gills

[crappieking14]

does anyone know of any good bluegill waters around here? i dont catch many gills they are usually pumpkinseeds. the only place i have caught bluegills are in the potholes area. what kind of structure do they hang around? . thanks.

[Bassinman36]

Pumpkinseeds- beaver lake, lake sammamish, lake alice, in certain sloughs (wink wink).
bluegill- lake sammamish and thats about it that I know of.

[SlabKing]

Yeah, Sammy has some decent Bluegill. It's great for frying size Warmouth.

The best lake I know for bluegill (on the westside of the mountains) is Lake Kapowsin with Silver Lake near St Helens coming in a close second. But for size and a sheer numbers....Lake Kapowsin is your best bet. You'll find them in the same structure that bass and crappie love. Unlike the crappie and bass they'll stay in the shallows longer (spawning into late July at times) and they will spawn on a bog bottom like catfish if that's all they can find. They are not as picky as bass and crappie. As long as there is some type of cover they'll spawn. Bass and crappie will try their best to spawn where cover meets a firm bottom.

[crappieking14]

i've heard that kapowsin is good for crappie and bass but have never tried the lake. i know there i'snt a boat launch so is the dock productive?

[SlabKing]

Yeah, you can do good off the dock from late April until about the 1st of Nov. Cast back into the little cove along the side of the tackle store there and you'll catch plenty of gills. Better yet, take a trolling motor and battery with you and rent a boat. There are some pretty decent crappie in there as well. Great lake to catch them on a flyrod. Red or yellow foam spiders work great on the crappie there. If you rent a boat, fish the little pockets in the large marsh near the resort. The bluegill spawn back in those marshes and they warm up early. By mid April the bass and bluegills will be in the marshes trying to spawn. The crappie spawn around the island and near the inlet creek on the backside of the island. There are bigger crappie at Ohop which right down the road from Kapowsin but Kapowsin seems to have a bigger population.

The new boat ramp should be done by mid-summer this year

[crappieking14]

:D thanks for the info slabking :D .

[urban_fisher1]

is that a little ways north of alder lake? i think that bluegill/pumpkinseeds might be my favorite fish and i really want to get a one pounder one of these days

[SlabKing]

Yeah Urban. It's about 15mins past Puyallup. Follow Hwy 161 or 7 and hang a left at Kapowsin Hwy E (aka 304th E). Follow that road to reach the north side of the lake and the fishing dock.

You can also (from Kapowsin E) take a right at the four way stop in front of the small gas station (they sale bait and lures) and go down the westside of lake. You can find a place to park and walk along most of the westside and fish from the bank. Lots of good bass and catfish holes along that side. You can also camp down there.

[crappieking14]

i know there is a lot of good brush in kapowsin, but how do you pick the right wood that will hold the most crappie?

[urban_fisher1]

take a snorkle, i read an article about how that can really help you understand how fish hang out around different structure and cover, or an underwater camera