Northwest Fishing Reports

Hi there - we are brand new to this site and novices with fishing. My 10 and 12 yr olds have dropped their poles in to Lake Washington all last summer and have been starting up again this month. They will spend hours and days but so far not having much luck. Are there any suggestions for fishing (they don't care much what they catch!) where they could fish off a dock or shore near Seattle or Bellevue (within 30 mins or so)?

Thank you for any tips!

GRPfishing wrote:Hi there - we are brand new to this site and novices with fishing. My 10 and 12 yr olds have dropped their poles in to Lake Washington all last summer and have been starting up again this month. They will spend hours and days but so far not having much luck. Are there any suggestions for fishing (they don't care much what they catch!) where they could fish off a dock or shore near Seattle or Bellevue (within 30 mins or so)?

Thank you for any tips!

Head to this website: http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/washington/Species/1728/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This one lists lakes by county that have bluegill, another species to search for would be yellow perch, in the drop-down menu at the top. Scroll down to King County, and have a look through the listed lakes. Once you click on the lake, they will give you information on how the fishing is by month, as well as a link to the coordinates of public access. The fishing for panfish is a great way to introduce kids to the sport. Several of my young cousins caught their first fish in our pond in our backyard when we lived in Lake Stevens, and it was full of perch and bluegill. A small jig with a nightcrawler under a bobber will give your little ones hours of fish-catching fun. Although you may need to wait another couple weeks to a month in order for the waters to warm up a bit and really get the bite going. These species are warm-water fish, and are generally very active throughout the summer months. Hope that helps, and I'm sure there will be many other responses and ideas posted by members to get you and the youngsters out and fishing!

Try to go to smaller lakes. That's how I got my 6-yo son started as well. We had some success at Green lake (nice docks), Angle Lake (easier to catch lots of perch during warmer days), then try and get them around. Look at the Fish Washington website and check lakes with docks.
Phantom, Pine (not open yet), Meridian, Boren, Desire, Meridian, Larsen. Those are some we tried and were OK. I think the secret though is to go more to one specific lake and try different stuff there. Each lake has a setup that works better, try to find yours... but it takes some time.

Go to the Fish and Wildlife website and find out where they are planting or recently planted trout. That is an easy way to get the juices flowing for the young ones!

Pine Lake fishing pier up on the Sammamish Plateau. Will be crowded, but the lake opens next weekend for trout and (last Saturday of April) for trout and you'll be all but guaranteed to catch fish.

Blue gill, pumpkinseed, yellow perch all super easy to catch. Just a tiny morsel of a worm they'll bite on it. However they are most active when the water gets warm about mid July through August for the easiest catching. They usually school under docks or close to shore in 1'-12' waters. They can catch these things best till about 11am before it gets too hot. You can bobber fish or just plunk it in a gravel bed. If you want trout though you'll have to go deeper otherwise you'll still end up catching one of these little bait thieves lol. Good luck to you guys.

What are they using? I'm not familiar with Lake Washington, but you ought to be able to toss out a little crappie jig under a small bobber, or a float n' fly rig and catch something. Or a single PowerEgg with a #12 size hook and a slip sinker rig to fish the bottom. I don't use any of these methods very often but if you have a kid with you who just wants to catch fish I'd try all three depending on the situation.

BentRod wrote:Pine Lake fishing pier up on the Sammamish Plateau. Will be crowded, but the lake opens next weekend for trout and (last Saturday of April) for trout and you'll be all but guaranteed to catch fish.

Fourth Saturday in April - not the last Saturday this year! April 22 is opening day, April 29 is the last Saturday.

Jakefish wrote:

BentRod wrote:Pine Lake fishing pier up on the Sammamish Plateau. Will be crowded, but the lake opens next weekend for trout and (last Saturday of April) for trout and you'll be all but guaranteed to catch fish.

Fourth Saturday in April - not the last Saturday this year! April 22 is opening day, April 29 is the last Saturday.

Good catch. I'm conditioned to the "last Saturday" terminology. I do know it's next weekend though!!