Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 29, 2024, 03:47:53 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Recent Topics

[March 27, 2024, 12:49:04 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 07:37:59 AM]

[March 26, 2024, 09:10:45 PM]

[March 25, 2024, 05:15:36 PM]

by Spot
[March 25, 2024, 02:39:54 PM]

by PNW
[March 24, 2024, 07:14:07 PM]

[March 23, 2024, 10:59:04 PM]

[March 21, 2024, 06:23:10 AM]

[March 17, 2024, 06:42:23 PM]

[March 17, 2024, 08:44:53 AM]

[March 15, 2024, 06:45:09 PM]

[March 10, 2024, 05:55:18 PM]

[March 10, 2024, 11:20:08 AM]

[February 29, 2024, 07:05:43 AM]

[February 26, 2024, 01:31:23 PM]

Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye
 

Topic: Silver Lake (Cowlitz)  (Read 4586 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Alyssa

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: Vancouver, WA
  • Date Registered: Apr 2017
  • Posts: 15
So I've only been taking my kayak out on weekends for just a little bit over a month. I've just been fishing Horseshoe and Kress while getting used to fishing from my kayak with limited success on the catching front. But it's been fun nonetheless.

This past Saturday, I finally made my way to Silver for an evening of fishing hoping to catch some nice panfish or, hopefully, some crappies. I still haven't caught any keepers on my kayak, but I had my most productive time out catching (all small, unfortunately) a bluegill, a crappie, and two largemouth bass in pretty rapid succession between 7:30-8:00pm. I caught them all on a silver and blue triple tip grub on my ultralite with 2lb test. I really enjoy using light tackle.






As you can see, nothing to really write home about, but I enjoy catching fish no matter how small. :)

Does anyone else have much experience targeting and catching crappies at Silver Lake and have any tips you're willing to share? I don't have a fish finder at the moment, so locating suspended crappies is a challenge and, thus, I have been limited to reading structure on the shore, referencing lake maps, and whatnot.


uplandsandpiper

  • Guest
The bigger crappie move out onto deep water structure during the summer on that lake. In the fall they move back into the canals and you can expect to catch several hundred in a full day fishing. Looks like you are having fun and that is what counts.



codeman

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: St. Helens, OR
  • Date Registered: Jan 2010
  • Posts: 147
Yes, hit streeter's canal starting in Oct. Usually fishing holds up until about feb.  1000 fish days are possible if willing to fish hard from sunup-sundown.  ;D


Mojo Jojo

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Suffers from Yakfishiolus Catchyitis
  • Location: Tillamook, Oregon
  • Date Registered: May 2014
  • Posts: 6006
1000 fish days are possible if willing to fish hard from sunup-sundown.  ;D
Well look who posted that ...  >:D



Shannon
2013 Jackson Big Tuna "Aircraft Carrier"
2011 Native Mariner Propel "My pickup truck"
2015 Native Slayer Propel "TLW's ride"
20?? Cobra Fish-N-Dive “10yo grandson’s”
20?? Emotion Sparky “5 yr old granddaughter’s”


Alyssa

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: Vancouver, WA
  • Date Registered: Apr 2017
  • Posts: 15
The bigger crappie move out onto deep water structure during the summer on that lake. In the fall they move back into the canals and you can expect to catch several hundred in a full day fishing. Looks like you are having fun and that is what counts.


Yeah, I suppose until I have electronics, trying to locate them in summer may be a bit of stabbing in the dark. Or I just need to really get to know the lake. Until then, it probably will be best to focus my main efforts on fall and spring. That video was great! Thanks for sharing! That fly rod is pretty nifty!

Yes, hit streeter's canal starting in Oct. Usually fishing holds up until about feb.  1000 fish days are possible if willing to fish hard from sunup-sundown.  ;D

Nice! I'm from Wisconsin originally, so fishing up to or in February sounds awesome to me! (I don't do ice fishing--too cold for my taste).


searun1

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: Puget Sound, WA
  • Date Registered: Jun 2016
  • Posts: 17
After watching that SpiltMilt video last year I have been chomping at the bit to do Silver Lake in the fall.  Last year hunting got I the way but not this year.  That looks like too much fun. 

1000 fish in one day?  I'd take 30 and be pleased.

SR1


codeman

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: St. Helens, OR
  • Date Registered: Jan 2010
  • Posts: 147
I typically keep track of my catch numbers per species. Every hour I write it down in my phone and start over. Keeps me engaged. Gives me an idea when I go back later looking through my records,  to see when I should hit a particular body of water. That day in Oct about 6 years ago, I caught 1004, from my float tube ( pre - kayak days). I only planned on fishing till like 5 that day, but was close to 800 fish, so I figured I'd go for it. I ended up fishing into darkness, a total of 13 hrs......far far too long to be in a float tube, I can tell you that!  My best hour that day, mid morning, using 2 trout magnet jigs, I caught 245. There's tens of thousands or more fish packed into those canals in the fall......it's sooooo much fun:)


Shin09

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Portland
  • Date Registered: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 549
One of my most fun days of fishing last year was a kayak trip to silver lake and hitting the canals for crappie.  Ultralight spinning gear and the tenkara rod were both a blast.  Consider a method to anchor yourself. It was bit breezy the day I was there and a shallow water anchor something to keep me still would have been nice.   


Alyssa

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: Vancouver, WA
  • Date Registered: Apr 2017
  • Posts: 15
One of my most fun days of fishing last year was a kayak trip to silver lake and hitting the canals for crappie.  Ultralight spinning gear and the tenkara rod were both a blast.  Consider a method to anchor yourself. It was bit breezy the day I was there and a shallow water anchor something to keep me still would have been nice.

I have an anchor trolley on my kayak, so I should be good there. I just need to come up with a better way to manage the ~50ft of cord attached to my anchor.


JasonM

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Snohomish
  • Date Registered: Jun 2017
  • Posts: 282
Thanks for posting this information, everyone. I live north of Monroe, WA, but I'll drive a pretty long way to catch >100 fish in a day. I drive down to Pe Ell several times a year for rifle competitions, so I'm already familiar with the drive. :)


codeman

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: St. Helens, OR
  • Date Registered: Jan 2010
  • Posts: 147
One of my most fun days of fishing last year was a kayak trip to silver lake and hitting the canals for crappie.  Ultralight spinning gear and the tenkara rod were both a blast.  Consider a method to anchor yourself. It was bit breezy the day I was there and a shallow water anchor something to keep me still would have been nice.

I have an anchor trolley on my kayak, so I should be good there. I just need to come up with a better way to manage the ~50ft of cord attached to my anchor.


codeman

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: St. Helens, OR
  • Date Registered: Jan 2010
  • Posts: 147
oops...guess i dont know how to quote and post at same time....anyways, in response of what to do with your extra slack anchor line, I too have an anchor trolly. I have 100 yards of rope, as I anchor fish for sturgeon quite a bit. I bought a cheap extension cord reel from walmart, works great...


Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
There are no tiny fish on 2lb test, there are only the fish you've caught and those you haven't yet caught.

Nicely done, Alyssa!
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


Alyssa

  • Krill
  • *
  • Location: Vancouver, WA
  • Date Registered: Apr 2017
  • Posts: 15
oops...guess i dont know how to quote and post at same time....anyways, in response of what to do with your extra slack anchor line, I too have an anchor trolly. I have 100 yards of rope, as I anchor fish for sturgeon quite a bit. I bought a cheap extension cord reel from walmart, works great...

Yeah, I have one of those rectangular cord wrap things and it isn't the best. I might cut it down smaller to see if it works better, otherwise I am going to have to find some sort of reel to try. Just that I'm in a 10 ft. sit inside kayak, so space is somewhat at a premium and a lot of the extension cord reels I have seen seem too large for my situation. But maybe I could re-purpose a larger fishing line spool...

There are no tiny fish on 2lb test, there are only the fish you've caught and those you haven't yet caught.

Nicely done, Alyssa!

Thank you! :) Lucky for me, I haven't lost too many fish due to the lightness of the line, but I sure have lost my fair share of jigs to snags. :P

This isn't Northwest or kayak related, but I did once catch a northern on 2lb test. It wasn't a large one, but it was definitely quite a fun and somewhat anxiety inducing fight.



JasonM

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Snohomish
  • Date Registered: Jun 2017
  • Posts: 282
Wow, that's quite a catch on 2lb line. I'm not even sure that I could tie knots with 2lb line. I have enough trouble with 6lb flourocarbon that I don't want to go smaller even for a few leaders where 4lb might be better. I'll need smaller fingers if I ever do go smaller than 6lb flourocarbon. Maybe I can bribe my daughter to tie the knots then.  ;D


 

anything