Top water is more fun. Better for largemouth usually. The cuts are deep, but have to be released anyway.
If you want a smallmouth adventure, fish the Grand Ronde where it enters the Snake. 2-4# fish in 50 degree white water. Long way from here.
And the John Day River in Oregon has more smallmouth than any river in the US. Also a long drive.
Look for drainages into the lake and fish with jigs off the bottom 20-50’ down. There are probably shallow weed areas too but I know deep works. You need to release any cutthroat and the bass have a health warning from natural mercury. They’re big as a result.
Is this any different than a Euro Rod and Euro Fishing? Long leader. No casting.
Yes. The whole Yakima is catch and release for trout. There are other species you can keep, like whitefish, steelhead and lower down, bass.
If you feel like pure fly fishing and want to drive a bit, Rocky Ford Creek East of Ephrata is amazing. The creek comes out of the ground there. No wading allowed. Lots of trout. Many big. And very hard to catch.
If you don’t want to go that far, just drive upstream on the Tieton River toward Rainier. Good fishing anywhere above the confluence.
Paul1945 wrote:
Went over to moses for some eyes
No luck. Used bottom bouncers and worms. Nice day on the water but no fish. Put in at Blue Swan Park. Lots of boats there for bass tourney. Maybe try potholes next time. Anyone having any luck on walleyes. They are the best eating fish ever. I'm on the west side so quite a trip . I'm from Minnesota, really miss the walleye.
Close to and after sunset is still the best time, especially if they're not hitting deep during the day. Including after dark as long as you want to stay out. You know all the rest of the techniques.
BTW, you can get 5-10#rs below the dams on the Columbia - and at various locations up to Grand Coulee; the Dalles etc. Check health notifications before consuming. You could always just get a 10# walleye just to mail the photo back to your friends in Minnesota.
Great catch! Wish we could do this more around here.
Right. Muskies and Great Northerns eat anything that moves. Can’t imagine a cross that won’t eat perch. Maybe they are focused on peamouth and trout. They’ll eat perch for sure.
By July the Pinks will be running this year off the beach.
Good time to go. Haven’t been there for 15 years but I doubt if much has changed. Lots of big trout in the summer - but when the water warms up, they taste like lake mud. Get them in the Spring for sure.
And keep all the peamouth you catch (aka Squawfish). I don’t think there’s a size or number limit. It will help remove nutrients from the lake, and they compete with and eat everything.
Yes. Never have but I’ve seen Hugh numbers of people on it.
The Washington State record Walleye is just over 20# and fish > 10# are pretty common in the Columbia. However, because of a desire to maintain broodstock, and because the larger fish have built up heavy metals and organic toxins in the meat and fat, people generally release the big ones.
Yes. Drive 90 minutes SE from Wenatchee to Mar Don Resort. Tons of fish and fishing opportunities. There is a long dock there and also boat rentals. All species of freshwater fish are available.
If out of state, a guide is the way to go. In addition to providing everything, they'll know where the fish are.