Good! I'm not even in WA anywhere and am glad to hear poachers were apprehended on my former hometown lake! Pretty tough fines, it sounds, with confiscation and all. Were they drunk? That lake gets fished illegally quite a bit. I'm hopeful that the county sheriff's office will do a better job of keeping an eye on that lake than the former town PD did.

I talked many times with some older gentlemen who fished the cliffs area with spinners. They would always show up early in the morning and get fish right after first light. Their favorite spinner was a black Mepps spinner with a gold blade. Additionally, give a "Pistol Pete" fly a try. It's just a simple wooly worm pattern with a propeller blade at the front. They come in several colors, but you should try olive or black or a combination thereof. It's pretty light so you'll have to attach split shot for casting distance and depth. Get it deep and rip it to the surface. Good luck! P.S. Keep in mind that Medical's trout are low-density and FINICKY. They can be very uncooperative at times, to say the least!

im glad theres people getting busted for not following rules on medical i use a fly and water bobber with a leader , but my fly choices are very poor but its still fun getting out of the house any basic fly tips thanks

im glad theres people getting busted for not following rules on medical i use a fly and water bobber with a leader , but my fly choices are very poor but its still fun getting out of the house any basic fly tips thanks

Thanks for the report and I'm glad the poachers got caught. Like you, I've been giving Medical a try with spinning gear this year. My wife and I fished it for the first time last week. We had barely started fishing when we were checked by a very polite and professional WDFW Wildlife Agent. I was down the bank as he approached my wife and asked, "How's fishing?" Followed by, "Do you know the fishing regulations for this lake?" I was very proud to hear my wife's response of, "Single barbless hook, no bait and artificial lure only." The nice Warden checked our licenses and gear and even complimented by wife on her nice rod and reel. He remarked that he had ticketed a couple of PowerBait fishermen previously; who tried to evade a ticket by cutting their lines upon his approach. Our luck was similar to your own; although my wife did have a fish on and lost it near the bank.

were those poachers in little dinky white boat at the north end of the lake? i think i saw them too.

@pickelz yup and they got roasted!

Alright guy well u need to get ur facts straight. For one we were not using a motorized boat, unless ur blind u would have seen us rowing around, we were not drunk, our boat was not taken away nor was our truck, only one of us got a ticket (for not having a license) and we actually caught 13 brown that the officers did not find hahahaha and they sure tasted good :) i will be back for sure and hopefully see u out there ;)

Wow atrain, if that was really you POACHING on our shared fishing resources, I share your hope that we can indeed run into each other back on Medical Lake. I don't have any problem calling in WDFW and sharing your posted attitude, and hopefully next time you can indeed wind up walking home!

Wow. would you All please stay on Medical lake. I'll be sure I never fish there and you can keep all your drama on that lake.

I love fishing in medical lake ,i have caught big 20" + bows and nice browns ,some trout i have never seen before possibly tiger trout (white belly -greenish blue on top with spots lining the color split from belly to back . I have heard there are bull trout in here? small spoons work best ,like a luhr jensen crocodile,i have also seen trout hit white jigs... make sure to debarb your single hooks.

well the police were there and you are so lucky. next time you poach and they find those fish. they will take it all. just lettin ya know.