by Stacey Kelsey, April 01, 2002

Tips from Stacie Kelsey on lakes in SW Washington

Clark:


Battle Ground Lake - shore access is not great and usually people sit on the good spots for awhile so to get one you need to get there early. There is a trail all the way around the lake, a bit rough in spots. Pay launch. Boat ramp is a little rough if you have to back down very far. We have catchable eastern brook although the catchable program has been eliminated. There are excess adult hatchery steelhead, rainbow broodstock and rainbows.

There are some beautiful bass in this lake. A little trivia for you. Did you know that in the 40s we tried to use this water for warmwater fish only?! Didn't really work, but the bass populations are doing good.

Other info: this is not a power bait lake! It just doesn't work that great. Use cocktail shrimp, mealworms, biscuit dough, corn, marshmellows, worms and your various lures/flies.

Klineline Pond
Urban lake with A LOT of fish. Browns, cutthroat, rainbow and broodstock rainbow. We used to plant excess adult hatchery steelhead but that program was not very successful. There are some warmwater fish.

NO FLOTATION DEVICES ALLOWED!! Also, there are grass carp in this lake and they are illegal to retain. Lake can get exremely crowded, especially on weekends. DO NOT fish Salmon Creek or risk getting cited. It does not open until June 1.

Lacamas Lake
Despite rumors of polluted waters there are beautiful trout to be caught here. Browns in the 3lb. range. Great yellow perch populations. Used to be an excellent bass fishery, however, those numbers have been in decline.

Severe weed problem at the lake, expect to get gear tangled from time to time. Round lake sits across the bridge but is connected to Lacamas. Great park, good fishing access. Lacamas itself has VERY limited shore access. WDFW boat launch. Must have decal.

Vancouver Lake
Again, despite rumors of water pollution, great water for channel catfish and blue catfish. White crappie, bass, bullheads (yellow and brown) and bluegill. Some starry flounder. WDFW access area, must have decal - do NOT launch from here - not a very good site. Over in Felida there is a pay launch that I always use for the shock boat - pretty decent.

VERY shallow shifting lake bottom. Don't go zipping through the lake or you could go from 4ft. to 1ft. in the blink of an eye and find yourself air born. Really neat water that is often ignored.

Wildlife Refuge lakes are not open to fishing!!!

Fargher Pond
Brown trout planted here. Seems to be good fishing.

HOT SPOT:

Canyon Creek!!! June 1 this area opens and it is really great fishing. Beautiful area.

Klickitat County

Horsethief Lake
Cool camping area, rainbows only. Very few warmwater fish. Primitive but usable boat ramp. Some shore access.

Rowland Lake
Great bluegill fishing, eastern brook catchables (catchable program has since been eliminated), rainbows and rainbow broodstock. WDFW boat access, need decal, primitive gravel. Some shore access, be careful of rocks though.

Lake is divided by HWY 14 into North Rowland/South Rowland. South Rowland is NOT planted but does have nice warmwater fish.

Spearfish Lake
No warmwater fish to speak of. Lots of suckers though. Rainbows and rainbow broodstock. Primitive ramp. Some shore access. Can get VERY windy!!!


Lewis County

Carlisle Lake
Good shore access, boat ramp okay. Browns and rainbows. Nice bass here.

Ft. Borst Park Pond
Shore access only, no boats. Family Fishing water. Rainbows only.

Mineral Lake
The jewel in our Freshwater Crown. Browns, native cutt's and rainbows. Beautiful fish here. Not a lot of shore access. Our WDFW boat launch pretty much stinks, but we are working on it! Mineral Lake resort, VERY cool people. They have a little dock area you can fish from. Lots of cool pictures.

Plummer Lake
Cartop boats and rafts only, very little shore access. Not a lot of fishing activity although we do put about 4000 fish here.

So. Lewis Co. Park Pond.
Cool lake, similar to Klineline. All sorts of warmwater fish. Lots of rainbows, cutthroat and browns. Previously planted tiger muskies but discontinued that. Excellent shore access, great boat ramp, lots of picnicking area. Excellent place to take the family.

Swofford Pond
Have had channel catfish in the 20lb. range here. Great warmwater lake. Browns and rainbows. Previously used to rear steelhead but water proved to be too warm. Fair boat ramp area. Fair shore access. If you see Loons (the birds not the anglers) please do you best not to disturb them.

Cowlitz

Horseshoe Lake
Interesting lake. The fish go in and where they go from there who knows!!! Excess steelhead planted the last couple of months brought a really great harvest though. Opening day catches were up tremendously. Public Works wants to do some ehancement, so some really good options for this lake. Rainbows and browns and rainbow broodstock. Yellow perch, some bass.

Decent boat launch. Great shore access on north side of the shoe.

Kress Lake
My special "Monster Cat Lake", meaning we have some darn nice channel catfish in this lake. We have been planting channels the last four years, NOT as fingerlings but from 12"-17". Enforcement Officers have checked fish upwards of 10 lbs. Also plant rainbows, browns and excess adult hatchery steelhead. Stunted bluegill population, good bass, some nice panfish. Working on the weed problem.

Primitive WDFW boat ramp, need decal, NON COMBUSTION MOTORS meaning no combustion motor even on the boat. Trail around the lake, shore access limited once you get away from the boat ramp but some pretty decent openings.

Sacajawea Lake
Great shore access, no boats. Browns, rainbows, cutthroats. Good bass and warmouth. Grass carp are in here, it is illegal to retain grass carp!!

Located inside the park. Watch out for the geese they can get cranky.

Silver Lake
The jewel in our Warmwater Crown. Great bass and panfish. HUGE rainbow trout. TONS of grass carp still. It is illegal to retain grass carp. Shore access very limited. WDFW boat ramp, need decal.

Stop by Silver Lake Resort to find out the latest catches and what people are using. The owners are GREAT and will give you all sorts of information.

Skamania

Goose Lake
AWESOME LAKE, takes awhile to get to, but well worth it. BIG browns and cutt's here. Camping area. On Forest Service land, so check with them about permits you might need.

Icehouse Lake
Great little and I mean little body of water. Rainbows. Big aquatic weed problem. Good shore access, cartop boats or rafts only.

Kidney Lake
Cool little lake, not great with shore access, boat ramp VERY primitive. Rainbows here.

Little Ash
Just around the corner from Icehouse. Usually not fished because people drive on HWY 14 and see everyone fishing Icehouse so they go there instead! There's nice fish here! Good shore access, rafts and float tubes only though.

Swift Power Canal
Not so good right now due to the dike breaking. Lots of debris and off-color water. However when it's good it is REALLY good. BIG cutt's, rainbows. Bull trout are in these waters. IT IS ILLEGAL TO RETAIN BULL TROUT. And if you get caught it is a huge FEDERAL fine. They are protected fish. So know what they look like before you keep any fish.