Fishing Articles
Ice Means Hot Action for Fish Lake Anglers
When the snow begins to pile up many anglers begin to tear down their gear and settle in for a winter’s rest. Those in the know, however, gather their cold-weather gear, sharpen their augers and eagerly await the beginning of ice fishing on Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee. The pace of wintertime angling at Fish Lake rivals the action of spring and summer: especially for rainbow trout and yellow per...
Trophy Trout Common at Rufus Woods Reservoir
It’s January 2, 1999, and the first fishing trip of the year. At about 11 a.m., the first bite of the season and the first fish—a 16-pound rainbow. Not many fishing seasons begin this way, but when fishing at Rufus Woods Lake it’s really no big deal. Well, actually it is pretty exciting catching a trout of this size, but this impoundment on the Columbia River produces lots of them.
In 1998 Rufu...
Cow Paddy Pond
As the years go by, I often find myself thinking of past fishing adventures. My brother and I used to spend a lot of time scouting out new trout lakes. Usually armed with a map and our favorite reference book, Fishing in Oregon. We were always amazed at how many different trout lakes were around, especially ones that were so close to our house.
There was one particular spring that comes to mind...
Dale's Hot Fishing Spots 2002
Dale's Hot Washington Fishing Spots
Checking my computer, here's my list of the most productive fishing options in the NW.
FYI: I live in Puget Sound, so I know this list is biased, but I do try to go where ever the fish are.
Firstly, SW British Columbia (Harrison River, Chilliwack/Vedder, Fraser, Squamish/Cheakamus, Stave, etc.) generally has better river fishing than Washington State. I...
The Year in Review 2001
The Year in Review - 2001
Here we are, another year gone and staring at the new one. My yearly tradition of taking a look at how things went on WashingtonLakes.com is here.
As always, I must begin by thanking the many readers who have taken the time to submit reports, pictures, stories and other useful information that has made this site one of the best for lake fishing information here...
Lake Wenatchee Sockeye Season 2001
This year marked the first time in ten years that WDFW allowed a sockeye fishery on Lake Wenatchee. A healthy run of 30,000 fish allowed this opening. I was fortunate to have a day off and took the kids to see what the fishery was all about.
My sons and I arrived Tuesday afternoon and immediately ran into good luck. Just as we put in the boat, five other rigs came behind us. We found the last p...
Trophy Lake Trout of Lake Chelan
Located in Central Washington lies a lake more than 50 miles long. And in that lake are trophy mackinaw trout (aka lake trout) just waiting to be caught by some lucky angler. It was my good fortune to be joining Anton Jones of Darrell and Dad's Guide Service to spend a day fishing for these beautiful fish. My sons were along for the trip and were eager to fish in a "real boat" that had a TV to he...
Little Cavanaugh Lake Cleanup
Our first organized clean up of a lake was a big success. Six of us (Microbrew, Sky River Irish, Bill, Jim, Jim J., and myself) picked up over six full trash bags of bottles, cans, litter, rubbish, and stuff too gross to mention. By a strange but appropriate coincidence, today was Earth Day. The weather held up long enough for us to do the cleanup and grab some hot dogs and excellent elk sausage, ...
The Tube Rig for Bass
This set up will not out fish every bait all the time, But ( in my opinion ) it will out fish most bait's most of the time. It's easy to rig, it's versatile, and it's cheap.
THE GEAR
To the far left is a 2/0 extra wide gap Gamakatsu hook ( any sharp wide gap hook will work )
In the center is a 1/32oz HP Quickclip weight made by eagle claw they come in 1/32, 1/8, and 1/4oz
To the right is t...
The Year in Review 2000
End of the Year Thoughts...
As 2000 fades away into 2001, I thought I would look back on the year here at WashingtonLakes.com and talk about where we've been, and where I hope to see us go.
It's been another year of tremendous growth both in readership numbers and in growth of content. 2000 saw over 294,000 visits to this web site. That compares with about 130,600 visits in 1999. We posted 9...
Fly Fishing at a Snail's Pace
Many fishermen don't put their rods away at the first hint of frost. They know about the tendency of fish to feed heavily on snails during fall months. Some of my largest trout have been caught during autumn with snail imitations. These fish sound and feel like a bag of walnuts as I run my hand carefully along their stomachs. Another indication of fish feeding on snails is a reddened vent where w...
Sockeye 2000!
Lake Washington Sockeye Season For 2000
WDFW announced we will have a year 2000 sockeye fishery on Lake Washington. There will be a two fish, minimum size 15" daily limit. There are also certain closed closed days.
Reader's Sockeye-related fishing comments and advice:
July 25th: Sockeye 2001? Click Here to read the latest WDFW press release for nex...
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