Lake Washington 05/18/2020

May 18, 2020

Fishing Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Rating: 7

Weather Conditions: Sunny with clear skies

Bait: Gary Yamamoto 5″ Green Pumpkin/Watermelon Senko with 1/0 Gamakatsu Wacky Worm Hook; 1/4 ounce Strike King Tour Grade Bluegill Swim Jig with 3.8″ Keitech Pro Blue Red Pearl FAT Swing Impact Swimbait;

Rod: G-Loomis GX2 Jig and Worm Rod; Abu Garcia Veritas Winch Crankbait Rod

Reel: Quantum Catalyst PT; Shimano Curado Casting Reel

Line: 8-pound Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon; 12-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid Fishing Line

Total Bass Caught: 2

Final Weigh in Weight: 3.22 pounds

After a solid last outing, I decided to head back to Lake Washington to see if I could locate some bigger bass. I arrived at the lake around 6:00 p.m. and was pleasantly surprised to find that the wind was nowhere to be found. Because of this, I decided to start my day off by fishing the docks around Newcastle Beach Park. I started at the point just south of the park and worked my way north, using a swim jig to work the rocky flats and a wacky rig to dissect the docks. About halfway down the stretch I came upon an older wooden dock with plenty of shade under it. I cast my wacky rig right in the center of the shady area and let my worm fall on slack line. As soon as my worm hit the bottom, I felt something pick it up, so I gave a quick hook set and the fight was on. The water was crystal clear, so I could see the bass the entire fight. It battled hard and even managed to take some drag, but eventually I was able to tire it out and swing it into the boat. When I put it on the scale, it came out to be a 2.22 pound smallmouth. After releasing the bass, I continued down the Newport Beach Park stretch, but was unable to trigger another bite.

In keeping with the park theme, the next spot that I tried was Luther Burbank Park. I arrived with extremely high hopes for the area, as the entire shoreline was lined with underwater vegetation and timber. However, after going a whole thirty minutes without any interest, I began to lose hope. Just as I was about to leave the area, I made one last cast out into deeper water. I reeled my swim jig back with a slow, steady retrieve and about a quarter of the way back to the boat I felt something hammer my lure. Surprised by the aggressive bite, I quickly set the hook and managed to bring in my second bass of the day. This one was on the smaller side and weighed in at 1 pound flat.

Having caught two smallmouth, I decided to finish the day by trying to locate my first largemouth of the season. I headed over to the lilies by the boat launch and used a topwater frog to work the edges of isolated patches. There were fish jumping all over the place, but unfortunately none that were close to my bait. After numerous casts without a bite, I decided to head in and call it a day.

Observations: The water temperature ranged from 61-65 degrees today, which is right about where it was a couple of days ago. Once again, the two bass that I caught were both in extremely shallow water. They both swallowed my bait and hit pretty aggressively, indicating that the bass have resumed actively feeding. The water was the clearest that I’ve ever seen it and there was about 15 feet of visibility today. This made for some exciting fights and set up well for my finesse techniques. With a bass over two pounds, the only thing missing from today was a largemouth bass. I’m curious to figure out where they’ve all gone and will definitely investigate further during my next outing.