Northwest Fishing Reports

First post on this board....

I live in the Vancouver area and want to learn some places to catch crappie and bluegill. Does anyone regularly fish around here? I just hate the thought of tanker trout fishing. Ive been on the east side for quite a while and have those wallys figured out over there but now Im here in Vancouver. Can anyone shed some light? I dont care how big they are just want some fish on the line.

Thanks everyone

Jay

Hey Jay,

Welcome to washingtonlakes.com and welcome to Vancouver, USA!

I also live in Vancouver and have caught many bluegill out at Round Lake in Camas and am told there are some nice sized crappie in The Mighty Columbia out by Frenchman's Bar although I have not fished there for them. Also there are some nice pan fish where the slough from Vancouver Lake leaves the lake to go to the Columbia. Just a little north of there is Caterpillar Island where there is a boat launch, the slough caused by the island in not very deep, but when the weather warms up there are a bunch of perch to be caught!

If you make it out to Vancouver Lake you will notice (where the slough is) a bunch of forked sticks for pole holding. I am told that there are big catfish and carp to be caught there off the bottom with a nice ball of crawlers. Those are two fish I have on my todo list for this spring/summer!

Fisherman Max gets out a lot more than I do around here, so I am sure that as soon as he see this thread he will be weighing in on the subject.

lskiles wrote:Hey Jay,

Welcome to washingtonlakes.com and welcome to Vancouver, USA!

I also live in Vancouver and have caught many bluegill out at Round Lake in Camas and am told there are some nice sized crappie in The Mighty Columbia out by Frenchman's Bar although I have not fished there for them. Also there are some nice pan fish where the slough from Vancouver Lake leaves the lake to go to the Columbia. Just a little north of there is Caterpillar Island where there is a boat launch, the slough caused by the island in not very deep, but when the weather warms up there are a bunch of perch to be caught!

If you make it out to Vancouver Lake you will notice (where the slough is) a bunch of forked sticks for pole holding. I am told that there are big catfish and carp to be caught there off the bottom with a nice ball of crawlers. Those are two fish I have on my todo list for this spring/summer!

Fisherman Max gets out a lot more than I do around here, so I am sure that as soon as he see this thread he will be weighing in on the subject.

Excelent reply. Thanks very much. I am origionally from Vancouver so I know the areas you speak of and will try them soon. Let you know how I do. Cant wait for the summer steelhead to start on the North Fork also. I have caught them there before fishing from shore. Also the washougal was awesome back in 88-89-90-91 but those days are gone. I have been up in Coulee City and Moses Lake area for about 10 years. If you ever get up there to fish try Banks for Walleye and Smallmouth Bass. Or Rufas Woods for monster Triploid Frankentrout!!

For the Crappies in the columbia do we have to wait for the water to warm up still?

Jay

Lacamas is the best crappie producer near Vancouver unless you go to Silver Lake. Water temp is fine for crappie, now. In the lakes, that is.

cavdad45 wrote:Lacamas is the best crappie producer near Vancouver unless you go to Silver Lake. Water temp is fine for crappie, now. In the lakes, that is.

Where in Lacamas for Crappie do you fish? Its a big lake and I will be fishing from shore. I know its hard to share secret fishing spots......

Jay

Lip_Ripper wrote:

cavdad45 wrote:Lacamas is the best crappie producer near Vancouver unless you go to Silver Lake. Water temp is fine for crappie, now. In the lakes, that is.

Where in Lacamas for Crappie do you fish? Its a big lake and I will be fishing from shore. I know its hard to share secret fishing spots......

Jay

From the shore? I would definitely start at the new boat ramp and dock and if that fails move along the shore to that big partially submerged tree. As summer progresses, the crappie get easier to catch at night along most of the shoreline.

cavdad45 wrote:

Lip_Ripper wrote:

cavdad45 wrote:Lacamas is the best crappie producer near Vancouver unless you go to Silver Lake. Water temp is fine for crappie, now. In the lakes, that is.

Where in Lacamas for Crappie do you fish? Its a big lake and I will be fishing from shore. I know its hard to share secret fishing spots......

Jay

From the shore? I would definitely start at the new boat ramp and dock and if that fails move along the shore to that big partially submerged tree. As summer progresses, the crappie get easier to catch at night along most of the shoreline.

Thanks for the info. Red/white jigs tiped with a crawler tail under a bobber down about 6-7 feet? Ant particuler colors or just the variety of crappie jigs found anywhere?

Lip_Ripper wrote:

cavdad45 wrote:Lacamas is the best crappie producer near Vancouver unless you go to Silver Lake. Water temp is fine for crappie, now. In the lakes, that is.

Where in Lacamas for Crappie do you fish? Its a big lake and I will be fishing from shore. I know its hard to share secret fishing spots......

Jay

i am glad that you have asked this question because in my opinion lacamas lake is only good at two spots. for the best crappie fishing go to round lake (its connected to lacamas via a small canal) you can walk all the way around the lake and fish a lot of good spots to hook into some large crappie. you will also cach more than a bucket full of bluegills and perch in round lake. lacamas is big, like you said and i takes some getting used to, but round is much much easier to catch fish out of.


if you have anymore questions go ahead and ask.


P.S the BEST lure for crappie, bluegill, and perch is a chartruese/silverhead trout magnet. it will even cach bass and "trout"

Fisherman_max wrote:

Lip_Ripper wrote:

cavdad45 wrote:Lacamas is the best crappie producer near Vancouver unless you go to Silver Lake. Water temp is fine for crappie, now. In the lakes, that is.

Where in Lacamas for Crappie do you fish? Its a big lake and I will be fishing from shore. I know its hard to share secret fishing spots......

Jay

i am glad that you have asked this question because in my opinion lacamas lake is only good at two spots. for the best crappie fishing go to round lake (its connected to lacamas via a small canal) you can walk all the way around the lake and fish a lot of good spots to hook into some large crappie. you will also cach more than a bucket full of bluegills and perch in round lake. lacamas is big, like you said and i takes some getting used to, but round is much much easier to catch fish out of.


if you have anymore questions go ahead and ask.


P.S the BEST lure for crappie, bluegill, and perch is a chartruese/silverhead trout magnet. it will even cach bass and "trout"

I looked up the trout magnet on another board and everyone there was raving about them. Im gonna get some. Do I have to getem online or does anyone around here carry them?

http://www.newjerseyhunter.com/article39459.htm

Lip_Ripper wrote: I looked up the trout magnet on another board and everyone there was raving about them. Im gonna get some. Do I have to getem online or does anyone around here carry them?

http://www.newjerseyhunter.com/article39459.htm

Max is right the Trout Magnet kills the pan fish!

Wal-Mart is the only place I have found them locally. The only problem is that they sell the big kit or the individual packs, but they do not carry the floats and I really like the way the floats and the jigs work together.

I just use one of those orange cigar shaped bobbers when i use trout magnets.

Does anyone chase the walleyes down here on the columbia? Or the smallmouth? Pretty much need a boat for them unless you know a good place to throw jigs from shore.

Jay

Fisherman_max wrote:I just use one of those orange cigar shaped bobbers when i use trout magnets.

i like to make my own bobbers out of old bigger bobbers. cut it into small pieces thats just big enough to float the jig you are using. crappie can be really light biters. if you are looking for them to pull a bobber under, you are missing alot of fish.

tnj8222 wrote:

Fisherman_max wrote:I just use one of those orange cigar shaped bobbers when i use trout magnets.

i like to make my own bobbers out of old bigger bobbers. cut it into small pieces thats just big enough to float the jig you are using. crappie can be really light biters. if you are looking for them to pull a bobber under, you are missing alot of fish.

That is what I like so much about the floats that are made for the Trout Magnet is that they are the perfect size to just barely float the jig. If you get the smallest amount of weeds or whatever on the jig you can tell by the way the float reacts. I am not saying you could not find a "cigar bobber" just the right size or even make your own perfectly proportioned one, I just like the ones made by Leland's specificaly for the jig.

For CR Walleys fish the camas slough. For crappie try lacamas by the elks lodge or round lake. Klineline side ponds have tons of smaller crappie. Battle Ground also has several smaller ones. Vancouver lake slough is where the water leaves lake and goes back into the river on the North side of the lake. Just depends on which side of Vancouver you live on. I am going out tonight for crappie at Klineline so I can stock up on sturgeiopn bait for the weekend.

I know that basically everyone has already said it, but I like to fish off the boat launch at Lacamas, and then by the dam at Round Lake. Also the back pond at Klineline has some bluegill in it. I catch most of my fish at Round and Lacamas with a worm either right under the dock or out about 10 ft and on the bottom (perch usually)

As for bobbers that are light, I use an old bobber style from the 20's...the "Porqupine Quills". I have enclosed some Pics... The quills are extremely sensitive and if you put a color on the top so they are easy to see, you will find that they work well. If you want to try this , you can get them on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/DOZEN-9-LARGE-PORCU ... 638Q2em123 Just search "porqupine quills"....Give it a try.... BTW if you put a very small rubberband at the top to hold the line , it will work great. You get the rubberbands at a Pharmacy, they are for dental uses. I put a small groove around the quill down about 2 to 3 inches or so to hold the rubberband and the bait hangs off the bottom of the quill by slipping it between the wire wraps. These don't have coils on the bottom so you just slip a bite thru the bottom ring. I have been making these for years and they work great. Have fun this summer, Steve

Someone did mention Klineline, but I also like to fish it for bluegill and the best spot was the tree to the right when you walk in the park just in front of that to the right of the retaining wall.

I fished lacamas for a couple hours Sunday. Ended up jigging a dick nite and caught a dozen crappie ranging from 5"-9". I did see one about 11", but I spooked him when I tried to get close to him.