Washington Fly Fishing Forum banner

Weapons of Bass Destruction

4K views 37 replies 22 participants last post by  Greg Gilliland 
#1 ·
Since Saddam couldn't cough up any, I thought I'd search the forum for some. Ive and I have been yacking about hitting the Seeps as soon as it's legal. But my feeble mind has figured out that it's liable to be a hot dry summer based on our poor snow pack. So this summer I'll let them trouts lie low and I'll target warm water species.
Here's the question, what are some hot spots to investigate on the dry side for bass? I have enough insight to the little buggers since I grew up in the northeast fishing for largemouths. So I know how to fish for them, I just want to shorten my driving and investigation time. Show me the water and I'll find the fish... :thumb:
 
#2 ·
inquiring about super secret eastern spring creek hot spots is cause for certain insults directed towards the inquirer ;) :clown: You know this :ray1: :clown:

The Yak is suppose to be real good for smallies :confused: Also I have obtained a certain x-eastern washington creek blazer's phone number....he has since moved to NM ;) . You could call him and get the whole low down if you'd like??

edit: oh ya, can I go?? I have a bass boat too
 
#3 ·
I don't think the Seeps area depends on the snow pack. From what I have gathered over the years that they start from springs. If Crab Creek depended on snow pack alone it would of dried up a long time ago. As the summers are very hot.

Jim......One who probably doesn't know what he is talking about :beathead:
 
#9 ·
If you sounded like me you wouldn't be talking about catching but on what you weren't catching. Also Lake Cassidy is also good for Bass as is little Martha. And if you want more I can give you(Roper) more local spots for them boys. I have a few up my sleeve.

Jim
 
#11 ·
Good smallie fishing can be found in the Columbia from the Canadian border to Portland, but that doesn't help you with specifics. My best all-time smallie day came in the Hanford Reach. I've heard the Buckshot area below Wanapum is good. Also, most of the small lakes that aren't managed strictly for trout will have bass.

Obviously, the seeps and Potholes, Banks, Roosevelt, Sprague, any of the Spokane area lakes almost without exception, the lower Okanogan, Whitestone and Palmer (I think), Chelan-- they all have populations of bass. Since I'm thinking along your lines, but for different reasons, I'm planning to hit some of these areas later in the season. But with this El Nino winter we're experiencing, early might be OK. Smaller lakes will warm earlier, generally, than the biggies, but I've caught smallmouth in Roosevelt in February on crankbaits (34 degree water!) and done all right on largemouth in the seeps in March. I had a guide friend, Skip Davis, who made it a point of pride to catch the first bass in the Potholes area each year. He could almost always do it in January.

I will be looking at smaller, less well-known lakes because the tournament guys don't fish them, and bass fishing is generally better because of it.

Good luck,

Keith
 
#12 ·
Roper, the bass blessings are right under your nose! Palmer Lake has the reputation of being the best smallmouth lake in the state. I have never fished it so I don't know how it can be better than Banks Lake but I have heard it is. In addition it contains crappie that can be caught near the margins of the lake and that means sweet fillets dipped in beer batter and fried golden brown in a cast iron skillet. Yum! Since Palmer is only a few minutes from your ranch and your boat is already up there..........well, you can see where this is going.

And to get to Palmer from your place you must cross the best smallmouth stream in the state of Washington. In fact-you can't even go buy a latte without crossing that thing! So if we take our trucks down to the river and park one downstream then go back up and float down to it we should be able to fish through some pretty decent water. We need some more information to get started and then we can start trimming the learning curve.

Banks Lake out in the center of the state is a dandy smallmouth water but very large. I have done well there just fishing up next to the weeds out of a belly boat. Using big bushy flies tossed right up into the stickups is a blast as the average 15'' smallmouth will turn a 15'' rainbow inside out when it comes to pulling power. Banks is not too far from Dry Falls and I have gone there when the Falls were really crowded and had a great time fishing with no audience and lots of willing fish.

The Snake River impoundments over on the Idaho border offer amazing smallmouth action as well. I have taken crappie up to 16'' out there while fishing for smallies. Now there's some nice fillets!

As the snow continues to retreat here(we have lost over a foot in the last week) my tying has converted over to spiny ray patterns. There is a good bass lake, Eloika, an hour south of here and that is going to be one of my main day-trip outings this year. It contains large bass and a healthy population of decent sized crappies. It sounds like an interesting year is upon us, we'll be fishing some new water whether we want to or not!
Ive-ive never met a crappie that wasn't delicious!

Oh Jeez, I almost forgot Whitestone Lake-we drove right by it on the way to Blue Lake. Gotta try that one too
 
#14 ·
IveofIone said:
.....uh.....Greg...if Patrick is busy I will graciously accept your offer on his behalf. :) Since a 150 sucks some gas I will help with the fuel costs as well. Ive
Ah heck...I'll just hook up our 17 footer with a merc 150 also, and we can make a two boat day out of it :thumb: Lets get something planned. :thumb:
 
#17 ·
In the Quincy lakes, I believe that Stan Coffin lake is specifically managed as a bass lake, it has a small gravel launch.

The Potholes Reservoir is known as good bass water.

I caught bass through the ice last winter at Duck Lake (I think, I can't find my notes, just looking at the Delorme now) right up in the Okanogan.

I caught a combo of largemouth and smallmouth on poppers and sliders in the seeps last summer, but no real big ones. Most (including the biggest ones) came from Long Lake.

I love a good bass fix.
 
#22 ·
******, I will trade you a hookup with a 20lb carp in exchange for that PM.

My fav smallie waters around here are: Walla Walla river below MacDonland RD, Yak below Benton city, and anywhere along the columbia, the yak mouth seems really good but they are everywhere. As long as im chasing smallies, i would bring the carp stuff and hit the flats, they are fairly easy to find. The Walla Walla and lower yak are both really fun floats, the walla walla is a little tougher than the yak, but well worth it. Hardly any people and alot of fish. I know these spots are a bit further away than some of the other areas mentioned, but there is alot of differnt fishing options, i think its worth the trip. PM me if u wan more spots.

Peace,
Andy
 
#23 ·
If you guys decide to plan some sort of get-together out here I'd love to tag along. I live just down the street from MarDon, so I'm already in the area. I'm staring longingly out my window at the still-frozen Potholes Reservoir as I type this. :hmmm: )

I haven't been here for long, so I don't have any advice on where to go for big bass. (Although everybody I talked to last year said last spring in the dunes on the reservoir was the best topwater action they had ever seen out there. Tons of biiig largemouth coming from there. Gotta have a boat to get there, though.)

I can tell you that just about anywhere there is water out here, there are bass and gills to be found in it. Maybe not neccessarily big ones, though.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top