West side cats

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Demonknight
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West side cats

Post by Demonknight » Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:05 pm

Being pretty new to the lakes out here, are there any with good sized catfish on this side(west) of the mountains? Hoping to take a couple of weeks off soon and would like to plan ahead.

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Fish-or-man?
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RE:West side cats

Post by Fish-or-man? » Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:56 pm

The westside cat-containing lakes that I know of are all quite a bit south of you. Harts Lake in Pierce County is suppose to be pretty good for catfish. I've never fished it, but reading the reports it sounds like there is a decent catfish population. There are channel catfish populations further south in Lewis County at Swofford Pond, and the spillway area that enters Swofford from Mayfield Lake. I only fished for them once at Swofford and didn't do any good, but apparently the occasional 20-pound channel cat gets pulled out of there. A gentleman I talked to fishing the Mayfield spillway side after dark told me he can usually get a couple of keepers a night (however that night he'd just been catching dinks).
Last edited by Anonymous on Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Toni
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RE:West side cats

Post by Toni » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:12 pm

In July last year at Harts Lake I saw a HUGE bullhead someone caught. The channel cats they had could have been used for bait.
Last edited by Anonymous on Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

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Jake Dogfish
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RE:West side cats

Post by Jake Dogfish » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:17 pm

Most of the lakes here have Bullhead catfish that can get up to about 3 pounds but usually are much smaller in the local lakes.
I think the problem with the Channels on the west side is that there is way too much pressure on just a few opportunities. There are alot of people around the Military bases that come from other parts of the country and want to catch catfish here.
I think the WDFW needs to find more suitable lakes here to plant them in so they have a chance to really get established.

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RE:West side cats

Post by Demonknight » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:44 pm

Well I'm not picky *S* Bullheads and I get along just fine...tough little shits, they are almost as tough to kill off as carp are. I know of a lot of small ponds back home that are over run with them...the key is to drop in some large catfish to prey on them before they get stunted.... 2 to 3 pounders are not unheard of for us out of one nice lake we fish...I just wish those random hits that snap the line in 2 seconds would happen more often so I could plan for them.

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fishaholictaz
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RE:West side cats

Post by fishaholictaz » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:06 am

The Columbia has some big cats also!! I would go to Swafford if I were you! Also check out Patterson in Thurston Co.!:-"
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Fisherman_max
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RE:West side cats

Post by Fisherman_max » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:08 am

even further south lacamas lake is good for channel cats and bullheads. some get pretty large to! one that was caught aproached 20lbs.
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gpc
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RE:West side cats

Post by gpc » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:13 am

Lake Terrell, also supposedly has them. I know there is a few more. I want to say Kress lake, if not Kress than a lake around Kress. Hit the cascades and your options will really open up for some whiskers

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RE:West side cats

Post by bassmasterderek » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:27 am

I really enjoy fishing the cats at Harts lake. Swofford is my other favorite.

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RE:West side cats

Post by Demonknight » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:07 pm

Those all sound like fun, and the photos on th elake pages make it look nice..only one more question (yeah right)...any good comp grounds in the area?.. we have a 36foot bus conversion to camp in and would need a place to park it.

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RE:West side cats

Post by fishaholictaz » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:12 pm

Demonknight wrote:Those all sound like fun, and the photos on th elake pages make it look nice..only one more question (yeah right)...any good comp grounds in the area?.. we have a 36foot bus conversion to camp in and would need a place to park it.
Offut Lake resort is able to park you! (I am pretty sure)Good trout bass fishing there and not a far drive to some mentioned lakes :cheers: Check them out they are great people fun place to camp!!
Last edited by Anonymous on Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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leahcim_dahc
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RE:West side cats

Post by leahcim_dahc » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:24 pm

Good tips on the "Cat" waters...I'd like to get more catfish than what I have.

Here is a photo of one I caught out of Swofford Pond this past summer....
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colton
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RE:West side cats

Post by colton » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:39 pm

how big is the the cat in the pic above

Demonknight
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RE:West side cats

Post by Demonknight » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:39 pm

man..nice cat..makes me hungry all over again....

*edit* I would guess about 5 - 6 pounds on that cat
Last edited by Anonymous on Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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leahcim_dahc
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RE:West side cats

Post by leahcim_dahc » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:58 pm

colton wrote:how big is the the cat in the pic above
Honestly, I don't know. I didn't have scales when I caught it. I found a weight calculator online that used the length and girth to "guesstimate" the weight. It was right at 31" long and 19.5" around, or something like that...that put it at roughly 14.5 lbs. How accurate that is...I don't know.

Just for scale...those cans of ravioli are the bigger cans, and the boots I am wearing are size 11XW U.S issue combat boots.


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RE:West side cats

Post by fishnislife » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:12 pm

leahcim_dahc wrote:Good tips on the "Cat" waters...I'd like to get more catfish than what I have.

Here is a photo of one I caught out of Swofford Pond this past summer....
WOW! That is one fat cat! One of the biggest I have seen in Washington.
Nice.





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Fisherman_max
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RE:West side cats

Post by Fisherman_max » Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:50 am

what did ya catch em on?
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kavykid2k6
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RE:West side cats

Post by kavykid2k6 » Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:11 am

lake cassidy

go south east from the boat ramp, go smack dab in the middle of the lake, throw some liver on a 1/0 circle hook and pull up 20"+ cats. i have heard there is channels in this lake but i havent found them yet. they love eatin crappie too
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leahcim_dahc
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RE:West side cats

Post by leahcim_dahc » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:24 pm

Fisherman_max wrote:what did ya catch em on?
chicken liver...
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RE:West side cats

Post by tnj8222 » Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:52 pm

we used to use shrimp in north carolina for catfish. worked good. liver works great but hard to keep on the hook.
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