Amx
5/15/2014 7:31:00 PMI know how that feels. 2 years ago during the Fish-n-Fool tourny on WaLakes I started using a new rod and new reel. The drag knob was a bit funny feeling and so I had the drag way too light. I lost a BIG fish. The next day I went back to try again and as I was rounding the corner a bass fisherman was just releasing the bass. He said it was 7 pounds and a few oz, I forget how many oz.
bassman72
5/15/2014 9:17:00 PMThis report is killing me. Going in for knee surgery in the morning. Gonna have to find a way to prop the leg up in the boat and get out there. Great report
rickydbasser
5/16/2014 7:33:00 AMIf you launch at North Park, turn left and travel to the end of the lake. That's Dike 11. Then turn right, and go straight, eventually going under a bridge. Continue going straight until you come to its end. There you will see a road that divides that part of the lake and travels to Snag Island on the right. The cove to the left is Snag Island Cove. It's shallow and filled with stumps, both above and below the water. So I wouldn't suggest using the outboard while in the cove.
Amx
5/16/2014 11:50:00 AMLook at the map here on WaLakes. Find Snag Island on the map, mid lake - east side. Look behind/east of the island. That's snag cove. USED to be lots of Largies in there. Now the pike things have killed most of the Largies and the smallies have run the Largies off/away from the beds and food, and so the Largies have gone by the wayside - for the most part. pike-muskies - same same - they screw up the bass fishing.
rickydbasser
5/16/2014 3:10:00 PMThere is no doubt the largemouth are being pushed into small stain-water corners of the lake, and are certainly a rarity to be caught. The smallmouth, on the other hand, are all over Tapps. In fact after a shocking of the lake, the game department found that the lake is being over-populated with smallmouth, stunting the normal growth patterns. And I can believe that. A 4 lb smallmouth in Tapps is a rarity, with anything over 5 almost unheard of. Bottom line, Tapps is one of the few lakes that the game department has raised the smallmouth daily limit from 5 to 10 fish per day, with only one over 17 inches. And they have strongly recommending that fisherman keep a limit of fish.
Amx
5/16/2014 4:51:00 PMI've heard about the 'lots of smaller Smallies' in Tapps. Even to the extent that the Smallies are over populating the lake, or sections of the lake.
Tapps used to be a good Largie lake, I've caught my share of 4 and 5 pounders back in the '90s, long before the Smallies got going and before the Muskies arrived. Back during the WaLakes picnic in 2010/2011 I broke off a 5 pounder when she wrapped around a beams between the dock piling. Dez and fishingislife/Jeremy saw the fish up close also as they both were fishing from my boat. She was just out of reach when Jeremy tried to net her, then she dove down and wrapped around another lap and broke off.
Tapps has the same state wide regs for smallies as all non-special regs lakes: 10 fish and only 1 over 14". Been like that for a couple years now. Some individual lakes may be different.
Tapps used to be a good Largie lake, I've caught my share of 4 and 5 pounders back in the '90s, long before the Smallies got going and before the Muskies arrived. Back during the WaLakes picnic in 2010/2011 I broke off a 5 pounder when she wrapped around a beams between the dock piling. Dez and fishingislife/Jeremy saw the fish up close also as they both were fishing from my boat. She was just out of reach when Jeremy tried to net her, then she dove down and wrapped around another lap and broke off.
Tapps has the same state wide regs for smallies as all non-special regs lakes: 10 fish and only 1 over 14". Been like that for a couple years now. Some individual lakes may be different.