I managed to escape the confines of the Hospital and headed out to lake Washington yesterday.

Got out there around 2pm and fished the 520 bridge with no luck. Droped the camera down seen one lonely fish around the 15-20 ft range. water temp 52 at that depth. then around 4pm went over to webster point and took a look with the camera and seen several fish around the same range. threw out a dropshot and after about 20 casts finally got a bite but got to excited and set to early. couldn't get him back on for nothing. Dropped the camera back down and searched for about a half hour and didn't see a thing. Suspect they went deep.

Would like to get the boat back out this weekend but I don't think it will happen.

So where were you guys on Saturday?  I went out to the lake about noon, expecting to see a lot of bass boats already out there from the club... but I saw zipo!  (I can't believe you would let a little rain stop you from enjoying our sport!)

Too bad, because the fish were more active than normal.  By 5:00 I had 11 fish in the boat, and lost two more. All thirteen (but one) came in 20 feet of water.  (That one was caught in 12 feet.)  ALL WERE CAUGHT ON CRANKBAITS.

With the sun not out, I figured the fish would be hanging out in the deeper water close to the shallow flats.  But there was so much water to cover, so I decided to try trolling.  (No - no Rev rig today!)

I cast out a Rapala Shad Rap which will normally run 8-9 feet when retrieved by hand.  But when you troll it - and troll it fast - (a 6 on my trolling motor's 10 scale) it will descend to 17-18 feet (which is perfect if you are following the 19- 21 foot contour.)  I go fast because I don't want the fish to have much time to think about it - I want a reaction strike.  

I picked this depth because it is where the weeds meet the sandy bottom.  It makes for a good highway for fish to follow - and these fish are on the move this time of year.  I followed shore lines, flats, (wherever the 20 foot mark took me) and even caught one trolling under the bridge.  

Half of them came from fishing the east channel.  From the East side of I-90 bridge I headed south, past the Newport Marina, around the corner of the point, to the big flat.  I made two passes and caught fish going both ways in 6 different places - all spread out, (and in places I normally have never caught fish.  Sooner or later most of them are going to head into the Newport canals, but for now they're just hanging out nearby.  

Several other fish came from the North end of the lumber company where the big mud flats start curving back to the shore.   One came from the flat at Coleman Point.

Now I know you can't troll in B.A.S.S. tournaments, but if you're just out for fun, or you have your kids with you, or if you're seeking new water, trolling can be productive.  And if you can locate a few fish trolling, you can always come back and fish the area more thoroughly with plastics.

The largest was 4# 13 oz, and the next one was 4# 4oz.  Several 3's, mostly 2's, and one dink one pounder.  Overall, the day was cold but fun.

This Monday I went out with just one thing in mind - to experiment with my pre-spawn trolling technique.  The conditions were windy, and wet (rained alot).  But I fished only one depth - 20 feet, and drug the Rapala Shad Rap across flats and along contour lines.  I caught 10 smallies, lost two others.  Four were 4lbs+, three were 3lbs+, and the rest were 2lbs+.  The largest got away at the boat, but the next in line was 4#6oz. 

One thing I did note was that wherever I caught one, subsequent passes caught at least one more.  In other words they are sticking close together.  On one flat I took 5 passes and caught four fish.  Something to play with...

As far as color - I was using shad.  But as fast as I am trolling - I don't think color is that important.  Certainly the perch color is a great one on Lake Washington, but speed is a bigger factor - I just don't want to give them too much time to look at it.  (I think it was a size 7?)

You're not the only one Chris.

Hit Washington today and got one for 2.8 lbs on a crank in 16 ft of water.  Forgot to bring the camera, So I wasn't able to look for fish holding on anything.  Beautiful day out there.  I wish I had more time to fish.  Good luck to all in Silver Lake draw.  Everyone will be fishing for 2nd behind me

Mark

I'm timid to post after the Silver Lake report....wow! Nevertheless, I spent Thursday and part of Friday prefishing for the Federation Qualifier with my Dad. Covered a ton of water and only caught 3 fish, all were nice though, 4, 4-2, and a 4-10...my biggest smallmouth to date. Two on jerkbaits, and the big girl took a dropshotted tiny brushhog. Looks like my Dad might be having back surgery, so I'm trying to find another boater for the Qualifier. If I get to fish, I'll post. Should be a great learning experience for me. On a side note, congratulations are in order to T. Steffenson who landed a 15+ pound spring chinook on a splitshotted lizard during the NW Bass tourney on Scapoose Bay last weekend. Way to go Terry! Unfortunately, Sarge and TS were disqualified when they tried to include that fish with their stringer See you guys soon.

Tight Lines,
Danny

Rob,

Yeah, Scappoose Bay is right off the Columbia by Mt. St. Helens. Supposedly, there's good largemouth and smallmouth fishing down there. Never fished it myself. Chris S. and Terry S. fished it last weekend and caught a nice limit of smallies. Took 19 pounds to win the tourney I believe, with a big largemouth kicker over 5. But that doesn't impress you, you're used to catching 8-9 pounders during tournaments, right?  Awesome fish by the way!

Danny