Northwest Fishing Reports

Well I have posted this before but it seems to have disappeared - I will write down the suggestions this time.

Looking for lakes in Washington with truck accessible camping near the water where I can tie off my boat nearby. Preferably with bathrooms nearby as well for the wife.

Here is an example: I can setup camp on either side of the launch and tie my boat off on either side as well.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 6&t=h&z=18

Lake Chelan State Park has campsites with mooring docks.

Mar-don has docks and camping,Fish Lake in Chelan County has the same.Steamboat Rock,Sun lakes resort,Moses Lake has a nice set up at the Best Western.Those are some.Mineral Lake in Thurston county has it too.

Steamboat Rock State Park - you can moor your boat on/near the beach. However if your looking to do this in the Summer months it may already be too late to get a reservation.

Blue Lake and Park Lake both have resorts with mooring available. I think Deep Lake, Grant county, has tent camping next to the launch as well.

The seep lakes at the Potholes are good for this as well. It just depends on how much of a developed launch you need to get your boat in the water.

Riffe Lake.

Osoyoos Lake State Park has a few sites where you can camp near your boat -- And, of course modern bathrooms. Has a nice boat launch area too.

Pearrygin Lake

Remember in Ea Wa that the snakes get active this time of year. Just be carefull.When I walk near or on the shoreline I carry a ski pole or a long stick.

Quincy area lakes are another option. Burke (trout), Quincy (trout) Evergreen Reservoir (warmwater species) all have some nice spots. Stan Coffin (C&R bass) also in the Quincy area has 1 decent spot to camp at. All the lakes have lakeside camping and I would say about 1/2 of the lake side spots would be safe to moore a boat at. All camping is free and they do have a couple pit toilets. The spots go pretty quick on holiday weekends.

Mineral Lake was mentioned and is a great lake. Free launch and moorage if you camp at the Lions. But if you go on a weekend for a couple weeks after the opener, or on a holiday weekend most of the time you have to "piggyback" your boat. Not really my style. But I think they have 4 docks to moore from their. Cheap camping short trip for the Seattle guys, but you basically camp in a trailer park. It can get kind of wild, great memories.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the moorage slips went up to $20 at Mar Don since they built the new dock. Gets kind of pricey when they charge $30 to camp plus hit you for an extra $20 for the boat. But they do a have sandy beach in the resort where you can beach the boat, last time I did this was about 10 years ago but it was free back then

reigndawgs wrote:Pearrygin Lake

That is where im going this 4th july...will be there from the 1st to the 5th.....will be targetting the german brown trout before the kids get up.....

Hi all I am new to this site and am a warm water fisherman mostly in and around Portland. I have looked at several lakes in Olympia/Tacoma area and one I'd like to fish is Tapps I have a boat but can't seem to find any camp grounds on that lake. Is there one. Thanks Jim

The lakes listed by others are excellent,if I was to toss in another option,it would be Alder Lake.
This time of the year isn't to great,they lower the lake for flood control but from mid spring to fall,the lake is at full pool
and offers some excellent fishing for kokes,trout,large and smallmouth bass. You can camp and moor at the Alder Lake campground on the west end(near the dam) this campground is operated by Tacoma Power,along with Rocky Point,a few miles further east. If my memory serves me right,I believe boat mooring is operated on a "first come,first served"basis.
If you have family and/or friends and want to take a break from fishing,checkout the Mount Rainier Scenic Railway in Elbe.
If your into off roading,there is also the Elbe Hills ORV Trails located between Elbe and Ashford.

As jens stated,Riffe is another one. I really enjoy camping at Taidnapam(east end of the lake) There is also the Mossyrock
campground. Both are also operated by Tacoma Power,clean and well maintained but I don't care for camping at Mossyrock,the tent sites are WAY to close together. Basically,if your neighbor snors or eats some beans....you will know.

Have you tried Crow Butte? Great place to both fish and camp. It has a swimming area, three launch ramps, a mooring area for overnighters, bath and restroom facilities and plenty of beach area to tie your boat up at night near your camp. Don't know what it costs now, haven't camped in years. Used to be a state park till the state cut back several years ago. I think Benton County or Kennewick recreation took it over. Anyway I have put my boat in there several times since that happened.

I was only there once about 8 years ago, Coffee Pot, Fish and Game ramp, I seem to recall nicer facilties than I'd expect at a F&G ramp, camping facilities or some such. Big trout, select fishery. Early opener! no bait allowed

fishhook2011 wrote:Hi all I am new to this site and am a warm water fisherman mostly in and around Portland. I have looked at several lakes in Olympia/Tacoma area and one I'd like to fish is Tapps I have a boat but can't seem to find any camp grounds on that lake. Is there one. Thanks Jim

No campgrounds on Tapps that I have ever heard of. The closest one I can think of is Kanasket Palmer State Park up on the Green river just out of Enumclaw. It is a worthy lake to fish, good bass and muskey in there. There might be an RV park closer than the state park, maybe in Buckley.

There are some Free WDFW camping areas at Banks lake on the north end that you can pull the boat right up next to but I don't recall them having a toilet. Also there are some spots that are pay in the same area that are first come first serve state park with pit toilets. If ya don't mind a five or so mile drive you can pop in to steamboat and take a shower too.

MarkFromSea wrote:I was only there once about 8 years ago, Coffee Pot, Fish and Game ramp, I seem to recall nicer facilties than I'd expect at a F&G ramp, camping facilities or some such. Big trout, select fishery. Early opener! no bait allowed

Coffee Pot is not a F&G ramp, it is a BLM ramp. When the land was deeded over to the BLM, the Agreement was that they would clean it up and put in the camp site.

No water at the site (water pipes but no water???), some limited camping, small boat launch and dock.

f1sh1nf00l wrote:

fishhook2011 wrote:Hi all I am new to this site and am a warm water fisherman mostly in and around Portland. I have looked at several lakes in Olympia/Tacoma area and one I'd like to fish is Tapps I have a boat but can't seem to find any camp grounds on that lake. Is there one. Thanks Jim

No campgrounds on Tapps that I have ever heard of. The closest one I can think of is Kanasket Palmer State Park up on the Green river just out of Enumclaw. It is a worthy lake to fish, good bass and muskey in there. There might be an RV park closer than the state park, maybe in Buckley.

There is a campground in Auburn, close and convienant to the County Park and Launch on Tapps.

http://www.auburnwa.gov/community/parks/campground.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;