New to Washington Fishing, any suggestions appreciated

[yooper_fisher]

I sure hope I'm posting this in the right spot. Anyway, a little about myself; I just moved to Enumclaw from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I have been browsing this site and have found it incredibly helpful. I'm hoping that I can get some insight on places to fish, and how to fish them, close to the Enumclaw area. I have found a couple little lakes with rainbows and have heard that the Puyallup and Green rivers a pretty good for steelhead and salmon. Back in Michigan I mostly fished for brook trout and salmon, but I'm not picky when it comes to fishing. Unfortunately I'm stuck shore fishing for a while.

Thanks for any help

[scott080379]

Well since I don't live around that area I will tell you what I can. The First thing you need to learn to read the reg for this state, they can be very confusing. The green is a great river to fish for salmon, steelies not as good as it once was. Trout can be had as well, but too be honest, with the size limit it (14") they are hard to come by. I have a few favorite hole on the green that I fish for salmon, steelies and trout. Some of wich you have to hike a short while into. The yup is another great river for salmon but like the green the stealhead isn't as good as it was. You are used to atlantic salmon (not a real salmon), we have 4 well 5 if you count the few sockee that hit a couple of water ways.

The best thing I can tell you is look at a map find some bodies of water. then go into the report section here and see if anyone has been having any luck and what they were using. Then open the regulation book and see what you can use and the area of that bodie of water you can use.

Good luck out there

oh and welcome

[The Quadfather]

Look for a guy on this forum who goes by Dustin07, he is located in your area.
Welcome to the site.

[rjn cajun]

Welcome aboard I also live in Enumclaw and would be happy to help you out on where to fisharound here. I`ve done alot of trout fishing with the kids in the past years and recently took up bass fishing. Bass fishing is what I do everyday I go with out the kids. But like quad said read the regs first as this state can be confusing and nothing like where you are from. There are alot of good lakes right here around Enumclaw. You can pm me if you have any questions.

[Mike Carey]

In the Aanouncements Forum is a sticky for new members to introduce themselves, you should copy and paste your post over there. welcome to the site!

[Matt]

Welcome to the site!

As others have said Salmon opportunities are plentiful throughout Puget Sound and the trout fishin' ain't bad either! Good luck in the hunt and watch out for our state fishing regs, they can be very confusing at times!

Good luck

[wingnut1981]

I moved here from Michigan (lower peninsula) five years ago, and things are a fair bit different.

-Regulations: Like others have said, read the regulations, and keep them with you. Unlike back home where the majority of regulations are the same no matter where in the state you are, here things vary from lake to lake, and even from one part of the river to another.
-Lure color: You said you were mostly a trout/salmon guy, so this might not affect you as much. But I'm more of a warm-water fisherman (bass, pike, etc.) and the biggest change for me out here was lure color. Back home, bright colors worked well (chartreuse, fire tiger, orange) but natural colors (gold, silver, blue) work better out here.
-Prevalence of stocked trout: Back home, lakes are generally self sustaining with balanced populations of panfish, bass, pike, walleye, and other species. Here, a large number of lakes (not all) are mainly full of stocked trout, and don't have the same diversity of species. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different. There are balanced lakes as well, just not as many.

The best part of being here though is all the different fishing opportunities. Trout in alpine lakes, salmon in the rivers, saltwater, things are even more varied here than they are back home.

[Stacie Kelsey]

I have a pretty cool fishing packet I send out to folks new to Washington waters. Some of it deals with specifically southwest Washington waters - my area - but some is very general and would be helpful.

If you would like a packet, email me your mailing address (don't post it here!) and I will send it out.

Stacie.Kelsey@dfw.wa.gov

stace

[kzoo]

A Yooper on site! Well, this site has gone to an all time low, ehh! LOL I'm from Kalamazoo, I've been fortunate enough to have worked with some Yoopers in my past, fun bunch of guys with interesting humor. Welcome to the site, as you can see, there's a few Michiganders on the site.

Fishing is definitely different from Michigan and especially from the UP. Plenty of trout, but can't beat the taste of brookie from the cold streams of Michigan. Still the fishing is still pretty good here, I do miss eating walleye and ice fishing, you can still go east of the mountains, but I've never had a chance. Plenty of perch in all the lakes, and really good size ones at the larger lakes. The steelhead fishing is better here than the lower part of Michigan.

I probably can't help too much where your planning on fishing, but there are plenty of friendly fisherman on this site who can.

[Bigbass Dez]

A Yooper on site! Well, this site has gone down to an all time low, ehh! LOL I'm from Kalamazoo, I've been fortunate enough to have worked with some Yoopers in my past, fun bunch of guys with interesting humor. Welcome to the site, as you can see, there's a few Michaganders on the site.

Fishing is definitely different from Michigan and especially from the UP. Plenty of trout, but can't beat the taste of brookie from the cold streams of Michigan. Still the fishing is still pretty good here, I do miss eating walleye and ice fishing, you can still go east of the mountains, but I've never had a chance. Plenty of perch in all the lakes, and really good size ones at the larger lakes. The steelhead fishing is better here than the lower part of Michigan.

I probably can't help too much where your planning on fishing, but there are plenty of friendly fisherman on this site who can.

Anglers from Michigan are strange ! wierd ! looney ! but for the most part we do know how to set the hook , i think its has something to do with the fact that KVD (best in the world) is also from MI or maybe its because when fishing in the detroit river your chances on catching a body is very likely .. (touch my tackle and you will sleep with the fish)

[racfish]

First thing is to buy a license. Read rules because in Wa state every body of water has its own rules.Learn to not speak English and the wardens wont even bother you .Hehehe.Just joking (kinda).I find that the folks in here will give you a real report and not hold back on helpful suggestions.I
ve been to alot of sites but this is where I call home.If you butter up Mike or Aaron you'll get the keys to the 85' Carver Yacht in Lake Union.It has a full complimentary bar and unlimited gas rations.Wellcome to the "Greastest Site on Earth".

[yooper_fisher]

Thank you everyone for the helpful tips! Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I just started work for the DNR as a wildland firefighter so that's kept me too busy to check this and fish :(. Hopefully I'll get out a bit this week after work.

Stacie and rjn, I'll send you guys a message.

Thank you again one and all.

[yooper_fisher]

Also, While I have everyone's attention still, I have another quick question (pointed out to me by a member in my Walker Lake report). I did read in the rules that when trout fishing with live bait, anything caught of legal size, whether kept or released, counts toward the daily limit. I generally don't fish live bait in lakes, but on occasion I do. Anyway, my question is, is powerbait considered "live bait" in Washington (try as I might, I couldn't find that in the rules, although it's probably in there somewhere)?

[Big D]

Anyway, my question is, is powerbait considered "live bait" in Washington (try as I might, I couldn't find that in the rules, although it's probably in there somewhere)?

Definition of Bait from the WDFW pamphlet
Anything that attracts fish or shellfish by scent and/or flavor. This includes any device made of feathers, hair, fiber, wood, metal, glass, cork, leather, rubber, or plastic, which uses scent and/or flavoring to attract fish or wildlife.

Power Bait is obviously not "Live Bait" but by definition it is "Bait"

[Matt]

Scent considered bait... oh brother.

[reigndawgs]

Now that you live here, you have to root for the Huskies!

[kzoo]

Now that you live here, you have to root for the Huskies!

I'm sure he is a Husky, just not a U of W Husky.