Thread: EZ should be .....

My clients that fished Lake Washington talked more about yellow perch than crappie. And fishing deep. The reservoir I fish on the Snake River is steep and deep and all rock structure. After the crappie recover from the stress of the spawn they school up on points, high spots and irregular structure. Smallmouth, perch and bluegill will often be mixed in with them. Summer through Fall the bite is light and 2lb test with the lightest tip pole does the best. This August we caught crappie and bass 40' deep on the same spot. Vertical fishing. The 1" Gulp minnow gets them when nothing else will. The Corp of Engineers raises our reservoir in the Spring with cold water when the crappie are wanting to spawn. This has really hurt our crappie population and Spring fishing. I hope Lake Washington doesn't have this situation.

Originally Posted by Oregon slabman

My clients that fished Lake Washington talked more about yellow perch than crappie. And fishing deep. The reservoir I fish on the Snake River is steep and deep and all rock structure. After the crappie recover from the stress of the spawn they school up on points, high spots and irregular structure. Smallmouth, perch and bluegill will often be mixed in with them. Summer through Fall the bite is light and 2lb test with the lightest tip pole does the best. This August we caught crappie and bass 40' deep on the same spot. Vertical fishing. The 1" Gulp minnow gets them when nothing else will. The Corp of Engineers raises our reservoir in the Spring with cold water when the crappie are wanting to spawn. This has really hurt our crappie population and Spring fishing. I hope Lake Washington doesn't have this situation.

Thanks for your post. Most of the pan fishermen I have talked with fish for yellow perch and most of the youtube videos about Lake Washington are about fishing for yellow perch. I assume that is because they are plentiful and easy to catch but since I have not caught any yet that is just my assumption.

I have seen a couple of underwater videos that shows large schools of crappie so I know they are there. Also since Fish & Wildlife does not have any size or catch limits on crappie in this lake I assume they believe the crappie population needs to be harvested. So it is just a matter of finding them. I bought two maps that provide the locations of underwater trees, structures and weed beds. So it is just a matter of getting out there and finding them now that I know the general area to search. But I will not be very helpful in the harvest as I keep very few of the fish I catch each trip.

I prefer to vertical jig but will cast if necessary. I prefer ultra-light to light rods but I use 8# or 20# braid since I normally fish in trees and brush piles. I have never fished in clear water before so I expect I will need to make changes as I learn to fish in deeper and in clear water.

I often find bass, bluegill and crappie around the same brush piles. Generally the bluegill are the highest up, followed by bass and then the bigger crappie on the bottom. So it can often be a challenge getting your jigs down to the crappie if the fish are active.

Thanks again for your advice. Once I am on the lake again I will post my results here and is the main forum.