WOW thats intresting!! I fish Ballinger all the time in summer in my float tube w no waders i guess i'll never do that anymore!! Ballinger shares a flow system with echo lake near aurora village i wonder if that is going to effect echo or ballinger is that way from echo?!?!

I bought a little pontoon last winter and figure my maiden voyage would be on Ballinger, but now I am having 2nd thoughts.. Did a little Googling. Ballinger has had an interesting past. I found this study from the Washington State Department of Ecology online if anybody is interested. http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0603201.html
Think I will keep an eye out for the Edmons Beacon, next time I am on a Home Depot run,,,

Maybe that explains why the largemouth bass I caught looked a little strange -- kinda bug eyed.

Interesting. I will probably stay away from there for now. Thanks for the tip.

I don't think echo lake by Aurora Village has a fishers.

Echo was planted last year and it seems to be planted about as often as they plant Haller, and Bitter Lake. I was told that some group does a "fishing derby" for a special needs organization. They plant a couple hundred I've been told for that as well, and doesn't the shared flow system flow from Echo to Ballanger? If so its not really going to affect Echo....

Remember they use to run Mini Hydro Races at Ballanger back in the 60's or was it the 70's. And I knew it was a run off spot and the eco structure was pretty well destroyed with the run offs due to construction etc. I fish every now and then there but the lake seems to hate me :D as in if I catch something its either not much bigger than my hook :D and I'm using small hooks, or its a plant and I'm not talking recently stocked fish.

Somebody from the UW was there the other week taking samples and reported that the condition has improved over the last few years so that is good news I guess.

My last catch from that lake was a discarded beer can and a sunken branch. This all reminds me I told the guy that swims the lake almost every day (in the past) that its not the cleanest lake in the area.

they have just recently over last summer installed a flow system between the two lakes as some sort of new project. As for the fish i've had luck fishing there every summer. Since the lake is so small it warms up in a hurry and the trout are active like no other. The LM in there are so over populated that they dont get over 16-17inches. But its its funny when i go fishing in my float tube around there and when you hook into a bass there will be 4 or 5 others following it all the way up to my float tube!! The trout that i've got out of there are all about the same size but last summer i was out trying for this little planter trout that was jumping all over the place and when i was retrieving my flatfish this monster 5lb bow just crushed it!!! I gave to a lady that was cleaning her dock she ws beggigng for it to cook on her bbq. She said that in all the years living there she has never seen a fish that big and since i have seen her fishing off her dock!

Thnaks for the post. Its allwasy been a close lake for me but i think this article will keep me in the rivers and cleaner lakes. fish on boys!