When will LW crappie heat up? (Larsen Lake also)

[JT26]

Dang..ive done so much research on Lake Washington/Lake Union crappie fishing today my eyes are starting to hurt.
The only question i have left is when do you guys think they'le move up? With this weather it seems they may stay down there waay past normal. I mean, i read on another forum a thread from a few years ago where slabking (he's posted reports here as well) was doing great April 29 when the water temp was 55 on union. I know it wont get to 55 in 9 days (9 days= april 29) so what do you guys think.

Also if you have any ideas on other lakes around her that would be apreciated.

Thanks, JT.

[tnj8222]

this is the longest winter i have ever seen in the pnw. chances are the crappie wont be moving in to spawn in the big waters till middle of may, the full spawn usually is around the full moon in may. but since that is on the 5th it probably wont be till about the 20th or so.

[Slabking]

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]

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.

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

[Slabking]

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

How you been man? I still check out the forums just haven't posted much. That'll change this year!

Checked out your website JT26.....it looks good. I hope you keep adding to it. We can use a Lake WA site. Let me know if you ever need info, pics, or someone to help haul those slabs in lol. I always have an open seat whenever you need one

[JT26]

Thanks for the info slabking. What do the crappie eat in there late winter stage? I cant think of any small fish or vegetation they would eat in this years weather...
And if i need anything with that LW site ill let you know

[Slabking]

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.

[muskyhunter]

Heyyah Slabking,
You said in a earlier thread you hit Lake Union for Crappie. Is the lake as bad as most folks make it to be? I think if a guy were fishing for bottom feeders like Catfish then a fish eater may be worried about the waste in the lake. I have heard the Crappies are nice there. Where would you reccomend a guy whose never fished it before to start?
Lake Washington has a main waste pipeline running through it and that doesn't seem to slow the guys down from fishing, catching and eating fish from that lake. Why does Lake Union get such a bad rap?
One more thing. Have you ever fished Bass Lake, just north of Enumclaw. There are some HUGE crappies in that lake. Its just hard to get a larger boat in there. Its only 25 acres and it has some of the biggest crappies I have ever caught. Most were 11" plus..really!! Todd

[Slabking]

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.

[tnj8222]

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.

nice i work right next to that lake man. i will hit it up in a few weeks as well. i fished it last year for bass, didnt catch anything but i only had 20 minutes to fish it. maybe i will see you there. JT if you ever make it to blueberry lake let me know. i will meet you out there.

[kevinb]

This is really good stuff. Thanks Slabking.
I'll be getting in on the crappie fishing soon.

[topdawg47]

This is some good info on Crappie in Lk. Wash and Union. Because all I ever catch out of these lakes combined are perch, small mouth, and bluegill/sunfish.

But, my question is to SlabKing (actually anyone can chim in), all this info on where to catch Crappie probably pretains to having a boat, correct? I'm a bank fisherman. My Dad has a boat but he lives out in Yelm..

P.S. will anyone be heading out this weekend to either lake on Saturday?

[kutthroatkilla]

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.

[kevinb]

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.

No kidding,I think Slabking needs to write a book. I've learned more about crappies in 2 days then I have ever before. No BS. I never gave them much thought,now I'm determined to pick up this fishery too.

[Slabking]

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.

[kutthroatkilla]

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.

I never have trolled that specific area. I'll give it try coming up next week. I need to find that bait again. Thanks for that tip slabby. :bounce:

[hookorcrook]

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...have you ever tried Phantom Lake in Bellevue for Crappie? The Washington Fishing book says there are some big ones in there. If so, any tips for float tubing it?

I float tubed Larsen once, it was boggy and stinky. pew. And I didn't catch anything. Do you just walk around the lake and fish? Incidentally, I saw about a 13-14" brown trout caught from there once. It was so skinny and ugly, it looked like an eel.

Suzanne

[topdawg47]

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.

Thanks for the knowledge SlabKing. I know for sure behind Husky Stadium is really good for perch, sunfish, and bass. But, I have never hooked into a crappie. The dock by boat rental facility is probably my main spot. And, I did hear and read on a Lk. Wash map that Husky stadium area is good for catfish. But, I dont think that is true either. Never hooked into one. I mean could be using wrong bait, etc. But, I'll try that area on Fairview towards the evening for sure. Crappie are fun to catch, heck the state record was caught from Lk. Wash.

[bpm2000]

theres definitely cats in that bay right there, and in the arboretum topdawg.

[JT26]

Not chanel cats right? Brown Bullheads..?
Im gonna try to get to Larsen Lake on next Sat or Sun. I think this saturday ill try out Phantom. Ever had any luck there slabking?