Maiden voyage on Lacamas Lake, WA

Yeah Haaa!  I finally made my first official kayak fishing excursion.  I picked up my OK Prowler Big Game about two weeks ago and just now made it out!  Life gets in the way sometimes!

I'm a little embarrased to say that my first trip in the "Big Game" did not result in much big game.    I was hooking up with the crappie something fierce though!  I fished about two hours on a small lake called Round Lake attached to Lacamas Lake (near Camas in SW Washington) earlier today.  Stalked around several downed trees and stumps in search of bass but ended up hooking up about 15 crappie.  Some nice size to most of them.  All were returned to grow bigger for later outings.

Although it is my first sit on top yak (I've owned two other SIK) I must say the Big Game performed very nicely.  Very stable platform and tracked very well for its width.

I hope you all enjoy the halibut trip this weekend.  I will think of you while I am working!

Nice one Blu Knight... welcome and the madness begins!!
Crappie are great fish, love catching them. Heck when you're in the mood for a fish fry they're great!

Z

Lemme get this straight, you caught good sized Crappie and you put them back? Is the water dirty? Did they have three eyes? Can you tell that Crappie are some of my favorite crispy critters? 
Seriously (sorta) don't they over populate and get stunted?

I looked at Round Lake a couple of years ago and thought it might be a great Crappie haunt. Thanks for confirming it. Give me a call and we can go see if your boat is really working or if you were mistaken
And big game is relative. Crappie are a hoot on the fly (you out there 3wt?)

I'm not sure why I didn't take some home for lunch?!  I do love a good crappie fry myself.

The water is a little questionable in my opinion lots of run off from lots of new expensive houses in the past five years.  I've never heard of nor seen any warnings though. 

I also just realized I didn't and still don't have a way of transporting/storing my catch on the BG Prowler.  It was the maiden voyage so I was just making sure it really floated at 70 lbs!!!

Maybe next time I'll remember I need to eat when I get home.

 

I grew up fishing for crappie in the Southeast, on maribou jigs and little curly tail grubs, but I've never tried for them with fly tackle.  I'd guess a small, brightly colored wooly bugger would be just the ticket.  If the water quality in Lacamas Lake might not be so hot, how about some of the Columbia River backwaters on the Columbia upstream of Portland, or up at Silver Lake?

Crappie are the best tasting fresh water fish, period :b

From what I hear Silver lake is the ticket!  When my Dad was in town a few years ago he went up there with a guide that gave him a  little map to pass on to me for fishing spots.  Unfortunately I just haven't made it up there yet.  Definitely on the list for this season though.

I was wondering about the backwater areas as well.  Was that you that posted on the Rooster rock trip?

Any suggestion on how to select a backwater area?  I've never actually fished the Columbia.  I was looking at the area around Camas/Washougal where the Washougal river dumps into the Columbia but I'm not really sure of other access areas.  I guess I need a recon trip up SR14 to look around.  I know there's a launch around Beacon Rock park on the Washington side that might work.

Hopefully I'll let you know soon!

Yah, I'm the Rooster Rock guy.  It was an interesting area, but not the ideal kayak spot on a weekend.

I've been using this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Oregon-Complete-Guide/dp/0916473155

To try and find good spots on the Columbia to fish by kayak (ie - areas without heavy power boat traffic, and somewhat sheltered from the wind.)  Not sure if there is a similar publication for Washington, but anyone who fishes in Oregon should get a copy (all the local GI Joes have them).  Mixed results so far... some of the backwaters around Hood River look promising, and I'm thinking there may be some other areas in the Bonneville Pool that might be ok as well.  I'd also like to check out are Drano Lake (actually a bay off the Bonneville Pool on the WA side, where the Little White Salmon River comes in) for both salmon fishing and smallmouth bass.  I'm also curious about a place called Rock Cove on the WA side of the Columbia.

Most of my kayaking thus far has been around Sauvies Island on the Oregon side.  It is full of shallow backwater sloughs and wetlands that are really scenic, and home to all sorts of wildlife.  Fishing has sucked so far, though.  However, I am contemplating a carp fishing (yes, carp) expedition there w/ a fly rod.  Carp get big, and fly fishing for them is becoming more popular.  I've also fished Multnomah Channel just a little bit... I think it is a promising kayak spot as well, but boat traffic can be a pain on busy weekends. 

I don't know all that much about Columbia fishing on the Oregon side, and even less on Washington's side.  The WDFW map below might be the best place to start researching.