Main camping plans fell through so the girlfriend and I decided to check out Rainbow RV Resort on Tanwax. We got a tent site and rented a boat for about $30 total, fair deal. As it turns out, they have about 4 firepits for about 20 sites. Luckily, we were only 1 of 3 sites occupied. I can anticipate the tent area to develop into a complete nightmare if it's full or even half full as there are no dividers, numbers, trees or anything, just an open, grassy hillside that the inconsiderate RVers seem to enjoy using as a bathroom for their 19 year old, blind ankle biters. I've never seen so many unleashed, small dogs running loose in a camp ground before.

Onto the fishing. We hit the lake at 2:30 and fished till 6:30 as we had the boat for 4 hours. The weather was terrible, rain off and on and a brutal wind from the south. We trolled everything I had, small needlefish, dick nites, flies, flatfish, spinners. All with and without a flasher with about 3/8 ounce weight with no luck. Apparently, the most successful lure was a wedding ring which I did not have. Saw many people get their limits trolling, all on a wedding ring. Many people were after perch for some reason. I saw a guy spend about 2 hours hogging up the fish cleaning station, ever so gently removing the single bite of flesh from those tiny little things, seemed like a waste of time to me. The water visibility here is TERRIBLE, reminds me of 5 mile lake, coffee colored.

After dinner, we decided to try our luck on the dock. Fished from 730 to 10 and we caught 4 Rainbows total off the bottom on pink and orange power bait. Threw 3 of them back as they were around 8" but kept one 13".

Fished the following morning from around 8 to 11 with minimal luck. Got a few bites but landed nothing until I decided to go for perch just below the dock. I put on a little weird yellow/white jig with a weight and dropped it down when BAM! I immediately caught a 13" rainbow. Poor little fella was probably spooked by the fireworks.

I don't plan on returning to this lake but it was worth checking out!

Stansjoy

7/5/2012 4:39:00 PM

Dear Chum... Sorry your trip to Tanwax was such a bummer! Don't give up on it just yet. I lived in Spanaway for years and Tanwax was a favorite. Had a friend who lived on the lake too, so I've fished it a ton! Best fishing for Rainbows is in April, May, early June. July is too late, as the lake gets very warm and algae blooms discolor the water. Lake comes on again in late September and through October. Some of the best trout fishing I've ever had was at Tanwax. If you ever do decide to try it again, troll the north and west side of the lake. Back and forth in front of RV park and the Boy Scout camp. Have caught many 17" to 22" Rainbows on trolled flies, Flatfish, and, yes, wedding rings with worms or maggots! There are some great Crappie in the lake too... used to fill a gunny sack with them... tasty stuff! Tight lines!

Chumknuckle

7/5/2012 8:12:00 PM

I'm surprised you didn't fish more on Spanaway lake! I've only fished it 5 times but I've caught some awesome, 16"-18" Browns and alot of rainbows, never skunked there, ever. I figured the trout fishing is best early in the season and late in the season as with most lowland, 30- deep lakes but mostly wanted to explore it. I looked at the topo map before going out and I specifically rented the boat to troll the north and west side. I trolled a fly on top and a flatfish 10-15 feet deep through there with no luck. I saw alot of trout come back from boaters but nothing over 13". I did see a few crappie caught. I caught one inadvertently in Leader Lake in eastern Washington once, it was delicious and far better than perch!

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