Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey everyone,
I was just seeing if there was anyone who could give me some tips on what they use for trout fishing around here (southwest Washington) i went to battleground lake today (1st time fishing in Washington ) but was wondering if maybe i was doing something wrong. I was using what i thought was pretty typical stuff (balls of fire, Powerbait, Rooster tails) so i thought i might see what others use in the area. I always figured trout fishing was trout fishing, but hey you never know right?

-Freddy

Sounds like you are doing the right thing. But time come July, the trout fishing can be slow due to warmer water temperatures and hence more lethargic fish. I give up trout fishing in mid to early June and go searching for other species....April/May are big trout months in Washington....

Try fishing powerbait off the bottom in deep holes. The trout now are looking for the water in the 50's, not like the 70's temps up on the surface...Pick up a topographical map and find some deep holes/shelves and you should find some trout...

Good luck Freddy

thanks for the reply, appreciate the advice.

My first advise would be to see what lakes have been recently stocked. A lot of small lakes start getting fished out by the middle summer months. Go to this website to see the latest stocking: weekly trout plants

The tackle you are using sounds perfect. I much more prefer power eggs in comparison to power bait. Power eggs are very very rubbery and still very stinky. They stay on the hook awesome. In fact you can catch fish after fish using the same eggs. I have great luck on pink and yellow. Rooster tails are a great bet too. My favorite and most productive color for some reason seems to be a standard black rooster tail.

Sometimes leader size can also be the difference between a good day and bad day. If you are fishing lots of weeds, you may need a longer leader (perhaps two feet or more). If you were fishing from the shore, perhaps you needed a little more weight to get out further? Otherwise, you are on the right track. Perhaps you just hit it on a bad day.

Beerman

ya when it gets to be summer the lakes get pretty warm your best shot is to fish the deeper lakes and fish early mornings and late evenings

Hey Alfredo, I also live in SW Washington. I stopped fishing Battle Ground last month, because I was catching less fish each time I went. You should try to either do what Sam said and look on maps, or just try for other species. I have fished all lakes around the Vancouver area and pink power eggs have produced at every lake. Most powerbaits will get you fish, and bread dough is effective also. I would suggest you maybe try Lacamas, because the bass and perch fishing is outstanding. I know its a long time to wait, but bank anglers such as myself, usually wont start have consistent catches of trout until stockings occur or colder weather (not always the case).

Anyways good luck and your tackle sound right, if you want any tips on lakes around here I would be happy to help and so would fishermanmax.


Goodluck!

Thank you everyone for your input, sounds like i have a couple more things to try and maybe just need to find something else to fish for until fall.

I find that a lot of the "popular" trout fisheries flat-line during the warmer months of summer.

If you're really wanting some trout action for the next couple months, start concentrating on the lakes that are out in the boonies that require some work to get to (think backwoods and high-lakes). Many of these lesser fished lakes will be *on* this time of year. Streams would be another place to concentrate.

When using spinning gear, I won't be caught dead without an assortment of "natural" colored rooster tails (I'm also partial to BLACK with a silver blade). I also will have an assortment of cast-masters and spoons in silver, brass, and blue...mostly in the 1/8oz range. I'm not from S/W WA, but all the above seems to work pretty well for me just about everywhere I fish.
I remove trebles and replace with gamakatsu single "siwash" hooks when possible.

This time of year the water is too warm for trout as mentioned by several. I will wait until October before fishing lakes again for trout. Bass and other spiny ray species can be great during this warmer weather so you can definitely target some of them. Good luck.

Like bscman said I concur,..try some smaller private lakes {if you know any residents on the lake} alot of the residents stock thier small lakes and since these waters don't get fished alot they have many holdovers form years prior that get GINORMOUS,..problem is you have to know someone or get permission from a resident before you enter. But alot of these stocked lakes are slowly getting harder to fish for trout because of the warmer water,..try them really really early in the AM,..like when the birds wake up and see what happens! I'll be fishing for some huge RBT tomorrow AM at my Secret Lake,..I'll post some nice pics,..have fun.