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I arrived at my destination at around 3:00 on June 21. I launched from swan bay and quickly had my little boat fired up and was running at a good clip on my way out to garden island. The water was pretty choppy from the wind so i wasnt running wide open. When I arived at the island i went straight for the tree that is laying down through the lillies out into the lake. I noticed a pair of bald eagles following me into my fishing spot, they landed in a near by tree and had their eyes peeled on me not the water. This strip of the island is sheltered from the wind pretty good and it was pretty calm there. I started off using a white 1/16 oz jig and right away was catching and killing squaws and throwing them overboard. as soon as the fish would float about 40 feet away from the boat there would be a loud whoosh and a small splash and one of the eagle was flying off with its next meal. I caught and killed at least 50 squaws and released a few cutthroat trout, bull heads, small perch and a few 4-6 inch large mouth bass. But i wanted to catch some of the big perch that i was told were in this lake. So I started switching colors on jigs and found that i was catching more fish with a red body with a glow tail. As the day was about over I decided i wanted to keep a few perch and kept 3 nice ones around 9-10 inches.
I awoke to the beaver slaming his tail on the water at 4:15 and after about 20 minutes of that i had enough and decided that instead of laying on the ground in my sleeping bag i should be out on the lake catching fish. Within 10 minutes i was fishing. I realized then that if you want to catch JUMBO PERCH you need to be up EARLY!! I hooked a monster and it got off, but i didnt let it get me down. I kept at it and it payed off! I caught this 12 1/2 incher in about 20 foot of water about 30 feet away from the pads draggin bottom using a jig. I ended up keeping 8 fish all together the smallest was 9 inches I killed Probably 250-300 squaws, too bad they dont pay you to kill em in here i would be rich!!! I did end up hooking something BIG out in deep water trying to duplicate the big perch but it shook the hook. I am told there are 10+ lb squaws in here and I know there are big bass.
This lake is kind of creepy. I heard of a few people drowning in this lake, and i can see how! It is a huge lake and if the weather turns bad you can be in a lot of trouble if you have a small boat or canoe. I would have done a little more exploring but everywhere to the south of garden island was pretty nasty and i didnt feel like fighting the wind.

Bob R

6/22/2011 10:14:00 PM

Nice perch, great use of artificials. It can be a nasty lake wind wise and yes, people have drowned there, one a couple of summers ago, I believe. What were you using to push your boat, and what size and kind of boat was it? I've thought of doing it in the canoe,with the electric, but it's along way to go. bob r

MR_A

6/22/2011 10:22:00 PM

Hey Bob,
I have a 1972 14 foot fiberglass runabout made for sears, i dont know by who. But i have done a little custom work i put a bimini top and some cedar sides to help shed some wind and rain. I have a 1992 Tohatsu 25 HP 2 stroke and a minkota 34 thrust electric its perfectly safe in case i get caught in bad weather i would just rather not take the beating. I have been out there in a canoe a few times with a friend of mine before i had this boat, it is usually pretty calm close to dark and if you stay on the west end of swan bay and just kind of skirt along the edge its pretty calm.

The Quadfather

6/22/2011 11:52:00 PM

Mr. A, don't know if you read my report from 2 years ago on Ozette. I took my 14' 25 hp Merc. all the way to the far end of the lake. Camped on the ocean side, right across from "Baby Island" Such an incredible lake! You are really secluded out there. Bear, deer, and whatever. I too hooked into very large salmonoid (sp?) trout/salmon etc. broke off.
Great exploring to be done at the South end. I carried extra gas, and an electric motor with a fresh battery.
So glad to read this report. And that is one huge perch!

BMGW

6/23/2011 8:51:00 AM

Ahhh yes, Perchus Giganticus Ozettus, and caught on a Dons Dandy Crappie Jig with pinched barb to boot... Great job, Mr. A now carefull you don't give away too many secrets. I have no doubt the current Washington state record Perch is in Ozette and probably the LMB as well, you could have been slammed by the huge cutties that are in the lake or even one of the highly prized and off limits Sockeye. Middle of the week trip, I bet you did not see another boat on the water???

MR_A

6/23/2011 9:24:00 AM

Quad,
I too brought extra gas i filled my 6 gallon and had a 2 1/2 can filled just in case but never got below 1/2 tank on the 6 gal, because i never made it off the north end of the lake. I went out to ozette earlier in the year and we did some exploring then, the weather was cold but the water was calm, we actually found a place to land on baby island and worked our way up to the top, if you really look hard you can kind of see where there might have been a cabin on the top of baby island, but it had to have been torn down 75-100 years ago, because you can just barely see the footprint. We also ran the trail that dumps you out 2 miles south of the triangle loop, I cant remember if it is sandpoint or cape alava that is the southern point of that trail. We Also saw a small heard of elk around little river when we went in the spring, which was awesome because they didnt spook until we were right up on them.

Talking to a Native American friend of mine last night i found out that there are indian burial grounds around the lake, and i am wondering what else is hiding there. As much as I love fishing this lake i have decided it is to dangerous to do alone, if something happened to me out there by myself who knows how long it would be before i saw another person. Or if I had engine failure, there are too many possibilities, and there are much better happened for solo fishing. BMGW When you want to go? I am ready when you are, but i do know your got that pesky shop to deal with.

knotabassturd

6/23/2011 6:31:00 PM

Love these kinds of reports. Secluded, hammering those nasty squawfish/NPMs, and picking up some thick-necked perch along with a few other surprises.

Thanx for making a miniscule dent on the squawfish overpopulation. I'm sure the eagles thank you too. Sounds like an amazing trip out amongst the trees and water.

ChrisB

6/23/2011 9:08:00 PM

I never heard of this lake. My friend lives in Port Angeles and I'll have to tell him about this lake. Almost want to take the bass boat over there and give it a whirl. You have a feeling there are big bass in there, or did you see some ? With that many squaws, perch, and lack of fishing pressure I'm sure, I can't imagine the amount of BIG bass lurking down there. Hmmm.

MR_A

6/24/2011 4:13:00 PM

I caught a few small large mouth, and with the size of this lake if there are small ones there has to be big ones. If you go keep us posted on how you do. With the large schools of squawfish minnows hanging out just outside of the lilies, this lake has plenty of food for a big bass and i am sure it is not going to be that easy to get them to bite when food is so abundant.

ChrisB

6/27/2011 9:57:00 PM

You have a point there, lots of food = lazy bass that don't wanna eat until they are ready.

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