Northwest Fishing Reports

Calling all "Koke" heads! and guess you trout guys too....

What is you favorite lake to fish for Kokanee and BIG trout? With the nicer weather and school being out the girls have the camping bug so I get to drive all over the place in search of my favorite little footballs! Kicking off the season with a Winthrop/ Chelan trip next weekend. Going down to Wickiup in Oregon and Roesevelt trophy Kokanee coming up soon!

With the fish pressure Lake Stevens has been seeing the last few weeks I am going to start venturing on the weekends in search of un charted waters. I have a few lakes i really enjoy fishing, a few of them have almost no fishing pressure for Kokanee. Patterson in winthrop being one of those and probably my favorite lake to fish on, You can fish that lake all day and not see anyone else targeting kokanee. Those fish have never seen a hoochie or bead spinner and will crush most gear without bait, making a fun day of catch and realese Kokanee fishing, and the monster rainbows make it one of my top lakes to hit every year. Roosevelt's trophy class koke's also have me going back to that lake every year in search of monster's. And the 25 fish limit of Wickiups 13-18" landlocks have me driving thru the night to get my fix!

The lakes dont have to be just for Kokanee, A big rainbow or cutt is hard to beat!

Roosevelt has huge Rainbow trout as well. Omak Lake is a very cool fishery as it has Lahotan Cutthroats that get up to 18 LB.I have caught them of the bank there up to 7 LB. Is there camping at Patterson Lake?

strider43 wrote: Is there camping at Patterson Lake?

No, you can stay at Sun Mountain Lodge which is right on the lake but my pockets are a little shallow for that kinda change. You can stay at Big twin lake camping which has a good trout lake right there. I usaully camp at SIlverline Resort on Lake Pearrygin. The kids seem to have a good time there.

And Omak is on my list for this year!

I'd have to give the nod to Merwin for the koks. Beats out Chelan by "this much". Chelan has bigger fish but Merwin is not as populated and is a more rustic lake to fish on.

Course, I have a lot more kokanee lakes to explore.

You gotta love the Okanogan area and Winthrop for the outdoors and fishing. I have a handful of lakes I hit every other summer over there. Palmer up near Wannacut, has a koke history. One of my favorite fatty rainbow lakes is called Round lake, East of Tonasket. Ugly as can be, float tube size, but some amazing bows.
Can't say enough about Omak, gin clear water and great fish.
Patterson has the "Patterson lake cabins" on the shore. Very nice places, but spendy. The women folk will love them.
I've always wanted to boat/fish/ and explore Ross and diablo up on Hwy. 20. When you. Drive over to Winthrop, look down at Ross, and tell me U aren't dying to explore those islands! Ask a guy on here named Coretron22.

The Quadfather wrote:One of my favorite fatty rainbow lakes is called Round lake, East of Tonasket. Ugly as can be, float tube size, but some amazing bows.

Caught my biggest-ever rainbow in that lake nearly 40 years ago. Big ol football off the bottom with nothing but a worm and a splitshot. Only fish we caught all morning, but at 7.5lbs it was big enough to feed me, my dad, my cousin, and my two uncles for lunch that afternoon. Sweetest memory of fishing with the old man, and hooked me on fishing.

Dont really have a favorite lake, per-se, but most of my fishing memories were embedded on Lake Goodwin, in my dad's little 8ft pram. Caught a TON of trout out of that lake over the years, mostly planter sized but numerous holdovers too, and nearly all of them on pop gear or flatfish. Only tackle I ever saw used by the old man while trolling, and he swore by them both. If one wasn't working, the other one would.

The Quadfather wrote:I've always wanted to boat/fish/ and explore Ross and diablo up on Hwy. 20. When you. Drive over to Winthrop, look down at Ross, and tell me U aren't dying to explore those islands! Ask a guy on here named Coretron22.

I have caught some beautiful bows on a fly on Ross lake. Nothing of any great size yet though. i have heard big fish inhabit both lakes

Lake Roosevelt - hands down.

Talked to my good friend we stay with when spending the weekend there and he told me they caught a 5lb, 22" kokanee last week in one of my favorite spots. There are BIG kokes there, bigger than any other lake I know of in the entire state. Catch them regularly? No. Is there a chance you will? Yes.

No contest....Wickiup Reservoir, Oregon

It has kokes in the 15"-16" class, and I caught my personal best Brown out of Wick, two years ago. The first time I fished there, I got the biggest trout I ever caught off the bank, "23 'Bow

I probably have a couple hundred favorites around this beautiful state. Each one offers something a little different.

There arent any Rufus Woods lovers in here?

Well I am. Best trout fishing anywhere, hands down.

deep lake (sun lakes) in eastern wa is always on my top lake. good weather and always quite trolling along the cliff watching birds dive. perfect lake in my book.

If you're going to Deep Lake, go another 45 minutes and fish for big fish instead of these little planters. Best eating fish you 'll catch anywhere, eunuch rainbows!

The Quadfather wrote:I've always wanted to boat/fish/ and explore Ross and diablo up on Hwy. 20. When you. Drive over to Winthrop, look down at Ross, and tell me U aren't dying to explore those islands! Ask a guy on here named Coretron22.

uuuhh, my favorite lake is definitely Ross - I've dialed in my selective gear fishing (in fact, I have a harder time catching w/ bait, where allowed, than without)...but I like several smaller lakes, and have yet to fish more than a handful. I've actually never fished Diablo, I've heard the fishing is difficult at times there, but some of the campsites look wicked awesome!

Mine is Campbell Lake up near Coupville. I've caught catfish,trout,perch,crappie and bluegills.

LakeSammamish is my Favorite for Kokanee but you can"t keep em they are beautiful and gif and fun but only catch n release! Lake Washington is on my most Favorite for Kokanee also both these lakes are great Cutthroat Lakes and just make a great day fishing them! American Lake can be worth while also some big trout in that Lake also!! Riffe ,Alder,if you up for a day trip for the drive !! Here in Washington we are blessed with a variety of sizes etc of Lakes to fish and within driving distance!

Catch and release Kokes on Lake Samm is very bad JuJu. They are an endangered species with a very high mortality rate after being hooked. Just don't do it!

Good day all!

My favorite would have to be the lake I grew up on in Federal Way, Lake Killarny. Back in the day, this was a great spineyray fishery. It was a blast to go out with a flyrod and throw poppers for bass and bluegill. There were lily pad patches around the edges that were great habitat for all the fish. We would catch nice crappie in the summer slow trolling mini tube jigs. One time, I was rowing the boat back home for dinner and had a Heddon lucky 13 dragging right behind the boat, pole almost jumped in the lake. Grab the pole with drag humming and fight fish back to the boat. Nice 3lb LMB! What a hoot!

Sort of in the middle of the lake, there was a submerged gravel bed. This thing would load up with nice bluegills in the spring and we would catch them on nymphs or tiny beetle-spins. Bass were also very willing to take Rapalas twitched on the suface. Lake was loaded with perch but most were small. There was lots of bullfrogs too.

Then in the mid 80's, they decided to kill almost all the lily pads in the lake. The lake gradually became shallower and fishing declined. Still decent fish available, but not like it was in late 70's and early 80's. I miss the days of cruising around standing in my little canoe, sight fishing bass, bluegill, and crappie.

I'm new to the site, and have just recently got back into fishing. I fished daily as a kid (grew up in Illinois).

Moved to Maple Valley in April and we live in a community that has access to Pipe Lake. I've seen some monster trout come out of this lake (9 lbs is the biggest I've seen). Now granted, it's a stocked lake...but I haven't figured these suckers out yet. Biggest one I've caught so far is 2 lbs.

Haven't ventured out too much yet since I've picked up fishing again, but I plan to. So...Pipe Lake (and Lucerne) are my fave lakes. Oh, and I've seen 4-5 lb smallmouth bass come out of this lake too. Along with some big bullhead catfish (my favorite meat). Caught a 2 lb bullhead not too long ago.

I'll figure out these darn trout one of these days. Wanna pull in a monster for myself.