Northwest Fishing Reports

i need to know to where to fish crappie in lake union or lake washington this time of year!!

fishingboy-

i sent you a pm, check it out

I was pretty sure I knew where to fish but I couldnt find the right boat launch. Got tired of fighting Seattle traffic with a boat and went to Lake Stevens where one launch was smothered by 15,000 kayak enthusiasts and the other launch was wall to wall wake boats. I fished it for about an hour with my daughter and once again no crappie out of Lake Stevens. I keep hearing they are in there and I keep challenging myself to find them. Haven't yet.

We did see a Wake Boat slam into the dock pretty good. That was classic.

I'll be hitting both lakes next weekend for the first time this season. The pattern is always the same most years. Fish the humps, pilings, or old docks that lead to spawning areas. They will also be setup on points that have cover on them (weeds, large rocks, wood, etc) that are near spawning areas. They'll spawn in late May or early June if the water temps hold steady. On Union hit the south end. On Washington check out the far north end. There are tons of nice crappie holes on both lakes but those are good places to start. It'll take some time to find the big girls (2+ pounders) but they are in there......and dying of old age most years .

On Union, late afternoon is best until the spawn is over, then you'll want to switch to fishing at night around docks that have lights on them. On Washington early mornings and during the night are best. Lure colors are simple. The larger fish feed on smelt so you want use an all white jig to target them. All sizes of crappie will feed on larvae and plankton so yellow/white, green, green/white, all black, and glo will all work at certain times. The best color jig I have found for night fishing on both lakes is a red body with yellow tail with a 1/16th oz tubehead inserted. Goodluck.

Always a pleasure hearing from you SlabKing! Been awhile since I saw your last post! Saw some crappies on St. Clair the other day and thought of ya! Go get them slabs buddy!:cheers:

Slabking wrote:I'll be hitting both lakes next weekend for the first time this season. The pattern is always the same most years. Fish the humps, pilings, or old docks that lead to spawning areas. They will also be setup on points that have cover on them (weeds, large rocks, wood, etc) that are near spawning areas. They'll spawn in late May or early June if the water temps hold steady. On Union hit the south end. On Washington check out the far north end. There are tons of nice crappie holes on both lakes but those are good places to start. It'll take some time to find the big girls (2+ pounders) but they are in there......and dying of old age most years .

On Union, late afternoon is best until the spawn is over, then you'll want to switch to fishing at night around docks that have lights on them. On Washington early mornings and during the night are best. Lure colors are simple. The larger fish feed on smelt so you want use an all white jig to target them. All sizes of crappie will feed on larvae and plankton so yellow/white, green, green/white, all black, and glo will all work at certain times. The best color jig I have found for night fishing on both lakes is a red body with yellow tail with a 1/16th oz tubehead inserted. Goodluck.

Very nice of you to share all that info. since you fish the crappie so much.
Thanks:cheers:

Actually, last year I discovered Crappie to hold around Log Boom Park off off the docks. Over on Bothell Way..

I think it was around this time of yr as well. I did not catch a mess of them like Slab King or anything, but I caught a handful. Was using a float w/crappie nibbles/tipped with a crappie trailer. Work the float around a little, letting it just sit there is not as effective as movement.

Slabking wrote:I'll be hitting both lakes next weekend for the first time this season. The pattern is always the same most years. Fish the humps, pilings, or old docks that lead to spawning areas. They will also be setup on points that have cover on them (weeds, large rocks, wood, etc) that are near spawning areas. They'll spawn in late May or early June if the water temps hold steady. On Union hit the south end. On Washington check out the far north end. There are tons of nice crappie holes on both lakes but those are good places to start. It'll take some time to find the big girls (2+ pounders) but they are in there......and dying of old age most years .

On Union, late afternoon is best until the spawn is over, then you'll want to switch to fishing at night around docks that have lights on them. On Washington early mornings and during the night are best. Lure colors are simple. The larger fish feed on smelt so you want use an all white jig to target them. All sizes of crappie will feed on larvae and plankton so yellow/white, green, green/white, all black, and glo will all work at certain times. The best color jig I have found for night fishing on both lakes is a red body with yellow tail with a 1/16th oz tubehead inserted. Goodluck.

Righ on Slabking it's been awhile since i have seen you post on here. Thanks for all the good info I was just going to tell him to talk to you about Crappie on those lakes.