Thread: Finding Crappie in Washington

Can anyone tell me when and where to find Crappie in WA. I live in Vancouver and would like to fish for some Crappie, I am not asking for your secrets, just where to go and when is the best time.
Thanks
Dennis

Summit Lake south of Olympia, Rife and Mayfield, and just about any smaller lake around that has bass in it could have crappie and gills in it.

Best bet to find out for sure would be to call the regional WDFW office and find out.

Silver Lake in Castle Rock is your best bet, it's open year round.

Being out there look for a copy of Stan Fagerstroms book Catch More Crappie, he list's a bunch of waters you can fish for them

Fatman

i've found that slabs start to bite during the pre-spawn when the water temp hovers around 51 degrees in the sloughs and back water bays with off the main lake. Subtle points along dropoffs, downed trees and brush on a dark, solid sand or pea gravel bottom draw the big hens in close to shore. Find a couple of degrees warmer water in those bays, and they can be Crappie magnets in spring. I typically pitch custom 2" 1/32 or 16th oz. minnow jigs in perch, baby bass or shiner patterns. 14 to 16" slabs are common during april and may. The jigmiester

Does anyone out there in crappie land know where to find 2 inch Berkley micro-minnows?Berkley discontinued making those crappie catching baits...

Dennis...I used to live in your area a long time ago and would catch crappie yearround there in Clark County. I would think most of the backwaters and sloughs along the Columbia would still have crappie. One access was at Ridgefield where there was a boat ramp and fishing dock. When I was there the fish weren't big but were fun to catch. One-pounders were scarce. Also, Vancouver Lake had some fair-sized crappie but was getting quite polluted back then.

This isn't exactly a reply, but it seems to fit this thread.
Most of my 77-year adult life I've fly-fished for trout. This year I want to concentrate on crappie. Would anyone care to share their knowledge of where and how in Washington State, preferably within an hour of Everett, I should look for crappie? I've heard that Lakes Cassidy, Serene, Stevens, Stickney and Washington are worth a look. I'm not restricting myself to fly fishing either. What say you experts? I wouldn't be sorry to hear some of your favorite techniques!

Silver Lake has them in it as do most other lakes and ponds in the area. Focus mainly on the ones that have no real river or stream outflow. I have fished up there a few times and found many lakes that have panfish in them. Didn't know the names of the lakes though so I can't help there.

Thanks fish_4_all. Silver Lake is close. I'll try it.