Northwest Fishing Reports

Slabking wrote: Great thing about the colder weather is that it'll drag the spawn out at least two weeks longer on Union and Lake WA. We hit it on Saturday night and did pretty good but the fish were no where near getting ready to move up. All of the fish we caught were 13' feet down over humps in at least 22' of water and no where near spawning flats. Most of those fish had small larve in their guts...only one had a small minnow in it's stomach. That tells me that they are still feeding like it late Winter time to them. This time last year the where already within 200 yards of spawning areas. Look for the pre-spawn to not even start until the 2nd week of May. They may not start to spawn until early June this year. We could still see males up on the banks in early July.

tnj8222 wrote: man long time no see!! been wondering where you went.

Slabking wrote: During the late winter most of the crappie on Union and Lake WA will be feeding on plankton and/or larvae. They also almost never go deeper than 17' deep (they might be in water that's 40' deep but they will stay suspended at 12'-20') most of the year. During the rest of the year the bigger fish will follow the schools of longfin smelt for the most part. The little guys will feed on plankton almost year-round.

I see you're in Bellevue, try Blueberry (aka Larsen) on 148th ave in about two more weeks. Cast a small white crappie jig about 14" under a small float. Toss it around the pads and twitch it back to you. You'll nail a stringer full of crappies there pretty easily. You'll catch a lot of small fish (7-9") but there are some monsters in there (up to 15" and 1 1/2lbs). Nice bass too lol. I fish it all the time on my way home from work.

Slabking wrote:Hey muskyhunter,

I really don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be. Most fish warnings are based on samples taken from the fishes guts...not the flesh. To be safe I'd stay away from eating a ton of catfish or perch from both lakes but I've yet to ever hear of anyone getting sick from eating fish out of these lakes. If it were a guys first time out I'd start at the far south end of the lake. There are tons of old piling rows, docks, a few sunken planes and boats, and rock reefs that hold crappie year round down there. Some of the biggest perch I've ever seen come out of the south end of Union as well.

It's been at least 6 years since I've fished old Bass Lake. Love that place though. Another good one out that way is Shadow.

kutthroatkilla wrote:

Slabking wrote:Hey muskyhunter,

I really don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be. Most fish warnings are based on samples taken from the fishes guts...not the flesh. To be safe I'd stay away from eating a ton of catfish or perch from both lakes but I've yet to ever hear of anyone getting sick from eating fish out of these lakes. If it were a guys first time out I'd start at the far south end of the lake. There are tons of old piling rows, docks, a few sunken planes and boats, and rock reefs that hold crappie year round down there. Some of the biggest perch I've ever seen come out of the south end of Union as well.

It's been at least 6 years since I've fished old Bass Lake. Love that place though. Another good one out that way is Shadow.

Slabking -- You are the resident expert on crappie, that is for sure! Thanks for sharing some info with the rest of us! That's sweet to do! I remember filleting a cutty and he had some 4" crappie in his stomach...that was May 5th last year.

kutthroatkilla wrote: I remember filleting a cutty and he had some 4" crappie in his stomach...that was May 5th last year.

Slabking wrote:

No doubt. The crappie love to eat those smelt and the cuts chase the smelt around the lake too. Poor guy must have gotten in the way:king:. Have you ever tried trolling around the area off Groveland Park for cuts? It's a small park on the west side of Mercer Island. Seems like there would be some cuts or big bows in there. I always mark nice sized baitfish balls right outside the cove over there. Might be worth a shot sometime if you ever have time to kill.

Slabking wrote: During the late winter most of the crappie on Union and Lake WA will be feeding on plankton and/or larvae. They also almost never go deeper than 17' deep (they might be in water that's 40' deep but they will stay suspended at 12'-20') most of the year. During the rest of the year the bigger fish will follow the schools of longfin smelt for the most part. The little guys will feed on plankton almost year-round.

I see you're in Bellevue, try Blueberry (aka Larsen) on 148th ave in about two more weeks. Cast a small white crappie jig about 14" under a small float. Toss it around the pads and twitch it back to you. You'll nail a stringer full of crappies there pretty easily. You'll catch a lot of small fish (7-9") but there are some monsters in there (up to 15" and 1 1/2lbs). Nice bass too lol. I fish it all the time on my way home from work.

Slabking wrote:

kutthroatkilla wrote: I remember filleting a cutty and he had some 4" crappie in his stomach...that was May 5th last year.

No doubt. The crappie love to eat those smelt and the cuts chase the smelt around the lake too. Poor guy must have gotten in the way:king:. Have you ever tried trolling around the area off Groveland Park for cuts? It's a small park on the west side of Mercer Island. Seems like there would be some cuts or big bows in there. I always mark nice sized baitfish balls right outside the cove over there. Might be worth a shot sometime if you ever have time to kill.

TopDawg, the best crappie fishing is from boat but there are some really good bank spots. On Union (wait until at least mid-May), try the long dock in the SE corner on Fairview Ave E. On the google map it'll be right before Fairview E joins Eastlake. That's a good night fishing hole since the street lights light up the water. You'll see all the baitfish around the pilings. The crappie hang out around the furthest pilings you can cast to. Really, that whole area is good for crappie and smalies. You can also find a bunch of bank spots if you follow Fairview as it wraps around the eastside of the lake. On Washington, try the walking path behind UW stadium. You can park in the lots behind the playing fields. Great place to catch perch, catfish, crappie, and tench back in there. It can get real weedy in the summer though so you have to fish it early in the spring. West Mountlake park has some in the marina too.