I fished Meridian for the first time today. I have driven past it many times,( in the area for work), but never seriously considered it. I'm more of an Eastern Washington Guy.
However, my friend, ( who lives very nearby), has a daughter celebrating her 8th birthday today, and has never been fishing! Well, a birthday fishing trip was in order, and Meridian was just down the road from them.
I did some research, (thank you, all Washington Lakes. Com report filer's ) , and figured it was very similar to Kokanee fishing I had experienced in the past. The boat launch situation seems a bit confusing, the Kent Parks launch is gated, and the accessible hours appear to be somewhat flexible. The sign indicates a 7:30 AM opening; this is much too late for a serious trout fisherman. It was closed when we arrived at 5:15, so we continued up the road a short distance to the WDFW launch. A bit tight, and only allowing a maximum parking area of two full sized rigs, it provided a decent way to access the lake for the Lund. I have seen much worse!
We motored away from the launch about 5:30; with Dad, his 13 year old son, and Birthday girl. The weather was gloomy, light drizzle/ fog, and air temp of about 60. I was astounded at the water temperature, it was 73! This lake seems to be a big bathtub.
I rigged two poles: one with,( my Kokanee standard), pop gear and red wedding ring/ corn, off three colors of leaded line, and the other straight mono, pop gear/ pink wedding ring, and, ( new to me), Gulp pink maggots. We immediately hit our first Koke, about 12", on the standard. Great start. This was the boy's pole.
After that, things slowed down. We trolled around the lake several times, got some hits, but couldn't keep them buttoned . Some other boats showed up, they seemed to be searching also. I pulled off the gang trolls, and switched to a small flasher; this seemed to be the trick. Birthday girl had constant action for about an hour, and Dad helped her boat her first fish, on her 8th birthday!
This was , after all, a very short morning trip for the kids. I'm sure the local "pro's " have really got this lake nailed.
In three hours, we boated 3 fish total, all about 12", Birthday girl out fished her brother 2-1!

Please Take A Kid Fishing, even if it's not your own!
Borrow one if you have to; its a lot of fun, especially more so for us old, jaded codgers.

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