Northwest Fishing Reports

I was curious if anyone else has a private lake that only you or a select few have access to. I am not looking for access by any means (unless you are feeling gracious). I just want to hear what kind of privet not secret lakes/ponds you are able to fish and what kinds of fish are in there. It could even be a body of water you used to have access to but don't anymore. I currently only have access to one privet pond, my grandpas. This pond is where I learned to fish when I was barely old enough to walk. There are a lot of memories for me there. It is a man made pond that my grandparents dug long ago and eventually stocked it with bullhead catfish and various sunfish. The sunfish are long gone now because the catfish ate them along with the occasional unwary baby duck, which caused the catfish to grow to about 18-24" on average. The catfish these days are only about 2-10" with the occasional larger one, due to overpopulation. It is fun watching them eat though because we toss out bread on the surface and it is just an all out feeding frenzy. The fish are so easy to catch that the bait doesn't even have time to hit the bottom before you have a fish on and sometimes I even catch them on a bare hook under a bobber. The other private lake I have fished was on a friend of my grandpas property. The pond was small enough to throw a stone across it, but was about 20' deep and was very clear. There was lots of 5-20 lb (thats right I said 20 lb) rainbow trout in there and were always hungry and willing to bite. That was years ago and the pond washed out with a flood from a nearby river and he lost all of his trout. In the next few weeks anglers on the river reported catching unusually large rainbows, but only a few in town knew where they came from. So lets hear about your fishing adventures on private waters.

Hey Mallard,
I never drift in this forum...sorry for the delay.

I have a lake property on a "private" lake. I refer to this place as "Rain Lakes" on the secret lakes section.
Its 55 acres with a max. depth of 35ft. We plant rainbows,triploids and once in a blue moon kokanee.
Theirs lmb's but a few folks have been keeping the quality one's,so I'm currently looking at options for
planting more. Then we have a decent collection of crappie,gills and perch.
Its a great place to getaway too. I'm out here all through the year but I might as well claim this as my new residence
in the summer,the family and I will stay out here for several days...head back for a few days,then turn around and back to the lake. Another thing thats great...no water skiers or jet skis. Just swimming and fishing...and when the fishing turns south
theirs several other options nearby. I want to get a few folks from Wa Lakes together and have an outing here some time.

That sounds like an awesome spot KevinB. Count me in, as long as there is enough bass and panfish in there to provide action.

Great string, brought up some good memories...

When I was little we had a couple private ponds we got to enjoy, my uncle leased some cattle land down south of Morton. The neighbor had a beaver pond on his property that he would stock. You would throw dogfood in and the water would just boil. (I remember trying to figure out how to get dry dogfood to stay on a hook) my little brother (maybe 5 at the time) had his little 3' zebco on a little dock there, he was trying to catch the bullheads in about 2' of water, trout came in grabbed his line and almost toppled him right into the drink, think it was the biggest fish of the day.

A few years later, the same uncle owned a bunch of land in Buckley, the back corner had a year-round stream that went through. When my grandmother (where the family fishing gene came from) got to where she couldn't get out and fish anymore, he hired a backhoe to come in and dig a pond. basically it ended up as an island about 30'x40' and a 20-30' moat around it ranging from 10-20'deep. Then stocked it with trips. I have pictures of my 80+ year old grandma in her lawnchair, pouring down rain, with a rain poncho on and my uncle holding an umbrella over her head and having a ball catching those trout.

Many great family memories were made at these places:cheers:

ChrisB wrote:That sounds like an awesome spot KevinB. Count me in, as long as there is enough bass and panfish in there to provide action.

I'll get something together...Worse case,we fish down the road at Lost or Cushman.

where is this secret lake he is talking about?

I fish a small lake/pond from early Spring 2 early Fall,..east of Ravensdale,..body of water is about 18' deep and is fed in the middle from underground,..holds stocked RBT as well as Big Holdovers,..Perch and LMB,..caught my PB Bucketmouth outta there! The LMB have a tendency 2 get BIG,..they feed on RBT stockers and Perch so there's plenty of food,..the problem is getting permission 2 fish the water,..my cousins in-laws own property there but they don't like people 2 much,..funny style,..but when I do get out there I always do well with huge RBT and LMB!

BB

[quote="BassinBomber"]I fish a small lake/pond from early Spring 2 early Fall,..east of Ravensdale,..body of water is about 18' deep and is fed in the middle from underground,..holds stocked RBT as well as Big Holdovers,..Perch and LMB,..caught my PB Bucketmouth outta there! The LMB have a tendency 2 get BIG,..they feed on RBT stockers and Perch so there's plenty of food,..the problem is getting permission 2 fish the water,..my cousins in-laws own property there but they don't like people 2 much,..funny style,..but when I do get out there I always do well with huge RBT and LMB!

Hey Bomber, I had the privlege to fish Lake Retreat a couple times and caught some dandy bass over 3 pounds and even perch on a white spinner bait and crappie on a top water Rapala.

kevinb wrote:Hey Mallard,
I never drift in this forum...sorry for the delay.

I have a lake property on a "private" lake. I refer to this place as "Rain Lakes" on the secret lakes section.
Its 55 acres with a max. depth of 35ft. We plant rainbows,triploids and once in a blue moon kokanee.
Theirs lmb's but a few folks have been keeping the quality one's,so I'm currently looking at options for
planting more. Then we have a decent collection of crappie,gills and perch.
Its a great place to getaway too. I'm out here all through the year but I might as well claim this as my new residence
in the summer,the family and I will stay out here for several days...head back for a few days,then turn around and back to the lake. Another thing thats great...no water skiers or jet skis. Just swimming and fishing...and when the fishing turns south
theirs several other options nearby. I want to get a few folks from Wa Lakes together and have an outing here some time.

Hey Kevin, Could that be Arrow Head Lake? I've always wanted to fish it for bass but never found an access.

Bob,..this Lake is called Lake Umek,..near Ravensdale,..although you have 2 get permission 2 fish it! Where is Lake Retreat?

BB

BassinBomber wrote: Where is Lake Retreat?

BB

Ravensdale - East of the Covington Maple Valley area.

BassinBomber wrote:Bob,..this Lake is called Lake Umek,..near Ravensdale,..although you have 2 get permission 2 fish it! Where is Lake Retreat?

BB

I was sure you were talking about Lake Retreat. It is about 2 miles dead east of Ravensdale and is a private lake. It covers 53 acres and is about 50 feet deep. I see no Lake Umek on my atlas but would love to fish it. BJ

I don't think the lil Lake is on any map{I know of},..but when I do hit it in the Spring/Summer I'll be sure and invite you out,..the RBT are so BIG and ABUNDANT that one can throw some pellets from the dock and the Bows will start swarming,..LOL,..it's amazing,..took BF there a few times and he was floored,..I'll let you know good buddy,..then you can take me and BF 2 some of your Bassin spots,..sound good?

BB

RaMcVey wrote:

BassinBomber wrote: Where is Lake Retreat?

BB

Ravensdale - East of the Covington Maple Valley area.

Thanks RaMcVey!

BB

BassinBomber wrote:I fish a small lake/pond from early Spring 2 early Fall,..east of Ravensdale,..body of water is about 18' deep and is fed in the middle from underground,..holds stocked RBT as well as Big Holdovers,..Perch and LMB,..caught my PB Bucketmouth outta there! The LMB have a tendency 2 get BIG,..they feed on RBT stockers and Perch so there's plenty of food,..the problem is getting permission 2 fish the water,..my cousins in-laws own property there but they don't like people 2 much,..funny style,..but when I do get out there I always do well with huge RBT and LMB!

BB

Campout at BB's place!

Bob Johansen wrote:

kevinb wrote:Hey Mallard,
I never drift in this forum...sorry for the delay.

I have a lake property on a "private" lake. I refer to this place as "Rain Lakes" on the secret lakes section.
Its 55 acres with a max. depth of 35ft. We plant rainbows,triploids and once in a blue moon kokanee.
Theirs lmb's but a few folks have been keeping the quality one's,so I'm currently looking at options for
planting more. Then we have a decent collection of crappie,gills and perch.
Its a great place to getaway too. I'm out here all through the year but I might as well claim this as my new residence
in the summer,the family and I will stay out here for several days...head back for a few days,then turn around and back to the lake. Another thing thats great...no water skiers or jet skis. Just swimming and fishing...and when the fishing turns south
theirs several other options nearby. I want to get a few folks from Wa Lakes together and have an outing here some time.

Hey Kevin, Could that be Arrow Head Lake? I've always wanted to fish it for bass but never found an access.

Thats the one, its private but would be more than happy to get you out here.

Thanks Kevin and BB. Lets plan next spring. I would be happy to share any bass info I have with any of you. Just ask and you shall recieve. BJ

Bob Johansen wrote:Thanks Kevin and BB. Lets plan next spring. I would be happy to share any bass info I have with any of you. Just ask and you shall recieve. BJ

I like your style Bob,I'll shoot ya' a PM in a bit

No problem Kev/Bob,..we'll definately put something together for Spring!

BB

I thought that this thread went the way of the Dodo. It is good to hear that others can actually still get access to private waters. Tight lines.