Northwest Fishing Reports

I'm organizing a little fishing/camping event for some toddlers at my local church.
For beginners I'm thinking bluegills. Anybody got a bluegill haven for me? I don't mint the distance as this will be a camping trip.

Used to be that Moses Lake was the goto for big gills. However, the submerged sage brush and other shrubs that provided an ideal habitat for them has long since deteriorated, much like in many of the other man made lakes in Eastern Washington. I know that Potholes has had quite a bit of artifical structure added over the past decade, and all of the panfish species are much better for it.

Someone suggested Liberty Lake in Spokane to me for them, it worked out for me with my 4 year old. I went there yesterday by myself bass fishing and they were constantly hassling my lures, all over the lake. There's a campground there also, not sure how much lake access it has for fishing.

dwh4784 wrote:Someone suggested Liberty Lake in Spokane to me for them, it worked out for me with my 4 year old. I went there yesterday by myself bass fishing and they were constantly hassling my lures, all over the lake. There's a campground there also, not sure how much lake access it has for fishing.

thanks, i will look into it.

G-Man wrote:Used to be that Moses Lake was the goto for big gills. However, the submerged sage brush and other shrubs that provided an ideal habitat for them has long since deteriorated, much like in many of the other man made lakes in Eastern Washington. I know that Potholes has had quite a bit of artifical structure added over the past decade, and all of the panfish species are much better for it.

yeah i heard the same as well.

Hutchinson-Shiner lake in Adams county. No camping allowed but close enough to the potholes state park. Really small hook, worm, and bobber. One of the best lakes for warmwater species. Don't be surprise to hook crappie or even bass with this technique

Riverhunter is right, but the fish do tend to be small, which usually doesn't matter with kids. Careful though. Rattlers and ticks and lots of mosquitoes. Take repellent and clear the trail first. Alternately, the I-90 ponds have many bluegill, but camping can be hard to find. Banks Lake is great for bluegill and perch, and has good campgrounds. Just hit the shallows almost anywhere the are cattails or brush.

Hutchison is where I ended up fishing when I wrote the "Adams County lake".

zen leecher aka Bill W wrote:Hutchison is where I ended up fishing when I wrote the "Adams County lake".

fishinChristian wrote:Riverhunter is right, but the fish do tend to be small, which usually doesn't matter with kids. Careful though. Rattlers and ticks and lots of mosquitoes. Take repellent and clear the trail first. Alternately, the I-90 ponds have many bluegill, but camping can be hard to find. Banks Lake is great for bluegill and perch, and has good campgrounds. Just hit the shallows almost anywhere the are cattails or brush.

riverhunter wrote:Hutchinson-Shiner lake in Adams county. No camping allowed but close enough to the potholes state park. Really small hook, worm, and bobber. One of the best lakes for warmwater species. Don't be surprise to hook crappie or even bass with this technique

I never been there before and I'm looking at the map. Is there a trail going around the lake that provides bank access?
So far what I see is its best by boat?

The North shore of Hutchinson has plenty of bank fishing, the rest not so much. The end of Solbrack road has a primitive launch, and from there work your way East. The East near the end gets pretty shallow, and so doesn't tend to be very fishable due to weeds. Getting to Shiner is a bit more involved and usually the neck is too shallow and reed choked to get anything of any size through. More snakes and ticks that way too. If I was fishing with youngsters I'd stick to the North shore where the best spots are well worn. As for floating devices, Hutchinson can accommodate most small boats or canoes. Kayak, pontoon, or canoe can make it into Shiner.

If you can get away for a few days then Potholes has some "monster-sized" bluegill (+ bass, perch, etc.!) When you locate the hard-to-locate schools in September it can be a fish per cast. Swofford Pond might be better for numbers of bluegill, however. Kids like numbers of fish.

Good advice, BFG (Did you choose those initials on purpose?).

Leader Lake, during the full-moon, around June, has about the best/biggest bluegill fishing I've seen.