October
25, 1999 State of Washington Reports 1999
October
25, 1999
Yale Reservoir
Got desparate and went back to Yale 10/25. Caught one small Kokanee and got two other light strikes. Rained hard. I quit for the year, I think. Reservoirs are drawn down severely, especially Swift, but you (not me) can still launch at Swift. No problem at Yale, but docks are high and dry.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
August
26, 1999
Yale Reservoir
August 26, 1999. Fished Yale Res out of Woodland, Wn yesterday, Thursday, in my 17 ft
power boat. Took two friends, both of whom know little, who outfished me, with my bait. We
caught a dozen K, fishing 6 hrs midday, trolling variety of spinners, followed by Wedding
Rings and white corn with anise. Tried salad shrimp for awhile; got one strike on bare
shrimp, and tried to put net and rubber band on next one, looked bulky, no strike. Various
leads; one ounce on 4# line with big two bladed silver spinner, 3 ounces on heavier line
with 4 bladed silver Beer Can, and 3 ounces on variety of spinners. Person that did best
was holding his rod and striking back. Drifted with the slight wind, keeping heading
downwind with a small electric. Yale was rough last week and last Monday, but was flat
most of midday Thursday, with bite picking up when wind did.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
August 23, 1999
Merwin and Yale Reservoirs
Fished Merwin and Yale Monday, Aug 23. Went to Merwin as stiff wind in am at Yale,
downlake. Merwin still the place for squawfish; fed most of the seagulls on lake. They
swallow the fish headfirst, in flight. Did not hook any K, so went back to Yale, where
wind had died. Trolled usual setup out from dock and got a fierce strike, which fought all
the way to the boat. 14 inch squawfish; one of three I have seen at Yale. Caught 7 keeper
K, shook off a few little ones. Good percentage hookups and landings. All males, but one.
Kept a couple of 10 inchers, males, maybe jacks, as seemed to have milt sacs, or maybe
just fat sacs. The R&K willow leaf spinner performed well, with one ounce or less on
4# line. Got an E-mail from R&K with suggestions, which I will try and will report. K
give quite a fight on that gear, even if light trout rod does not seem up to task. Mostly
fished Beer Can spinner because it is steady producer and I am greedy. Learned why battery
I took out of car should have been taken out of car before. Lasted about 45 minutes on
slow troll. Other batteries will last 4-5 hours. Left me about 2 miles from dock with
unfavorable uplake wind, that died about when I did off the dock. Going out again
Thursday, to Yale, with power boat and couple of friends. Friday-Sunday trying for
Chinook, Sturgeon, crab, off Astoria, OR.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
August
18, 1999
Yale Reservoir
7 Kokanee again at Yale, about 1 pm to 6:30 pm. Light wind but water very rough. Used 17 foot boat, and trolled with the wind at lowest power on electric, to maintain direction in line with wind. Hard to play K with boat drifting with wind, but lost only the usual 2/3. Some bigger fish, and lots of little ones, which shook off. Still using silver 4 bladed Beer Can spinner, with red Wedding Ring and old, old corn, with anise and who knows what. Tried to troll against wind, with little success, so ran up and drifted back. Basically from boat launch to Cougar, wind blowing up lake, south to north. Talked to fisherman who, with one other person, caught 11 steelhead and a 44# Chinook upriver from Fishery on Columbia. Using spinners; Vibro. Some back bouncing with ? Probably fish Kokanee at East Lake/Paulina this weekend, and Chinook at Astoria next week. Hard life.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
August
17, 1999
Rife Lake - Yale Reservoir - Lake Washinton question
Can anyone tell me about fishing Kokanee or Sockeye, or anything, in Lake Washington? I know about boat launch near Bellevue, but none others, nor about local tackle shops.
August 17, 1999. 7 Kokanee yesterday at Yale, starting about 11:30 am and fished till
8:30. Ranged between 6-13 inches, no norm. Tossed little one back. No wind all day, hot.
Trolled same rig, (silver 4 bladed beer can, 3 ounces, red Wedding Ring, no snubber, need
to get one) plus alternated with one ounce and brass? Indiana #4, followed by red Wedding
Ring and old corn. About 30 pulls on all gear. Good results; biggest fish on that gear,
also smallest. Good arial fights. Also used a new Willow spinnner, by R & K, four
silver blades with red inserts. It fishes pretty well with 2 ounces, a trout rod and 4#
line, but rod seems not quite enough to set hook, although no similar problem with same
rod and Indiana setup. Maybe the hook; will try #6 Gamakatsu hook like
Robert says. Hot bite between 5-6 pm off rock-slide near far bank, and trolling slowly
to the north. Hookup every few minutes; landed few. This is visible from mid Yale boat
launch, looking to left and across. I have not been to boat launch areas shown as being on
far side near dam on Yale, and at upper end of Yale, in Cougar. Little action coming back
in same area after 6pm. Don't recall landing anything, although got several strikes. Going
against slight breeze coming back. Supposed to go the Swift today, but did not. Checked
out Mayfield and Riffe Lakes, up Highway 12 toward Morton off I-5. Found the Barrier
Tackle Shop, on a sideroad toward Mayfield Dam, or Barrier Dam, or whatever. Small shop,
helpful people, and everything you need or want. Focus seems to be on steelhead in
Cowlitz, but they know about Kokanee and have white corn and shrimp and knowledge about
where fish are in Riffe. Info is that what appear to be Kokanee are really silvers and
chinook, fished the same. Upper end of lake has larger fish, not necessarily more. Also
some warm water fish and steelhead in Riffe. Tackle store at Barrier said boat launch
areas are at ends of what used to be roads. I did not find any, unless the questionable
launch near Swofford Pond, out of Mossyrock is one. Maybe he meant at upper end. Hennings
says the same. I did find a big, beautiful camping area on Riffe with at least 5 boat
launches, a few miles out of Mossyrock, Mossyrock Park, run by Tacoma Power. Usual
features and costs. $3.00 discount is you are over 60. Day use is free for seniors.
Reservations are by mail, for $6 extra, and that system seems to stop after Labor Day
although park is open most of the year. Mossyrock Park, 202 Aljune Road, Mossyrock WA
98564, Tel 306-983-3900. Fishing at Riffe is all year. The reservation system at the state
park, Ike Kinswa, on Mayfield stops Sept 15. Telephone for reservations is 1-800-452-5687
or web site is http://www.parks.wa.gov. Probably
some cost for reservation. Usual camp fees, nice park, with showers and lake views at many
sites. Probably no problem just dropping in after 9/15, but all parks, including County
park were full when I was there. Did not check out county park, but from a distance it
looked nice. Even people camping along Swofford Pond, in undesignated areas. There is a
new, rustic private campground off Swofford Road on Riffe Lake. Riffe Lake RV or something
like that. Went in there. Maybe there is a boat launch, if you have a 4wd. I did not go to
east or upper end of Riffe, where Cowlitz comes in and where there are additional boat
launch areas. ? Lake is 23 miles long, behind Washington's highest dam, over 500 feet.
There is a viewing area at the north side of the dam, with four nice info layouts, all of
which face south, showing the lake on your right, when it is really to your left. Layouts
were made by a person who either did not know where they were going, or figured people
could make the mental translation and pretend they were standing on the other side of the
dam, looking north. Same type of directional problem at info layout at boat launch at
ColdWater Lake below interp center at Mt St Helens; wind is against you in pm, when rowing
back to dock. (You can use an electric motor, but probably exhausted your battery.) They
spell Speelyai as Spelyay at Riffe; being an Indian word for coyote. I don't know which is
right, maybe both or neither. Speelyai is used for an area on upper Merwin Res on the
Lewis. Tackle store at Barrier, where I got the new R & K spinner, says there are
Kamloops in Riffe and no Kokanee in Mayfield. Also rainbow and browns in Swofford Pond,
which is a 240 acre pond, with a gravel boat launch and lot of bank access. Lot of boat
cavorting going on at Yale, Mayfield, Riffe; little fishing.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
August
12, 1999
Yale Reservoir
Been fishing at Yale Res, out of Woodland, Washington. Caught 7 keepers. No real
length, still just short of 12 inches, but hard to grab with one hand, due to girth. Still
using setup and trolling like before. Starting to get a few shakers, fish in the 6-8 inch
range, that I suspect are responsible for a lot of bait stealing. Larger females are
maturing, with larger eggs. Weather at Yale was nasty. Never wore my sun glasses, and
could not see sometimes for the rain on my tri-focals. Fog, heavy wind, waves and rain.
Kokanee seemed to bite best during foulest weather; nothing during rare slicks. Lake
surface is quite warm; did not measure it, but even Kokanee felt warm to touch. Of course
I was freezing, having taken my rain gear and left it in the car. One of three large
batteries for 20# electric gave out when I should have expected it, leaving me a 2 mile
row against the wind back to the car to get another one. Got two this time. Fished from
6am to 7pm, and quit before the fish did. Fish seem to be everywhere, and no single troll
method works best. For awhile, it seemed a slow troll with the wind was most effective,
and maybe it was. Going against the wind worked too, but was just that; work. About a
dozen boats, mostly fishing Kokanee. Few ski boats and jet skies later. I was last boat
off the water, and second on. Going for Chinook on the urban Columbia tomorrow. Will check
out Mayfield and Riffe Sunday. Who can tell me about those?
This report submitted by Bill Davis
August
5, 1999
Yale Reservoir
Caught 10 K, released one as small, only one of 9 was a female, with large skeins of eggs. None of fish turning color. Res surface quite warm, did not measure it. Got on water about 6:15 am, with fog/hovering clouds, light breeze from gorge. Misty rain. Wind picked up and got nasty. Had electric on Baby Boat, (8ft) so toughed it out. First battery quit about 10 so got other one. Wind picked up, so quit at noon. Res was calm at 2 pm so went out again. Thunderstorm, with lightening over the Res. Aluminum boats hightailed for shore. Baby Boat is glass and does not hightail anywhere. Fishing rod is a Berkeley Lightning Rod. Caught Kokanee in the storm. Wind picked up fierce from opposite direction and was about to blow me off, when it swithched completely, and made a real mess of res surface. I lost two Kokanee and got off. Waited hours, until 6:15 pm and left in a huff. (actually in an old Buick).
Details on fishing: 3 ounces of lead, four bladed silver Beer Can, followed by red
/silver Wedding Ring, which I finally redid with a 4 Owners hook, after it caught about 20
K, and started missing. Still using the smelly, frozen 2x, canned white corn I was using
last month, and maybe the month before. with Mike's anise. About 30-40 pulls, trolling
slow with the wind, fast against and across it. Fish were everywhere. Did not try to
locate schools or use fishfinder or downrigger. As usual, lost twice as many as landed.
Caught one big rainbow on Kokanee gear. No trash fish. Merwin Res looked less affected by
wind when I checked it at 6:30 pm. Other fisherman reported using 4 ounces and 50 pulls,
and caught a lot of Kokanee here two weeks ago, and not so good today.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
July
28, 1999
Yale Reservoir
Have fished Yale several times this month, with limited success. Others seemed to be
doing better. Still trolling shallow. Today, 7/28, I caught a Kokanee right off the bat,
trolling a four bladed Beer Can, with 3 ounces of lead, and white corn cut off the cob on
a Wedding Ring. Then nothing the rest of the morning, to 2 pm. Other people in boat caught
a few, with usual troll gear. Fishing probably too fast as sheered pin on troll plate. Got
a report of people fishing 7/26 at Merwin with claim to have caught 14 1/2 incher and 15
in am by maybe three people. Wind in pm everyday. Caught 1 steelhead and lost two on 7/24,
son caught two, fishing the Columbia, above the Fishery, tight to shore off a point.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
July
4, 1999
Yale Reservoir
Fished Yale Res out of Woodland again. Caught 5 K, biggest little over 12 inches. Limited to rowing and my age is showing. Fished from 9:30 am to 8 pm except for hour that wind was fierce in midday. My impression is that things are slowing down, since day seemed good, being cool, some rain, overcast mostly. Fish seemed most active when water calm, briefly, or maybe my rowing is less frantic. Started out with small trout gear, 4lb line, one ounce ball lead, Indiana spinner, Wedding Ring and corn, twenty pulls. Got hits right off boat dock and connected on third strike. First three fish were caught on this rig. So far, not impressed, since Kokanee seem to come to boat easier than when using heavier gear, and strikes less frequent. Not using a snubber, since trout rod is light. Have snelled a size 1 Owners hook to Wedding Ring. May be too big. Caught all 5 fish on it, but seemed to miss a lot. Nothing happened between 1 and 4, except missed several strikes at 3 on different gear. Caught a fish at 6 and 7 pm and lost a lot after 7. Tried circling back after missing a strike and picked up two. There were two pikeminnows in Yale, near shore. I killed them. Also tried flatline trolling a Li'l Jakes brass with spots wobbler, tipped with corn on treble, on trout gear and got two strikes right off, no hookups, and then nothing for 15 minutes, so took it off. Also bought some cocktail shrimp, but had no cheese cloth, or rubber bands and could not fish them effectively, since shrimp are too crumbly. Most fish seemed to be just off boat dock and park, all along face, about 400 yards out. Caught one Kokanee circling deadhead just past lake center off boat dock. Usually good there and several boats usually there. Light pressure. People I talked to caught nothing in four hours and believed their fish finder that showed only fish on bottom over 100 feet down. Another fisherman taking out early with older 4 stroke Honda that would not run on crud in fuel tank. Even Hondas have limits. Found an expensive trailer dolly wheel and two washers in water at boat dock, and gave them to Sheriff who probably was gently hassling locals who were setting off fireworks at boat dock. Pac Power enforcing rule of no overnight parking at Yale, and towed 7 vehicles, which cost owners over $300 apiece to get back.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
July
2, 1999
Yale Reservoir
Tried to fix AquaBug this am. Failed. Put in a bigger cotter pin for shear pin and that
should work. However, I undertook to remove top part of motor to see why cogs don't always
engage for starting motor. Auto rewind. Fixed that by overstraigtning the springs, and in
so doing released the auto rewind spring, sproing. Spent couple of hours trying to figure
out how it was in there, and have not succeeded yet, except to cut thumb. So went fishing
and caught one Kokanee at Yale. Bad time to go, lots of accidents and emergency vehicles.
Was probably 10 bashed cars. Really looking for lost oar, so did not seriously fish for K.
Got to Yale about 4pm. Did not find oar, it could be anywhere, as lake wind is not
predictable, unless you figure the wind will blow the opposite way you want it to. Ran
into young people who supposedly caught 17 inch K. I misunderstood, it was not a K. Or I
was misinformed.
This report submitted by Bill Davis
July 1, 1999
Yale Reservoir
Caught 14 Kokanee trolling at Yale Res out of Woodland. Size about the same 11 to 12 inches. White corn on a Wedding Ring behind gang troll, silver hammered. Got most while rowing. Lost an oar, and had to paddle to shore in a wind. Ugly. Using an AquaBug 1 hp aircooled, that is old and I can't find shear pins so improvise and it eats cotter keys. At bad time, when I am on other side of lake with a stiff wind blowing. Talked to a man at the dock; he says he starts fishing Kokanee in August at Yale, and have had them jump into the boat, when not hooked. He fishes Wedding Rings tipped with cocktail shrimp and wraps hook with shrimp with bit of cheese cloth, and hold mess together with a small white rubber band, I guess the kind that orthodontists use. I have some that my son gave me, and will try that. He says someone caught a 17 inch Kokanee this week at Yale that went over 2 lbs. I have not seen any near that big. I have been using 2 ounces of lead, and was putting out 10 pulls, but tried 15 today, and hooked a lot more. Still lose over half. Did not lose any at the boat.
This report submitted by Bill
Davis
June
29, 1999
Yale Reservoir
I do not know if this is how you expect reports, but here goes anyway. I have been fishing Yale Res several days in late June and have been catching Kokanee a tad under a foot long, mostly females. I know only trolling, so have been fishing a lake troll, 2 ounces of lead, and about 10 pulls. Caught 22 total in three trips, 11 last time. Fished only a few hours one trip. Tipping Wedding Ring with white corn. Slow troll, rowing half the time. Right off boat dock, all the way across to far side. I tried downrigger fishing at 40 feet, since lake surface is 59, but that had meager success, and a local fisherman said they were on top, use 4 ounces, and ten pulls. 2 ounces works as well for me. Around first of June, fished Merwin with a friend and he caught 4 Kokanee and a bunch of pikeminnow, and I caught a bunch of pikeminnow (10), trolling pretty fast. Other fishermen were also catching only pikeminnow. Have to learn how to jig. Bait fishing?
This report submitted by Bill
Davis
June
19, 1999
Rife Lake
I had a chance to fish at Riffe on June 19th. It was a bit slower than the same time
last year. Most folks were catching a few smaller Kokes in the 8-10" range. The
shoreline was not producing hits like we were used to last year. We decided to troll out
to the deeper sections and go as deep as our light tackle would reasonably go with an
ounce of lead. We ended up catching two nice bright 16 inchers and an occasional
10-12" fish. One of the 16 inchers was a Kokanee and the other appeeared to be a
coho. All in all we had a good Saturday. The pressure was light and I expect the fishing
to get better shortly as they had just filled up the reservoir.
This report submitted by Ted