Austin's Northwest Adventures - Coast guard certified and with over 20 years experience, we fish the northwest from Lake Roosevelt to Buoy 10. If catching Salmon, walleye, Kokanee, or Sturgeon is your goal, we are a full time guide service for Washington's hottest fisheries. Fish in comfort with top of the line equipment, call us today!
My wife, Boni, and I headed for Gissberg at o'dark-thirty. Weather forecast was for lots of sunshine. Heading across the flats between Everett and Marysville, saw a heavy cloud blank of the marine layer to the north. We arrived at Gissberg at about 5:30 AM with an air temp of 55 degrees and heavy cloud cover. We made our way half way down the lake on the north shoreline, lines in the water by 6:00. Water temp off the shoreline was 70 degrees... not a breeze... lake a flat calm. I set up Boni's rig with a 4' leader and fl. orange Power Eggs; one of mine, with a 3' leader and chartreuse PE, the other with a 4' leader and pink PE ( I believe the most critical aspect to successful fishing in these lowland Western Washington lakes in the Summer, is leader length, next is bait color). Nothing happened for the first hour, then, about 7:00 I had a hit and reeled in our first of the day, a 12" Rainbow... a short time later had another fish on, but it spit the hook half way in... both fish on the 3' leader with green/chartreuse PE. I changed up all rigs to 3' leaders and chartreuse/green PE... and for the next four hours action, though slow, was pretty consistent... a fish on every fifteen to twenty minutes. I landed a total of 4 Rainbows, Boni 3, before we left at 12:30, having promised Boni to buy her lunch on the way home. By 11:00 the sun had burned through the marine layer and it warmed up greatly, the bite falling off precipitously. Our catch consisted of Rainbows of 12" (1), 11" (2), 10" (1), 9" (1), and 7" (2). We missed at least a half dozen more that popped of the hook on the way in, plus many more light bites without hook-ups. I am both perplexed and disappointed with the quality of fish we found at Gissberg. I would have rated the day at least a "4" if the fish hadn't disappointed me. The WDFW has listed six stocking dates for Gissberg, beginning in March. The smallest fish planted in those six plantings were the earliest (March and April) in which the fish are listed as 2.4/pd.... those fish would be in the 10" to 11" range. All subsequent plantings were significantly larger. Even the smaller fish planted in March and April would have grown significantly by the end of June. How is it that we are catching fish of 10", 9" and 7" when the WDFW has not listed any plantings of that small of fish? The only conclusions to be drawn, is either the WDFW had lied to us about the size fish they have planted (I guess to be expected in this climate of political posturing), or the WDFW has done some unreported plantings of the dwarf Rainbows. Either way, they have withheld the truth, ostensibly to sell more licenses... they already have my salt-water fee for 2016 with no salt-water fish to be had. Not only has the WDFW disappointed me by the small fish made available, but their tactics have also led to waste. When we arrived at the shoreline, I noticed several dead and wasted fish in the 7" range that previous fishermen had thrown back in an attempt to catch larger fish. Despite the presence of very small trout, Boni and I had a great time. One of the things I enjoy so much about Gissberg is that even though it in near the urban hub, it still retains some of the feel of a wilderness lake. Tons of wildlife to enjoy... we watched the Loch Ness beaver swim by us several times (one huge male beaver I've seen a number of times) and some of his family members as well... watched a Muskrat swim by, nearly at our feet... several turtles (one at least 12" across it's back)... thousands of Bullfrog tadpoles and one very large Bullfrog drumming only a few feet from us at our feet. Eagles, Ospreys and Red Tailed Hawks in the trees above us. Lots of ducks and geese kept us mesmerized all morning long. Was able to pick enough red huckleberries from a bush nearby, to make a tart later this week. All this and the enjoyment of conversation with my wife... and a couple of bowl-fulls of my favorite pipe tobacco... life is truly good! Saw perhaps ten other fishermen come and go through the morning, but saw no other fish caught. Spoke with three on the way out, none of them had had a bite. PTL!
RE depth of Gissberg... I've been fishing Gissberg for about five years now. During one of my first visits I met a fellow who had grown up in the area and remembered the lakes before they were dredged out. He said that there had been a fairly large pond where the locals would swim in the Summer, but most of the present day lakes were merely swamps. He said that he and his brothers used to catch great searun cutthroat in the Fall, back in the day. To this day there is still a creek that connects to the Sound, at the southwest corner of the southern lake. The swamps were dredged out for gravel and mineral fill to create I-5 when it went through the Marysville area. He told me that the swamps were dredged out to a depth of 20' and the present day lakes are pretty uniform to that depth. I know that the water level does fluctuate as much as 5', so I would guess the the general depth, depending on the time of year, is from 15' to 20'. It is obvious that the shoreline drops off rather quickly at 10' out. Originally this county park was named "Twin Lakes", but a while back was renamed as "Gissberg Twin Lakes" in honor of William A. Gissberg who was a prominent lawyer and state legislator from the area.
Stansjoy, The March plants are approx. 5-7" when planted and have been at least the last 4 years.. I've been there when they dump them in the south lake.
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Austin's Northwest Adventures - Coast guard certified and with over 20 years experience, we fish the northwest from Lake Roosevelt to Buoy 10. If catching Salmon, walleye, Kokanee, or Sturgeon is your goal, we are a full time guide service for Washington's hottest fisheries. Fish in comfort with top of the line equipment, call us today!
