Hookup/Report: Lake Wash. bassin'

Zee, let me know if Sat doesn't work for you.  I can make sunday as well.

-Allen

Gotcha. Will keep you on the up and up.

Z

hey, keep me up to speed on this, i'd still love to join ya , no matter which day it is..

Is this the weekend you knock me down?  You've got good weather, a fishing partner and I'm camping yakless with the kids at the coast.   

I'm gonna have to get at least 3 species to catch up to you so it'll be a challenge. Not that I won't try my best. Pole²'s got a real chance to be the leader after this weekend's up since that macking laker racked up 210 pts.. He'll only need about 2 species. Game on!!

Don't worry, build you WAF this weekend and I'm sure it'll work out to a few hours of fish time.

hey, keep me up to speed on this, i'd still love to join ya , no matter which day it is..

I'm pretty sure I'll make it tomorrow.

Z

Pole²'s got a real chance to be the leader after this weekend's up since that macking laker racked up 210 pts.. He'll only need about 2 species. Game on!!

Oh sure ... you just jinxed me.   

I guess I should skip targeting trout and just concentrate on bass and panfish.   

-Allen

Is this the weekend you knock me down?  You've got good weather, a fishing partner and I'm camping yakless with the kids at the coast.   

I'm gonna have to get at least 3 species to catch up to you so it'll be a challenge. Not that I won't try my best. Pole²'s got a real chance to be the leader after this weekend's up since that macking laker racked up 210 pts.. He'll only need about 2 species. Game on!!

Don't worry, build you WAF this weekend and I'm sure it'll work out to a few hours of fish time.

hey, keep me up to speed on this, i'd still love to join ya , no matter which day it is..

I'm pretty sure I'll make it tomorrow.

Z

k, launching where, meeting when?

Is this where you are launching from Allen? (sorry, I can't figure out how to embed the actual map... so here's a link)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=9535003516213855398,47.583940,-122.188941&saddr=&daddr=47.582088,-122.18617&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=18&sll=47.581946,-122.186621&sspn=0.00237,0.003793&ie=UTF8&ll=47.581946,-122.186621&spn=0.00948,0.015171&t=h&z=16

hey,  YJ? would you re-look that location? when i click the link, it comes up as a pair of farm ponds off a dirt road about 5 miles east of the lake.  thats where the lil green push pin labeled "B" shows up, anyway.

The marker should be a couple hundred feet further south.  If you follow the Mercer Slough up from the I-90 overpass you should see what looks like a dirt parking lot leading right down to the water.  I am on my way home here in a sec and I'll check it out and y'all know if it will work out. 

I talked to Zee.  We're planning on being at Yarjammer's launch at 7AM tomorrow.

-Allen

The launch is a go!  It actually is a "real" boat launch that is considered part of the Mercer Slough Park; look for a sign indicating Swoyoloken Boat Launch or SE 30th St.

See y'all there...

Got to the launch a little late and most everyone was there already. Go the yak ready and launched through the narrow slough. A very cool ramp BTW! Thanks for the find YJ. Hit up some bassy lookin areas but the hydrilla was really thick. Snags everywhere you look. Went across dock to dock lookin for action but none to be found. Found some flats, dropoffs, cover and pitched tons of times. I had my lucky "fat pepper' crank that always seems to work, so didn't bother changing it up. Finally, after finding an abandoned dock I got a nice hit. Bobbed, weaved, the whole deal and made 3 good runs. Finally got 'er up to see a nice chunky SMB. Landed 'er and measured out to my personal best SMB @ 17.5"!





Cruised the lake some more w/ the crank for a LMB but no dice. Also gave it a shot for some Crappie but to no avail. I'll let the others fill in the blanks.

Z

Nice SMB !! congrats on the personal best. Fisrt SMB for the AOTY. Man, I really like that color of that new Hobie.

pulled into the launch site just at 7 am.. polepole was already there and loading up. actaully had driven by the entrance twice and had to shoot back around the 405/I90 interchange to get to it on the right side of the highway.. reason?? the sign marking the entrance is only 10x10 and looks nothing like a road sign. 

unloading the boat and stowing gear, i'm thinking, this site is perfect for yaks to put in...wonder how stanky the waterway into the lake is...turns out, it's not all that bad, but is very shallow [ as i was leaving around noon, some youngsters were trying to back a cherokee into the launch site to put a 16 ft. p.b. in the water. and were not having an easy time doing it. the water only covered the lower part of the tires] this is a good free public access to the lake, being part of the bellevue parks system. enough room for max. of 20 cars, but flat and easy.

Z shows up with this green cigarette boat of a hobie on top his car. ok, saw the pics he posted but doesn't do it justice til ya see it up close.

i'm a bit slow loading up to go. meanwhile, Yarjammer shows up , so now the tally is, OK prowlers 3, Hobies 1. introduction all around, we get everyone beached, loaded up, since i'm slow, and Yar is with me, pole and Z take off.. we hear them laughing as they make the hard right turn and head down the slough to the lake,. this morning is already turning into a fun day.

Yar and i launch, get to the lake, and there's Z turing around in front of a dock.. then, that darn Hobie does a jump to light speed!! we watch as he does a speed run, and by my imprecise miscaculations, i figure he was pushing 8-9 mph by the time we lost site of him! this thing is fast! i seriously doubt we have a paddler among us who can catch him when he decides to peddle hard.

lots of bait type fish with the occaisonal larger roller around us as we try to follow in the wake of Z and pole. try the structure around the marina, soft plastics, small diver plugs, a few jigs, ..nada.. Yar and i drift the shoreline, poking in and out of places, prospecting.. i'm drifting about 200 ft behind him, look down, we cant be in more than 4 ft of water, and theres dead wood and all kinds of other fishy structure below us, i can see the bottom clearly.. and there are 3 darn fish no smaller than about 20 inches that dont give me a second glance, dont even lift a fin in alarm as i drift over them. and nope, they werent taking anything..i even snuck some pink sparkle powerbait onto a trailing hook.. still no help.

weed beds everywhere,,,maybe a spinner over a curly tail grub, dap it, /jig it, old school southern style?? nope.

Yar and i drift past houses, their docks and slips, and all those boats, watching the Grey Heron fish right on the shore with us.. even she was striking out. ( forgot the camera again, too  ) we finally turn around at Newcastle Beach Park, trailing Z and pole, headed towards and under the I90 bridge..   more of the little bait fish jumpin here and there, but nothing definitive or cooperative.

changed tactics after catching up and regrouping, headed back towards the mouth of the slough, trolling a diver while Yar drifts a Yabbie type bait.. ducks diving in the weed beds sure are interesting, even in the lilly pads, ...ahhh, by now you know the story....

had to leave by noon for an afternoon commitment, got help fron Yar in putting the boat up, then wished him well as he returned to our two speedy gonzalezes...this leaves pole and Yar to fill in the rest..i hope they got something more than just Z's smallie....

Thanks WR for that report--sounds like the fish are still being verry picky.  I slept in today, Father's Day afterall, so will try the lake this late afternoon.  Maybe the trout will be more receptive or I'll have to try something different on the bass.

Pole, how did it go?

Rob.

yakker,
for bass, in your area, my washington fishing guide says the best bet is the south end of lake samammish.....

Pole, how did it go?

Not good for me.  I'm not much of a bass fisherman.   

Water was still cold ... 55-56 degrees.  Didn't see too much bass activity up shallow.  I spent most of the time with a jig/craw trying to work the edge of the weedbed from 12-18 feet.  Working it slow.  Honestly, I don't like this sort of fishing.  I don't have the patience to to just let a worm sit there and twitch it back.  But that's what my gameplan was for the day, so that's what I did.  I did bust out the crankbaits for a bit after I say Zee catch his, but that didn't last long as we were close to the I-90 pylons and I wanted to deep jig them, which I did for a bit.

-Allen

Nice smallie Z.  I need to get out and catch a few of those soon.

Brian