice rainbows on spinning gear, chucking hardware like Rooster Tails, Little Cleos, etc . However, I've had little success while shore fishing the area around Wish-Poosh Campground twice, so it's definitely hit-or-miss on that big lake . I do recall an exceptionally good day out in the boat there a couple years back , with five species of trout released , including a nice Mack. That "top" end of the lake, where the inlet comes in, has always produced best for me over the years , and the wind is often a little less intense up there, too.

I agree with Quadfather on Cooper , it's a better shore prospect than Cle Elum , IMO. There are some beautiful browns in Cooper, and plenty of good spots for shore fishing. It's just a few minutes from Lake Cle Elum , on a good dirt road.

Bustinbeats wrote:I've fished Cle Elum several times from shore near the inlet , and taken quite a few nice rainbows on spinning gear, chucking hardware like Rooster Tails, Little Cleos, etc . However, I've had little success while shore fishing the area around Wish-Poosh Campground twice, so it's definitely hit-or-miss on that big lake . I do recall an exceptionally good day out in the boat there a couple years back , with five species of trout released , including a nice Mack. That "top" end of the lake, where the inlet comes in, has always produced best for me over the years , and the wind is often a little less intense up there, too.

I agree with Quadfather on Cooper , it's a better shore prospect than Cle Elum , IMO. There are some beautiful browns in Cooper, and plenty of good spots for shore fishing. It's just a few minutes from Lake Cle Elum , on a good dirt road.

is there a boat launch at Cooper?

Yes, there is and I would call it an unimproved boat launch.

I forgot all about Cooper lake. Now that I think about it I just might head up that way on my toon. Saw a couple of guys on a tiny flat bottom out there slaying fish. I didn't have any gear on me and it was our last day at camp and we were just driving around enjoying the mountains when we happened across it. Remember telling myself to go back and give it a try.

oneshot wrote:i usually go all the way up to lake Tuquala, its a long dirt road drive but super cool and scenic area if the snow has melted.. have fun!! one of my go to camping areas and winter snow riding locations.. love it

The snow is officially melted around Tuquala. We were up there camping 3 weeks ago & it was wet but no more snow. Have you had much luck there? I've fished it a few times over the last 2 years without so much as a nibble.

There is a launch at Cooper & the fishing there is great from shore or boat.

+1 on Cooper. Did a "doods" camping trip to Lake Cle Elum last year during the fires...Cooper was super trouty and a lovely place to float/paddle. I didn't even fish Cle Elum.

Can you camp at cooper lake? Im doing a last minute camp trip tomorrow. We are looking for a place to camp, ideally on a lake. Within a couple of hours of seattle. Ammenities are not needed. We dont care how primitive.

schu7498 wrote:Can you camp at cooper lake? Im doing a last minute camp trip tomorrow. We are looking for a place to camp, ideally on a lake. Within a couple of hours of seattle. Ammenities are not needed. We dont care how primitive.

there are a ton of camp sites around the upper end of Cle Elum lake. Dont know about Cooper. I do recall people camping along side the road tho. Be careful about fires. I dont know if there is a burn ban or not in that area. I know when I was there you could not have a fire without an approved pit at a spot with a camp host.

schu7498 - http://traveltips.usatoday.com/camping- ... 06411.html

Thanks for the link! Im pretty sure thats where we are gonna camp now! Report to follow!

Been meaning to post my report for weeks. Sorry for the delay. First of all, just want to thank everyone for their help and useful tips.

So camping was awesome! One of my favorite campsites I visit each year. Wish the fishing could have been as good. We stayed 3 days/ 2 nights and fished the majority of it. Mostly from our site, since the weekend was more about relaxing and enjoying each other's company rather than catching. Lake was pretty high for this time of year and we were unsuccessful at catching anything. We tried it all, from jigs to spoons and every type of spinner we had. On our last day there, I did get a bite on a roostertail that I found on the ground, (I always catch fish on found lures), but the fish was pretty small and came off before I could even get a fight out of it.

We made the most of it, did some hiking and ate a lot. All in all, a very successful trip, just not a great fishing expedition. Never made it to Cooper Lake, but will plan to venture up that way next time we go. Hope some of you had better luck with the fishing than we did. Thanks again for the help. Hope to do it again soon.

At least I got a few nice photos out of it. Hope you enjoy.


tight lines!

and a few more...

Thanks for sharing. I will be kayak fishing Cooper tomorrow. Nice pics!

that looks pretty darn peacefull, fish or no fish sounds like a great weekend.