1st time at Lake Tapps, probably wont go back. $15 to launch!

Got on the water by 9AM. Started fishing right away along the right side along Dike 4. Was in the relatively shallow waters. <15ft. Throwing jig/grub and spinner lures. No bites.


So we headed south to what looked like an island. Had a baseball diamond it on. Fished along there. As we're drifting south along the shore we hear a splash near the boat. Sounded like a big fish. I cast my grub there and nothing. My buddy throws his spinner there and on the 2nd cast, he gets a bite. Lost it halfway to the boat. Whatever it was, it was small. Saw it spit out the hook when it go up to the top.

Continue the same direction and I finally get a bite. A small SMB, maybe 10". 1st fish landed at 10:20AM.

We see a bunch of dead trees/stumps sticking out of the water on an area on the otherside of where we were, so we headed there to check it out. I believe it's called Snag Island. Saw a couple of guys in a Jonboat fishing there already. We sat on the outside area trying it out. Didnt see them pull anything and we didnt get anything.

Quite scary how the shallows sneak up on you with those stumps. We decided it was best to get out of that area. Tried some suspending Rapalas but nothing. Fished the waters between the baseball diamond and Snag Island some more.

By now it's a little past noon and lots of boats on the water spraying and waving.

We headed back up towards Dike 4 to give it another round. Nothing. We went to the east side of the launch briefly and nothing except for the dead 5-6" SMB floating in the water.

2000subaru

7/1/2009 9:41:00 PM

Tough day on Tapps. I was out for two hours today and found 10 fish from rock bass to a ew 2+ pound smallies. Glad to see that they are back and feeding. They have been "missing" lately on Tapps for me. You were in all of the right places, just maybe not at the right time or lures. I have not had much luck with any spinnerbaits, and seldom hit a fish with cranks, although they have been becoming more frequent for me. I was fishing docks in 6-10 feet of water today with great success. While flipping wood and visible structure...only rock bass. Don't get discouraged with Tapps. Yes the launch fees are crazy and yes the parking sucks, and yes it is filled with small fish, and yes the kids and their parents wakeboard boats are idiots, but the fishing can be great and the summer bite is just starting to turn on. It's all good though if you don't want to come back...more for me! Chris

topdawg47

7/2/2009 8:07:00 AM

yea, $15 bucks is a joke! We already burn our pockets with license, gear, etc...

stillwater

7/2/2009 1:47:00 PM

Get there before 7:30 that s when they start charging! My boy and I have been doing well with plastics off the bottom

BucketMouthCatcher

7/2/2009 3:53:00 PM

I launched for free today as well ,, gates where open when we got there at 0600 and they where not charging yet. I only caught one fish today as well on a spinnerbait. We fished the patches of weeds in about 8' to 12' of water out on the end of the flat on tapps island near the main body water. My buddy caught a 36" tiger on a white spinner bait out there as well today. Overall today the fishing was slow for us. I guess we should have fished shallower and hit the docks instead of 100 yards offshore on the weed/stump flats. Next time =) .

FishingFool

7/3/2009 6:12:00 PM

Well that's nice to know about the free parking before 730AM. They wont tow your car when they dont see the ticket later in the day though???

stillwater

7/3/2009 11:40:00 PM

No, We arrived at 7:10 and the lady just walk into the booth waved me thru saying she didn't start charging till 7:30-we haven"t been towed been out dozen times

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