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Campbell Lake Report
Skagit County, WA

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Details

02/10/2018
41° - 45°
Trolling
Rainbow Trout
Black
Sunny
Dodger
Morning
41° - 45°
02/12/2018
2
4082

Saw the weather forecast for Saturday, and got real excited. First decent day to fish in at least a month. Saw that Campbell recently received a planting of 550 2+ lb fish, and made my choice.

Arrived about 8am to a completely flooded launch. Water is at least 30 yards in to the launch area. Even launching my Hobie was difficult. Started my troll, heading along the north shoreline heading east towards hwy 20. Within the first 20 minutes, I got a hard takedown and landed a nice 19 in rainbow. Fish was caught on a black woolly bugger trailing a prototype Elgin Fishing dodger that I have put moon jelly tape on. Fish was caught at 5 feet in about 12 feet of water. That was it for action for the day. I fished until 1pm, trying all different areas of the lake, different depths and different types of gear. If I had it, it spent time in the water. I even tried dragging near bottom around the island.

Water clarity is absolutely horrible. If I had to guess, 1 foot of visibility at the very most. I think you need to hit the fish on the nose with your gear to get their attention.

2 take aways from my trip. 1) Water clarity, as mentioned is a mess, along with the high water level. If you have a boat with any size, be prepared to get wet and possibly be launching in a foot of water with 30 yards between you and dry land. 2) the fish I cleaned was absolutely stuff full of dirt, grass, bark, and anything else it could fit in it's mouth. I've never chased recent plants, but this was crazy. Entire digestive tract was full of garbage. I don't think these fish have yet to figure out what's food and what's not, or maybe the lack of water clarity is causing them issues.

It was a beautiful day though to finally get back out on the water. I was hoping for better success, but hey, that's fishing!


Comments

The Quadfather
2/12/2018 11:24:02 AM
Strange on the stomach contents..
Thanks for the launch and high water Intel. We comsidered Campbell on our way to Cranberry.
You called the weed area’s pretty accurately on Cranberry as well. The far side of the lake is just a mess of weeds.
JoshH
2/12/2018 11:41:09 AM
Normally Mid March/April is more fishable in regards to the weeds, but those areas I told you about can be bad all year. Even during the best times I still bump into those ears where it looks like a bull kelp bed on the sonar.
ElginFishing
2/12/2018 10:11:21 PM
Sorry to hear of such challenging water conditions. Was really hoping things had improved since your last outing there. Thanks for a great and detailed report. Very weird on the stomach contents, wonder if it's worth eating? We're getting closer to the start of koke season though so hopefully a great year ahead:)
JoshH
2/12/2018 11:04:54 PM
It was a glorious day though! Sun was shining in early February, I'll take that regardless of the fishing conditions! If we can get some fishable weather this upcoming long weekend I am thinking about heading back up to Cavanaugh to kokanee scout and if nothing else get tired arm syndrome from the cuts there :)
cobrar543
2/13/2018 8:01:48 AM
I knew that was you out there. We were in the Black Crestliner, We didnt get to stay more than a hour or so due to family emergency. That water was the highest I ever seen it in the last 8 years fishing there.
JoshH
2/13/2018 9:37:13 AM
Ah ok, was that you hanging out for the last bit before leaving around the island? That must have been fun launching and retrieving your boat :)
countryboy87
2/22/2018 4:13:44 AM
Best fishing has been with bait on the bottom. Add some extra scent helps. And the deeper water you get into the cleaner the water
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709