First Fish

To a fisherman there is something special about the first fish of the year.  It reaffirms that you can still catch a fish and brings in the hope of another great year of fishing.  Here is to the first fish of 2011 and many more to come!

Lake Langlois, Carnation Washington

This is one of those lakes tucked away in the outskirts of the Eastside of Seattle.  You have to drive to the small town of Carnation and pass the Ramlinger Farm.  Once you find the Lake Langlois, it is about 40 acres of deep water fishing.  It is one the deepest small lakes you can find within driving distance of Seattle.  Deep, is 90 feet deep, and to boot the water is so clear you can see the bottom up to 15 feet down.

There is a shallow launch area with sunken logs cut away to provide access to lake.  Launching my float tube was interesting, since my butt had to scrape over some of these logs to make it to the main lake.   It's a seasonal lake that is open to fishing in the end of April and closes on October 31st.  Managed for rainbow trout which survive the onslaught of the opener due to its cold deep water.  It also holds largemouth bass.


My fishing trip was a short adventure lasting only 2 hours.  I really enjoy fishing this lake due the secluded feeling it has... I was the only one fishing it that day. There is only four houses and a Girl Scout camp compound lining the shore of the lake.  The rest of the lake is lined with large pine trees making it feel like wilderness fishing trip.

With a light rain coming down in the middle of October, my hopes of catching a trout were optimistic.  The best way to fish this lake is to put a peace of night crawler worm on a hook and let it sink to depths of the lake without a weight on the line.  With no worms in my arsenal, only lures, I snatched a power egg from the ground by the boat launch to see if it would due the trick.  With the weather changing for the worse...more liquid sunshine, soaking of the power egg was just that.  No fish was caught.

There were a few things that made this trip worthwhile none the less.  Seeing a flock of Canadian Geese make a fly bye of the lake and making a u-turn to have this lake the hold over for the night was a sight to see.  They made a raucous honking there way to the lake and as soon as they landed the honking stopped and all you could hear was the noise of the rain drops on the lake.  The other pleasure of this lake, was seeing my dream house if I ever win the lottery. 

Over all this lake holds some great tasting trout and the hold overs only get bigger in the deep cold water.  Next time I will bring the worms, unfortunately it will have to wait till the opener at the end April 2011.

Tight lines and may you say fish on!

Fishing Forbes Lake

Forbes lake has to be my favorite lake (pond), due to its small size, 2 acres, and abundance of fish to be caught.  There have been days when I could catch cutthroat trout, perch, bluegill, largemouth bass, and crappie, I have been told there are also catfish, but I have yet to catch one. The largest largemouth I caught was 3 lbs. and there have been plenty of perch close to a pound apiece.  Half of the lake is not developed and the other half has five houses around it.  It is very close to the freeway which adds to the noise, but the visual beauty of the lake makes up for it.  The fishing pressure is is minimal and over the years of fishing it, I have witnessed the size and quantity of the fish increased. 

The fishing for cutthroat trout is best in February through April. The average size is 12 inches.  By April the other species pick up and continue to be great to good through the remaining days of November.  I never tried live worms in this lake, because the fish are always willing to take a lure.  Rooster tail, Trout Magnet and plastic worms make up my arsenal for catching the fish.  I was even successful with the fly rod with nymphs and dry flys.

Public access to the lake is through the back of the condos.  The lake is ideal for float tubing or a small inflatable boat.  This is a gem in Kirkland with regards to fishing.  Kirkland has plans to increase the public access to the lake in the future.  Enjoy the solitude while we still have it.

Tight lines and may you say fish on!

Fishing Lake Boren

Lake Boren is a 15 acre lake that holds rainbow, largemouth bass, perch, and bullhead. It is 4 miles north of Renton WA.  The cool thing about this lake is very few fisherman ever venture out in boat or float tube, due to lack of an easy access to the shore of the lake.  Most of the fisherman fish from the public dock or walk to the other side of the lake to fish from the shore.  This makes the majority of the lake less fished or not fished at all. 

The day I went, I was the only one on the lake and was able to catch largemouth bass by casting a bass pattern floting Rapala to the shore.  The fish exploded on the bait when the lure hit the water or was twitched.  Plenty of voulenters were willimg to experiance the catch and release exercise and a great day was had.

Tight lines and may you say fish on!

  

Fishing Lake Joy

First time fishing Lake Joy in Carnation, Washington. a cozy town east of Seattle. Went with a good friend Kevin and his daughter Maya.  We were able to lug his 14 foot aluminum boat down the side of a hill to our make shift launch.  The lake is fully developed with houses and we were the only ones fishing this 60 acre lake for the entire day.  There is a small public access from a short trail with very limited parking. If you have a float tube or a inflatable you could get it on the lake without any trouble.

Lake Joy has a good population of Trout, Bass (smallmouth and largemouth). There have been many large bass caught in Joy over the last few years. Reports of fish up to 8 lbs. have been posted, but the average size is probably 1.5 to 2.0 lbs. This lake has a variety of structure as in docks, pads, wood and weeds. The bottom consist of rock and gravel to mud and sand depending on the area. Best times to fish this lake are June-Aug.

When we first walked to the launch area we noticed a quite a few bass swimming around the lily pads and the dock.  Our expectation to catch a lot of fish was very high, especially after seeing a decent size bass swim by the dock.  Kevin and Maya never fished for bass before.  I rigged Maya with a plastic worm for her first cast and she was able to see the bass hit the lure as she was reeling it in by the dock.  The bass inhaled the worm and as she set the hook...the bass kissed the worm goodbye.  Maya was disappointed that she was not able to land the fish.  This only made her more ready and excited to start trolling this lake.  We were able to catch a few largemouth and smallmouth bass along the shore line and by the docks using a Rooster Tails and Senko worms rigged wacky style.  Maya enjoyed fishing with Mr Senior Frog along the lily pads, unfortunately, the bass let Senior Frog swim freely along the pads and let him be.   

Overall this is a beautiful lake with clear water and plenty of bass.  Due to the difficulty in launching a boat there are very few fishermen fishing from a boat.  I will like to try this lake again from my float tube in the fall and hopefully land a trout while fly fishing or catch more spunky little bass.  At the end of the day, with the help of neighbor we were able to bring the boat back up the hill and Maya was still fishing the dock for the bass that got away.

Tight line and may you say fish on!

Fishing downtown Kirkland, Washington

By Rafael Miret: Enjoyed an evening fishing downtown Kirkland with a friend of mine.  Started fishing at the dock behind Anthony's Home Port restaurant.  The water was clear and the evening was beautiful.  Fished for and caught perch, bluegills, crappie, and large mouth bass.  The lure I used to catch the majority of these fish was the Trout Magnet.  This lure looks like a small grub attached to a small jig and the color used was brown.  The fish hit this lure aggressively with a little movement form the rod tip.  I would recommend you try this, you might have the same success I had.

The highlite of the evening was fishing on the main dock in Kirkland in Moss Bay when I landed a hard fighting large mouth bass on silver blade, black tail, Rooster Tail spinner bait.  The bass was about 2 lbs.  The Rooster Tail lure is made by Worden's Lure.  This pattern of lure is one my favorites for catching a variety of fish in the North West.  See the attached video of the fighting bass my friend took.

Overall it was great evening, enjoying the backdrop of downtown Seattle and gorgeous sunset.  If you are ever within casting distance of Kirkland WA, give the many public parks and docks a try.  You might be surprised by the variety of fish and the clarity of the water of Lake Washington.

Tight lines and may you say fish on!