Current Conditions At Mayfield And Merwin Lakes

[Don Wittenberger]

I fished Mayfield yesterday on my way back to Seattle from my annual fall Merwin expedition. If you are thinking about fishing one of these lakes this week, I suggest Merwin, not Mayfield, because Mayfield's water is very cold, with the surface temp ranging from 56 degrees near the dam to 60 degrees at the hatchery. Water clarity is moderately turbid with visibility to bottom in 7 to 9 feet. I saw only 1 tiger muskie all day, in the shallow weeds at the back end of Winston Cove.

At Merwin, the surface temp is 64 to 65 degrees with bottom visibility to 20 feet. Muskie action was good last week but slowed drastically this week. The full moon this weekend favors fishermen, but is offset by a cold front with rain showers that just moved through the area. Dam operations at Merwin have resulted in frequent water level fluctuations, which may account for this week's poor fishing. What Mayfield and Merwin muskie anglers need right now is some Indian Summer with sunny days to warm up the water.

Last year at Merwin, the muskies were not on shoreline cover and I caught them by casting weighted bucktails on the dropoffs. In the 2003 - 2006 fall seasons, we found fish concentrated on the south shoreline in the upper two-thirds of the lake. This year, the reverse was true; all of our party's fish this fall were caught on shallow-running crankbaits from shoreline cover -- none were taken on bucktails -- and all but 1 were caught outside our "normal" milk-runs. As these experiences show, muskie fisheries are dynamic and constantly changing, and you should not let yourself get locked into habitual spots and presentations, especially if you're not having success at locating fish. If you go to Merwin right now, I recommend scaling back the time you spend on the south shoreline and spending some of your time on the north shoreline from the dam barrier to Woodland Village, working the downed trees and shallow (10' to 15') benches and flats in that area. Also, be advised there is a great deal of woody debris floating in the upper half of the lake, posing a significant hazard to your boat's prop.

As I returned home just this morning, I've not had time yet to post fishing reports. Our party's largest fish on this trip was 24.5 lbs., although I lost a larger one of 26 to 28 lbs., so there are still some big girls in Merwin, including one swimming around with my crankbait and leader. However, it is my feeling there are not as many muskies in Merwin as in years past, and one of the Merwin regulars we talked to this week expressed the same opinion, which suggests there's more to this perception than my own fishing success.

[Rosann G]

Thanks for the report Don.

[Riverman]

I haven't ever fished Merwin before but hope to some day. Thank you for sharing this valuable information.

Jed V.
Bikini Bait Co.

[bad esox]

Don,

Great report. You may be correct about the muskie population in Merwin. Hopefully, we can work with the WDFW to help increase the muskie stocking program in the near future. Merwin is an excellent fishery.

Let'em go, let'em grow!!!

[muskyhunter28]

Merwin is Not a good place to fish.....
Mayfield and Tapps are so much better!
I think there is only like Two fish in that whole lake.....

[iPodrodder]

That's a joke I have always made about Pine Lake at the end of the season, because Pine is the epitome of a 'put and take' trout fishery.