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With the promise of mild weather for the day, I convinced my wife, Boni, to accompany me for a morning of fishing at Silver Lake. We arrived at Thornton Sullivan Park at 6:30 AM and to my surprise and delight, found that the gate had already been opened. We made our way to the lakeside and were fishing by 7:00. One fisherman was already on the beach, and shortly after we arrived, we watched him reel in a hefty fish of 16" to 17"... we saw him catch two more in the 12" range before he left in mid-morning. The sky was cloudy with a mild temp of 54 degrees... barely a breeze at the outset. The water temp at the shoreline was 66 degrees. I set up Boni's rig with Pink Power Eggs on a 5' leader, one of mine with Fl. Orange PE on a 3' leader and fished a nightcrawler under a float on the other. About fifteen minutes in, Boni's rod tip began to dance and she reeled in a chunky Rainbow of just over 12". Twenty minutes later her rod tip was jerked violently toward the water and she was into a good fish... it cleared the surface of the water several times before she brought it to the net... a spectacular 'Bow of nearly 15 1/2". Meanwhile, I had no hits on my PE, but was getting lots of hits on the crawler... but having a difficult time getting a hook-up. I adjusted the depth of the float and trimmed the length of the worm and finally was able to hook a nice Yellow Perch of about 8". Boni continued to have hits and landed a couple more Rainbows before I changed my leader to 6' with pink PE as well. Soon I had a hit and reeled in a Rainbow of about 12". By 10:00 the action had cooled off on the Rainbows... I caught one more and Boni closed out her limit by 11:30. We missed many Rainbows because they would dive into the weed-beds near the shoreline on the way in, wrap the line around the vegetation and pull the hook out. I was having a great amount of fun catching Perch... was able to land seven in the 7" to 8" range, with one bruiser of 9 1/2" (I think I can envision fish tacos later this week!)... caught perhaps a dozen more in the 4" to 5" range which were sent back to grow a bit more. We ended our day about 12:30, with 7 great Rainbows and 7 Yellow Perch.
Had a great morning sharing God's creation with my wife. Saw several batches of this Spring's hatch of Mallard ducklings... Boni was delighted as they scurried around and under her chair. Surprised to see a huge, almost lobster sized Crawfish crawling on the bottom, near the shoreline. Love viewing the Ospreys and Eagles doing their thing.
Saw only 5 or 6 other anglers fishing off the shoreline, did not see any other fish caught by them... however, did see several fish caught out front by anglers in watercraft. Some very large splashes out on the lake suggest that there are some big fish yet to be caught at Silver Lake. PTL!

riverhunter

5/24/2016 11:54:00 AM

Nice job. Unfortunately for me there is no real ramp to launch a raft from. I know I can carry them down to the lake but that is a lot of hard work. Another bummer is wdfw state that they stock the lake with Kokanee but no one seems to be targeting them. This being the closet lake to me with Kokanee I would love to learn its secrets or reason why Kokanee are not a target species here.

Stansjoy

5/24/2016 12:18:00 PM

riverhunter... Thanks for the comment. I know the WDFW does stock the lake with Kokes, but only way to target them is with a boat. People that live on the lake have boats, but nearly impossible to get a "boat" to the lake now (other than inflatables, kayaks, etc.). For years there was a public boat launch on the southeast shoreline, but development took that away. On a recent trip to Silver Lake I was chatting with a gentleman who lives on the lake... he told me that there are plans by the WDFW to put in a public launch on the southwest corner of the lake... one can only hope!

Geno the Viking

5/24/2016 12:47:00 PM

Great report. Thanks so much. Any bass in Silver Lake?

riverhunter

5/24/2016 2:05:00 PM

I do own an inflatable but the problem is I don't know of anyone who specifically targets them. This topic has been on my mind for a very long time and would be willing to give it a try if anyone would be willing to give up a few tips on silver lake Kokanee. Seems like the rainbows are in thick that it would make it difficult to figure what the kokes want. Feel free to pm me if you'd like

Stansjoy

5/24/2016 9:38:00 PM

Geno...Absolutely! Some big LMB in Silver Lake. Lots of structure... docks, piers, pilings... lots of weed-beds & lily pads. Have personally seen several 5+ #'ers taken, even off the shoreline of Thornton Sullivan Park. riverhunter... Deepest part of the lake is on the northeast part, that is where the Kokes will school in the warmer weather (when they bite the best). For tips on trolling for them, see the reports for any of the hot Kokanee lakes in the area (Stevens, Roesiger, Samish, etc.) If you don't have a downrigger, try lead-core line with a banana weight of 3oz to 4oz. Lots of commercial spinners, flies, spoons that take Kokes... bait the hook with maggots or white corn. Can still fish for Kokes... usually need to "chum" the water for them (used to use creamed corn with added ingredients)... have to check to regs to see if chumming is legal, some lakes it is, most, not. Takes a special "touch" to hook 'em though. Can contact Toni from WannaFishaLure.com for the technique, she has written about it before. Good luck, the Kokes are out there! PTL!

riverhunter

5/24/2016 9:58:00 PM

Thanks stanjoy! I appreciate the responses. I have no problem with kokanee just seems odd that wdfw throws them in there with little interest from anglers. I do go to stevens from time go time and i do have downriggers that i could mount on my raft but with silver lake being so close to me i've always wanted to try just never hear of others doing so. Once again thanks for your responses as i enjoy reading your reports! Nice catch btw!

northfork

5/26/2016 5:13:00 PM

Thanks for the report.
Did not know about this fishery until you posted it.
I live in Marysville and made the drive yesterday morning.
Went out on the short dock and caught a couple of decent trout. Cooking on the BBQ as I write.
Thinking I may hit the lake tomorrow morning. Got some worms for the bobber and a lot of pink Gulp from Cabela's.
Didn't see the guys on the T dock catch anything for the 2 hours I was there.

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