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Sammamish Lake Report
King County, WA

Photos

Details

07/20/2018
71° - 75°
Bottom Fishing From Boat
Smallmouth Bass
Black
Mostly Sunny
Plastics
All Day
71° - 75°
07/22/2018
3
1214

Can't let FishingFool be the only poor bass guy posting on this great site. Sneaked out Friday mid-morning with a couple sandwiches and a cooler full of soda. Fished the east side for a few hours with nothing to show for it except a couple dozen perch. I actually began targeting perch after it became clear the bass weren't looking up for my WhopperPlopper, nor down for my texas-rigged PowerWorm. Tried weed beds, docks, and even camped out on a couple of my favorite secret points. Tried the DropShot, and even chunked a big football jig for awhile. Had a few tugs but probably just perch stealing craw pinchers and the tails off my KVD DreamShots.

Around 3:30 the sun started beating me up a bit so I headed to the west side which was under the shadows of some slow-moving clouds. Where I crossed over was at that "nipple" just south of the eastward bend, with the big dock that ALWAYS has that guy fishing off it. DropShot gets slammed almost immediately, and for the next couple hours the 13-16" smallies kept me very happy. I use Medium-Light spinning gear to DS, and I swear there were 3 or 4 times that day that I was SURE there was a new PB on my line. Not even close as it turns out, but man those brown fish can tug hard!

Side note: I was seeing TONS more life in the water than in recent weeks. On many casts, my bait would be followed back to the boat by what seemed like a hundred finger-sized perch. I'm guessing this year-class was spectacular for perch.

By 6pm my back was tired so I decided to troll the 20ft depths with a texas-rigged crawfish (BioSpawn Vile Craw in black/blueflake). The weed line ended at 19ft in most areas, so 20ft kept me close to the beds but not fighting snags every second. I was amazed at the abuse that VileCraw took from perch peckers. I laughed out loud sometimes at how hard they pulled without ever once getting the hook. To my great surprise, that bait did get eaten by a smallmouth. Then another, then another, until I finally broke off on a buoy line and called it quits at around 8:45pm.

So I might have a new favorite summertime technique for bass. Dragging a bait outside the weed line at super slow speeds — essentially, Carolina Rigging. In the spring, you can't get the Jerkbait rod out of my hand, and I'm always gonna love the DropShot, but I just re-rigged several rods for dragging craws. We'll see if I can repeat.

Another note: I'm a skeptic on the whole solunar tables theory of fish activity, but Friday was a 1st Quarter moon (half moon), and the primary period was very nicely overlapping the 4-hour window of my bites.

Finished with about a dozen smallies between 12 and 16 inches. None above 2lbs (according to the weight charts), and all released. Fun day, though, and it's always uplifting to have success with a new idea.


Comments

fisherman92
7/22/2018 5:05:27 PM
Great report sounds like a good day!
cdflett
7/22/2018 7:00:56 PM
Excellent report. Thanks for all the details. I've had good luck with cutthroat but bass continue to mostly elude me. I did manage to find an LMB a few weeks ago fishing the eastside docks.
Amx
7/22/2018 7:17:24 PM
Sounds like a great day.
FishingFool
7/22/2018 8:24:07 PM
Great report! That 2nd fish from the left looks like a chunk! I've added the CR a couple of weeks ago but havent been as successful with it yet. I know it's just a matter of time. Sounds like, it might be. And if i'm not mistaken, that blue garage houses a float plane, lol.
mizefish
7/22/2018 9:18:32 PM
You're right about the blue garage. Scary how well you know the lake! Couple houses next door to each other both have "rails" going down into the water also. Probably good structure to probe with a RageCraw. And you for sure know the big dock on the western shore with the permanent angler out there every day. Oh, I had a kid come outside to tell me to please be careful of their inflatable trampoline (donut)...unbelievable.





FishingFool
7/22/2018 10:21:53 PM
Yep about the rails. caught plenty around there. Also yep to the nipple dock. I dont fish it much though bc like you said, he's always out there.
stevertd2010
7/22/2018 10:37:32 PM
Thanks for the report. Yeah, perch seem to be ubiquitous this year. Some places you can't seem to fish past them. I tried the same trolling technique because it was hot on another day and I figured it would be a good way to to find some more fish. Nothing but perch bites for me and there were plenty of those. This year has been a bit odd, and I am just now finding some places where the fish will stack up at times. Did that last Thursday and had a lot of fun in one spot, but it was deeper than normal and no real structure that I could figure would attract fish. But the sonar didn't lie, and for once I had no perch in that spot. Glad to hear you had a good day. Gives me encouragement for the next outing as my last one was the best this year.
Markin' Fish
7/22/2018 11:50:44 PM
Great photos and solid report. Can't wait to get out on Lk. Wash. in the next week.
birdsnest69
7/23/2018 5:26:14 AM
Your report made me feel better, I was out early on Lake Washington Friday morning, the one year anniversary of my greatest bass day on that lake ever, and with the exception of a squawfish and a few pumpkinseeds, got skunked! We tried docks and depth with no luck, didn't really see a lot on the sonar. We ended up cutting out around 3:30, maybe we gave up too early!
stevertd2010
7/23/2018 9:32:54 AM
Don't beat yourself up and you didn't quit too early. It's been a tough year and the fish aren't in historical places. Try looking in abrupt drops from 15' to 20'. I think the fish are cruising the edges of the weedline looking for victims such as small pumpkin seed or perch that venture out of the weed edges. And yes, typically haven't found them on sonar. Really spread out, so try moving slowly along possible areas and wait until you see some groupings to try it out. I've been using my underwater camera to help filter out waste areas and to avoid fishing to carp and perch. Good luck out there!
stevertd2010
7/23/2018 9:33:09 AM
Don't beat yourself up and you didn't quit too early. It's been a tough year and the fish aren't in historical places. Try looking in abrupt drops from 15' to 20'. I think the fish are cruising the edges of the weedline looking for victims such as small pumpkin seed or perch that venture out of the weed edges. And yes, typically haven't found them on sonar. Really spread out, so try moving slowly along possible areas and wait until you see some groupings to try it out. I've been using my underwater camera to help filter out waste areas and to avoid fishing to carp and perch. Good luck out there!
bassfanatic27
7/24/2018 2:23:31 PM
Great review, will be using some of your tips next time out :-)
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709