Northwest Fishing Reports

Hi guys

This is not necessary only a lake fishing topic questions

Would like to do some fishing in the next weeks, but is there any fishing available this first part of November?

Have a small boat 15'

Much appreciated

Where do you live and where do you want to fish and how far are you willing to travel? Are you after fish to eat, big fish, fun fish, catch and release or?

There is pretty much always something legal to catch pretty much anywhere. It would take way to long to type out a complete listing of all the opportunities around the state. Besides, the WDFW already did that and published it online

You should download the regs from the WDFW website and look up areas where you might want to go. They list all the species that are legal and when and where you can catch them and what the gear/bail rules are. You can easily search the PDF for specifics.

Once you have something picked out - be SURE to check the emergency regulations to see if there are new changes to the regs. They have been making changes almost every day this year, so you MUST check before you go out to fish or risk a nasty fine.

The one thing I can tell you for sure - dress warm and be safe

Don't think I'd want to take a small 15 foot boat on the sound this time of year but Blackmouth opens in 8-1, 8-2, 9, and 10 in November unless the fish gods decide to kill that. I'm only going out if the weather is ok and water is calm.

A guy is missing after taking his 14' small boat onto the sound yesterday. The boat has a small tiller motor on the transom. Said he weighed 350 lbs. I can imagine how the bow stuck up in the air with all that weight in the stern. He probably looked around the bow to see where he was going, the boat tipped, and he fell out of the boat. They didn't find him yesterday and will look today. Is on the KOMO web site.


edit: Shilshole Bay;

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Lots of options depending on where you live and what you want to fish for.

Just put my bigger boat away until ma11 reopens. The smaller oe will hit Carney Lake until the end of the month. Internal combustion prohibited btw.

Hi all

Thanks for the reply.

I live in Bothell, willing to drive a 2 - 3 hours if it's really worth it. Miss fishing, been a very busy year at work, with not much fishing opportunity.

My experience is pretty basic, with salmon on the sound last year, kokanee lake stevens or chelan.

Please advice.

If the weather permits, what local lakes are recommended for smallmouth, perch, and the occasional trout? I have a 16' Bass Buggy pontoon and do not trust it on the sound. I have seen a lot of Lake Washington Fall and Winter posts, I would love to spend some time and figure out how to catch there.
If anyone wants to join me, either experienced or not, let me know. Most weekends are open.

NWrookie, American Lake would be my choice for the perch and bass.

Gottidave lake shoecraft or Goodwin are both options open year round. I usually troll dick nite flashers trailed about 12-18 inches with a fly

I'll second Goodwin and Shoecraft as the trout fishing can really come alive in November and December!

I've not fished Shoecraft in the fall/winter, but I have Goodwin, and I prefer Goodwin in the fall/winter over the spring/summer. Goodwin gets planted with a lot of 6-8 inch trout (17k or so) in October. I can typically avoid them by fishing a bit deeper 15-25 feet down, and using a bigger presentation (size 4-6 wet fly) and find the larger 15-17 inch fish with the occasional 20+ thrown in. December it gets another 5k plants that are the typical 11-12 inch size.

Roesiger I hear can be good in the fall/winter. I plan on trying it out next.

Good stuff

Haven't really trolled for trout before (caught them but not went targeted). Have down riggers so I should be fine. May I ask what is the winner setups for it? The more specific the better, not very familiar with a lot of fishing terms at times.

Thank you in advance again!

Last time there, a little over a week ago my set up was a size 4 olive woolley bugger with 18-24 inch 10 lb fluro leader, attached to a macks 4 inch chrome double d dodger. I fished in 30-32 feet of water at 25 feet on the downrigger on the southwestern end of the lake. The other line was a size 6 doc spratley fly in green, same leader length and dodger with 1 1/2 ounces of lead (about 15 feet down. Setback length on both lines was 50 feet. Trolling speed between 1.25 and 1.5 on the gps. I have a report up from my last trip that shows the hotspot. I get my flies online from the fly shack.

Like JoshH described flashers either double ds or dick nites work great. Followed by 12-24 inches fluorocarbon leader tied to an olive or black woolly bugger works great if using downrriggers I like to set my gear about 15 to 25 ft behind your ball. Shoecraft has a primitive launch and not optimal for bigger boats but the fish that come out can be healthy with nice dark red meat. Good for the smoker. I like to say closer to center of the lake rather than on the edges. Never tried Goodwin but have heard the fishing can be just as good with the fish just as healthy.

Yea the shoecraft launch is very primative, and there is a small narrow channel to navigate through to get to the lake. It might be 3ft deep at best. Goodwin launch can accommodate just about any size boat. Just a long walk to and from parking to the launch.

Goodwin and Shoecraft are great for winter lake fishing. I'm bias since I grew up on Goodwin haha. Anyways I used to bring waders or boots and Id pull my 14 ft Lund with a trolling motor through the canal that connected the lakes too. That way you could fish 2 lakes from 1 launch! And might not have to deal with Shoecrafts launch. Goodwin has larger trout from my experience but Shoecraft can be better fishing somedays forsure. Power bait worked year round for me too. 4ft off bottom.

Was at Ratllesnake today....dead calm day for the most part and picked up some small bows from the bank. A few boats were out but I am not sure how they did. Small fish with little fight so far for me, but it's action and that all I was looking for.

A lot of river are open

ChromeSlayer wrote:A lot of river are open

Like ? Any for Trout? West side