king/snoho/skagit safe to eat lakes?

[whorde]

I'd like to find a few lakes within an hour of north Seattle, let's say out to Monroe / Duvall to the east, north maybe to Marysville or even Mt. Vernon, where I can go on a Saturday morning and drown a few worms and bring home a couple or three decent sized bluegills, pumpkinseed, or crappie. Without having to worry about poisoning myself, hence the elimination of Lake Washington as an option even though Logboom Park is 5 minutes from where I'm living. If anyone has any suggestions for locations that are suitable for a rubber boat with a paddle (or have decent shore access) that have a decent chance of catching a few panfish that aren't full of municipal runoff and sunken hot water heaters, please let me know. Thanks!

[The Quadfather]

I'd like to find a few lakes within an hour of north Seattle, let's say out to Monroe / Duvall to the east, north maybe to Marysville or even Mt. Vernon, where I can go on a Saturday morning and drown a few worms and bring home a couple or three decent sized bluegills, pumpkinseed, or crappie. Without having to worry about poisoning myself, hence the elimination of Lake Washington as an option even though Logboom Park is 5 minutes from where I'm living. If anyone has any suggestions for locations that are suitable for a rubber boat with a paddle (or have decent shore access) that have a decent chance of catching a few panfish that aren't full of municipal runoff and sunken hot water heaters, please let me know. Thanks!

The short answe is no. But that is only because there is runoff everywhere, and rural lakes not near communities can have deposits from atmospheric fallout. Everyone would like to think there is a pure lake out there, but I think most people will tell you to just be observant of the "Amount" of fish you eat from the wild, and whether or not the species is a bottom dweller, (Carp) etc. Even the put and take trout are only dropped into your local lake for a few weeks before they're on your breakfast plate.

[whorde]

Hmm .... maybe I should be more specific. I'll give an example. I wouldn't eat fish out of Lake Washington. It has been used as the Seattle city dump for 100 years. 3/4 the lake was the countryside for 3/4 of that time. People have their dishwashers outflowing into the lake. I personally know homeowners who buried hot water heaters and other large appliances in the lake as far back as the 1950s. Contrast that with Larsen Lake in Bellevue. Sure, the stream running into it is a municipal stream. But it is surrounded by a park and a blueberry patch and has been ... probably forever. It is contaminated, but the level of contamination is greatly lower than a lake like Lake Washington. Or Phantom Lake. The houses are well set back from the lake. A good chunk of the edge is park. It would be much less contaminated than Lake Washington. I would not eat as much fish from it, but I would eat some. So my question really is, are there lakes like Larsen or Phantom within an hour of north Seattle that are stocked with panfish (not just crappies like Larsen which are hard to catch), where I can have a leisurely morning of catching a few, taking a couple home to eat, and not poisoning myself. I dont want to be a hero and chase bass or what not, I just want to drown a few worms and catch pumpkinseeds or bluegills or the occasional crappie.

[whorde]

I have been reading the reports a lot, but have only been to Larsen so far. Here are the lakes I am considering at this point, for the above criteria, mostly without actually having done a visual inspection. If you can say that any of these lakes are definitely not appropriate, please let me know:

North:
Lake Cassidy for crappie
Lake Ketchum apparently has panfish

Central:
Lake Larsen for crappie - seems appropriate, 2 visits, but SO full of green slime what the heck is that stuff?

South:
Trout Lake apparently has panfish
Five Mile Lake apparently has panfish

Any commentary on any of those would be appreciated.

[wlai]

I'm not sure I agree with your logic. Larsen, and Phantom for that matter, are much smaller, shallower lake. And any surface runoff (pesticides from the Blueberry farm, lawns, e.g.) is going to have a much higher impact of the water quality and hence the fish's health. Whereas Lake Washington is very deep, has much more water, and a lot of time has passed since the issues of waste going into the lake, which means that a lot of the waste has settled down in the bottom of the lake, undisturbed for the most part. Plus, a lot more research has gone into the Lake Washington water quality than Larsen or Phantom.

For me, I feel like if I'm to eat something out of Lake Washington and follow the guidelines by WDFW, I'll probably be ok. If I eat something out of Larsen, I'd have no idea what I'm eating. In either case I'd avoid any bottom fish like cat or carp. Just my own perspective.

[Anglinarcher]

OK, I am not from that area, so I should not even be commenting, but ......

Guys, the water is cleaner now then it was 35 years ago. Most pollution, like pesticides and herbicides or fertilizer, either wash out or break down from sun light and exposure. Some items, like human waste, break down quickly and even help less fertile waters. Only the heavy metals are a problem, and even then they tend to be covered by silt and are taken out of the food chain.

Does that mean you have no reason to be concerned? NO! But, common sense and a little vigilance will get you a long way.

Don't let the guys that listen to the sensational press make your decision for you.

Don't let the guys with vested interest in keeping the area C&R only make your decision for you.

Yes, as I kid I was known for putting beware of the rattle snakes or beware of the quicksand signs up on my favorite streams to keep the other people out.

Now, if you don't feel comfortable in eating fish out of a body of water, I support that. But, remember the source when you ask others about a body of water. If the State EPA has not put restrictions on it, it is most likely just fine. Unless perhaps you eat 50 pounds of fish a month, then ........

[whorde]

I try to speak primarily from what I know, not what I speculate. I lived on Lake Washington, as in I could spit into the lake from my balcony, around 110th NE on the Seattle side, from 1999 until 6 months ago, with an old friend of the family who had been there since he was born in the early 50s. You say time has passed since waste went in the lake - I only had to look as far as our neighbor 1 house to the north to find someone redirecting the outflow of their dishwasher into the lake. If you're boating along the lake and find areas of white bubbles, it's either a dishwasher or a washing machine. That is the tip of the iceberg, up to and including military aircraft at the bottom of the lake which have been down there for decades but that's not enough time to silt over.

When I look at Larsen, is it smaller and shallower? Certainly. Is it polluted? Certainly. But to what extent? Based on what I can observe, the active sources of pollution are fewer and likely less severe. There is the stream coming in, which has at least 100 yards of park in which to settle out particulate plus unknown upstream, and there is the blueberry farm, which given my background with farms is not using a substantial amount of chemicals or their plants would be in better condition and quite frankly, blueberries dont need that much in terms of either pesticides or fertilizer, especially during the harvest season. I would (and do) eat the blueberries from that farm, so I dont see why I would not eat crappie out of the lake, at least periodically.

The pollution debate aside, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a single post of lesser known mud puddles around the area that have panfish. If it's not listed here, or labeled on Google maps, I dont know about it. Anyone willing to cough up some info?

[wlai]

Hey we all make our own judgement and so all the best to you.

One thing you do have in your favor is that you have to catch a crappie big enough to eat out of Larsen first, which definitely limits your intake right there

[Jerry H]

The reality is, the occasional fish that you eat out of any lake in Washington State most likely will have no more impact on your health than breathing the air in Seattle. Even the high mountain alpine lakes have detectable levels of mercury delivered by way of air pollution. Short of growing our food in a closed environment everything we eat has some potential to harm. Look at organic foods that have sickened and even killed people from e-coli. If you're not sure limit you intake and use your senses. If it looks, spells or tastes bad don't eat it.

[whorde]

The one crappie I've caught in Larsen was definitely big enough to eat by some people's standards. Every time I'm out and see someone keeping 5 inch perch it really makes me shake my head. Those things are barely appetizers, and bony as hell to boot. I'm going to give Larsen a shot again this weekend. If I get another around 7 inches it may well go in the frying pan. I haven't eaten crappie in .... oh boy ... 20 years? One may have to be sacrificed, even if it is smaller than I would prefer. I hope I just land one around 10 inches, that will solve the problem!

Unless of course the Craig's List gods smile on me, as if I can find an appropriate rubber raft I will probably be on Phantom. I like how that lake looks, at least from the dock.

[countryboy87]

lakes in snohoomish co.. bryant goodwin cassidy blackmans stevens armstrong ki martha howard gissburg pds


lakes in skagit.... erie campbell clear mud beaver grandy big cain heart...


there thats more than enough to keep ya busy.. also alot of these lks have bass trout or catfish so you never know what will ite your worm... and i have ate plenty of fish out of lk wa and im still here... just use coommon sense.. but to each thier own...

[primetime]

lakes in snohoomish co.. bryant goodwin cassidy blackmans stevens armstrong ki martha howard gissburg pds


lakes in skagit.... erie campbell clear mud beaver grandy big cain heart...


there thats more than enough to keep ya busy.. also alot of these lks have bass trout or catfish so you never know what will ite your worm... and i have ate plenty of fish out of lk wa and im still here... just use coommon sense.. but to each thier own...

Fish caught out of Gissburg ponds is called crab bait. I wouldn't eat anything out of there!!!!