Woahink Lake report

First, the spoiler: there are indeed smallmouth in Woahink.

I fished 0630 to 1030; the original plan was to troll while I kept an eye on the Garmin, looking for perch schools, since 1) I've never caught one, and 2) I wanted to find out if they really are as delicious as everyone says. That went out the window when my battery reminded me after about 15 minutes that I really should have charged it the night before, so I figured I'd just troll for trout and call it good. It worked; flatlining roostertails tipped with worms, I limited (all stockers). But the surprise was the smallmouth. Reading other boards, it's clear that there are largemouth in the lake, but it was an open question about smallmouth. Long story short, they are definitely there. Trolling the dropoff on the east side of the lake, I caught two, 16" and 17". and lost a third at the boat of about the same size.

But while I'm here - access tips. The map says that there is a west boat launch, and an east boat launch. I confirmed from the lake that the east launch really exists, but it's behind a gate that doesn't open until 0830, so I opted for the west one. It may have been a launch at one point, but now it's an asphalt ramp that ends in a broken two foot dropoff short of the water, blocked off by 4x4 posts and a picnic table. It works for a kayak, but it's a bit of an effort.

And, I had an 800 acre lake to myself, until a single float tuber showed up at about 0930 at the northe end.

Tight lines.

Thanks for the report!

Nice. I drive by there a lot but never fished it.

I have fished Woahink for over 40 years. The best perch fishing is at a depth of 50-80 ft. There are 2 areas in the lake that are that deep. The deepest is at the south end. Fish a worm on the bottom. You w ill need an anchor. There wasn't any smallmouth in the lake until 10 or 15 years ago. Somebody introduced them. There are also a lot of small Coho in the lake. They are illegal to keep. You might think they are Kokanee, but they aren't. 

Good report! It's a cool lake, pretty unique with its depth and clear water compared to the other coastal lakes in the area. I've only fished it once, when I rented a vacation house in the SE arm in May 2022. I pedaled out to about 40 ft of water and fished worms and Berkley Gulp minnows near the bottom. Caught a lot of yellow perch doing that, biggest were in the 11-12" range. They taste great! Best-eating freshwater fish around here IMO. Almost a sweet flavor to them. Well worth harvesting if they're of decent size. Also caught some largemouth and bluegill fishing off the bank at the house.

My PB Yellow Perch from Woahink

That is a nice perch!