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Continuing my quest to fish a variety of Snohomish Co. lowland lakes, targeted Lake Ballinger this week. Have fished Ballinger off and on since I was 15 years old... 55 years total! Over the years I have found that the lake gets a healthy influx of Cutthroat Trout from Lake Washington in the Fall and early Winter months. Have caught them up to 18", using worms and cured salmon eggs in the past. Arrived at the lake at 6:45 AM and made my way to the pier at Ballinger Park... was shocked and very disappointed to discover that the pier has been reconstructed, cutting off the last 40' or so, the "T" end of the pier. The remaining pier terminates with a narrow end that can accommodate only one, at the most, two fishermen. Besides this, the pier ends at the depth line where a thick mat of aquatic vegetation exists... it is impossible to fish off the sides of the pier, one can only reach free water by casting straight out, but then you have to avoid the still remaining pilings of the former end of the pier. The city of Mountlake Terrace has severely limited fishing access to this great lake, as this is the only public pier on the lake. Sad!

Temp at the outset was a chilly 42 degrees... a clear sky, but fog covering the surface of the lake. Water temp was 54.6 degrees at the surface, and warmer as one went down through the water column, with the bottom temp at 15' of 57.3 degrees. Began fishing with worms under a float on one rig, fl. orange Power Eggs (4' leader) on the other. Lines in the water at 7:10. Did observe several large splashes nearby which indicated feeding trout... there are some large fish in this lake! Watched a River Otter fishing down the lake... watched as he caught a large trout only 100' from me, flipped onto his back and began his breakfast. About 7:30 my float was violently jerked under the surface and I set the hook and reeled in a beautiful, sleek Cutthroat of 11". As the sun rose, a thick fog settled over the lake and remained until a brisk wind picked up about 9:00. Had absolutely no action on the PE presentation, though I tried every color and combination in my arsenal. Tried cured salmon eggs under the float, tried them on the bottom... nada! About 10:00 I went with worms on the bottom... finally got some love... the subtle "tick, tick" of the rod tip let me know I was getting a bite. Waiting until I felt the resistance of a fish on the line, I reeled in a nice 9" Yellow Perch. Leaving the PEs to soak, I began to target the Perch. By 10:30 a strong wind was now blowing and it became difficult to see the subtle movement of the rod tip that would indicate a bite... time after time I would reel in a bare hook, or a hook with only a 1/2" of worm left. I continued to fish patiently and was able to bring in a total of seven Yellow Perch, a couple going up to 9 1/2", most in the 7" to 8" range. By 1:00 a heavy cloud cover moved in from the north, belying the coming storm which had been forecast for Tuesday. About 1:30 I watched as my line tightened and moved to the right, but no tell-tale rod tip movement. I began to reel in my line, felt the resistance and the head-shakes of the good fish, and was surprised to find an 11" Brown Bullhead on the hook. In addition to the Cutt, the Perch, and the Bullhead, I also caught four Bluegill... I guess you would call it a "mixed bag".

I left the lake about 3:00. During the day five more fishermen joined me on the pier for brief times. They soon realized the limited fishing opportunity on the pier (despite my willingness to share the cramped space with them).. several tried fishing from the shoreline, but the heavy weed bed impeded their efforts. Two fishermen launched an inflatable raft and fished for a couple hours, trolling, but left having no bites.

Enjoyed watching the Bald Eagle pair repairing their nest in the tall Douglas Fir on the Nile golf course, taxiing large branches across the lake to refurbish their homestead. Ballinger always hosts a plethora of wildlife and avian action to enjoy. Always enjoy the invigorating Fall weather... the cold wind blowing all day, but me dressed in layers and very comfortable... smoking a couple of bowl fulls of my favorite pipe tobacco and of course, the bonus of some fine fish to share with my wife and friends. Fish tacos tonight! PTL!

Maltby

10/17/2017 8:29:51 PM

I enjoying reading your reports.

cobrar543

10/18/2017 8:00:34 AM

Where is the picture of the fisherwoman?
Love your reports and seeing the two of you out.

Stansjoy

10/18/2017 10:42:15 AM

cobra543... Thank you for your comment! The "fisherwoman" is my wife, Boni. She is temporarily sidelined due to recent shoulder surgery and will be back to fishing with me when her casting arm is again operable... and when weather allows (she is what you might call a "fair-weather" fisherwoman!)

N E 1 FISSION

10/21/2017 6:51:49 AM

Hi Stan, good to see you still out there, I totally agree how sad what they did to the pier, incredible!! Hard to fathom what there state of mind was when redesigning the pier, what limitations to enjoy a day out,...

Gonefishing

10/23/2017 10:29:47 AM

Like a couple of you I too don't like what happened with the pier and wish it could have been done differently. The problem is Mountlake Terrace and Parks department had very limited funds. Per one person that sat on the park or city board said the end portion of the pier was very unsafe. Which I agreed fully with. Some days that end of the pier would shake so much in the wind or when people walked about it I'd expect that part to break off and float away. The problem is the wood had rotted out wood pilings had rotted out.

Plan A. was to remove the dock period and all fishermen fish from shore or boats.
Plan B. Floating Dock. The problem with this idea was the removal of the existing dock or portions of it.
Plan C. Replace the dock with a new dock. Or at least new pilings. This option was the most expensive one, and seemed to get repeatedly rejecting by other board members who don't see much benefit from the park.
Plan D. Replace most of the wood and remove the unsafe section of the dock.

Obviously this is what we got.

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