Northwest Fishing Reports

I have fished Padden several times and am getting frustrated with just sitting around waiting for a fish. Not to mention I call myself "the worse fisherman ever" and have been getting skunked. But the failures seem to drive me to learn more and keep trying. Now, if there were 10 inches of ice on the Lake it would be a different story.

I went to Terrel once but do not have a boat. Where is some decent shore fishing and what rigs work well? I am originally from MI where there are limitless places to catch a wide variety of fish. I used to fish for perch and walleye.

I was able to find a PDF on the net about the lakes in Whatcom county and the fish therein.

Any tips would be appreciated for the poor shore fisherman.

later,

gary

sliver lake in maple falls is a good lake for shore fishing . trout for sure . heard of some bass there . you might take a drive up to toad lake . good trout . shore access im not sure about . there use to be a dock there. way back in the old days . im another bad fisherman . so you are not alone. still i will take a bad fish day over a work day anytime.

Gary, I lived in Ferndale for 7 years and enjoyed very good shore fishing at both Lake Padden and from both docks a at Lake Terrell.

I suspect you are fishing with too heavy gear. Try using a 6 1/2 - 7ft light to ulra-light spinning rod with an ultra-light reel with 4lb. test line and 2-4lb. test leader. A 3/8oz. slinding sinker will allow you to cast PowerBait or worms a MILE and still enjoy the fish.

BTW, Lake Terrell has some very large triploid rainbows and some HUGE channel catfish; orange PowerBait will take both.

Good luck and try fishing EARLY or EVENING.

The trick that hardley ever fails for trout on any lake is this. Use a 8' 4lb test leader,with a size 16 egg hook. If your hook is snelled cut off the piece of line that comes with it and tie the hook right to the leader. On your hook put one single poweregg, The color dosnt seem to matter, I just use the " hot color" for the lake. Then use a regualar sized weight and let it fly. I only use this as a last resort cuz it sucks casting it but Iv used this method 12 or so times and its only failed 1 time

I have been using 2 lb test leader about 2.5-4 ft with a 1/4 oz bullet. I might have too heavy of a rod, medium ugly stik. I have been catching one on my first cast and then nothing. I may be stinking up my gear or something. bubble gum and chartruse power bait. I even have tied up 3 snelled egg hooks 9, 18, and 27 off the bottom. First cast, good as gold, then nothing. Skunked last two times, one early on a sat the other from 5-7:30 pm.

Thanks for the tips so far. Keep em coming. i am currently obsessed with figuring this out.

what is a good strategy for terrell?

Alright, taking the pregnant wife to Padden for good luck tonight. I will post my moves when I return. Gonna go check the yard for some worms.

Powerbait never fails either...

Hey noclothes, if you know where Kmart is in B'Ham there is a lake behind it. I used to fish there all the time. I need to go back. Anyway there is some good shore access and that lake is a sleeper. I caught my biggest largemouth (4lbs), biggest perch (1lbs), biggest bluegill (1/2 lbs), and biggest cutthroat (1lbs) there. All from the shore. Check it out.

Thanks Rippa! I have driven by that lake or pond, whatever you call it, and have seen people fishing there. I thought that place was a joke. Now I know better.

I hit up Padden tonight. Baited with a tiny worm floated with chartreuse P.B. and smeared some lunker lotion (garlic) on my gear and wiped it off, 20 mins later I had one. Nothing after that.

Had fun though. My wife was giving me a hard time because while she ran to the car and I was left watching my rod a crow stole her hotdog off the grill.

Trout fishing at Padden drops off quite a bit about one month after the opening weekend. It can take a couple of hours to limit out come the end of May into June.

Hey I went out to Toad lake last night and was trolling with little to no success, but the people out there fishing from shore seemed to be doing decent with powerbait. If you plan to fish toad, I've found the trick is using a really long leader. Its a deep lake, so I'd say try about a 4-6' leader, with a barrel weight and rainbow colored powerbait.

Also, I'd say try checking out terrell lake, there is potential for some really big fish out of there. And if you get bored, there are tons of bluegill EVERYWHERE, just use a slip bobber and worm rig and you can catch and release until your arm gets tired. Powerbait about 14" or so off the bottom would probalbly be your best bet, the lake is super shallow ranging only about 5-15 feet max.


Tight lines,
Matt

Matt you saw active bluegills at Terrell recently?

Thanks for the info. I'm glad I have more option then just going to Padden. What is the deal with Cain lake, any good?


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