Silver Lake

[cavdad45]

Silver Lake is by far one of my favorite places to fish. I first hit the lake in 1985 and would usually schedule 3 or 4 trips a year, until two years ago. Now I hit the lake 15-20 times a year. I have been fortunate in that Silver has always been good to me, even when I was first learning to bass fish.
However, when I read the fishing reports page, I see alot of people who came to the lake excited and left vowing never to fish it again. That seems odd based on my experiences.
I wonder if when people come for the first time they become overwhelmed. 3000 acres and every inch of it looks like it would hold a bass. And then reality hits, they don't line up to jump in the boat.
Anybody have any ideas on the subject?

[mallard83]

Yeah, I agree with you that most people just get frustrated and don't come back. It is actually an excellent lake if given some time and has a lot to offer. DON'T GIVE UP PEOPLE THERE IS A STATE RECORD IN THERE SOMEWHERE, I just know it. Good luck and tight lines.

[CK14]

i'm convinced all you need for that lake is a jig & pig, a spinnerbait, and senkos. find the brush, find the fish.

[bpm2000]

I wonder if when people come for the first time they become overwhelmed. 3000 acres and every inch of it looks like it would hold a bass.

i think thats exactly what it is. I keep coming back because of that, however.

[tnj8222]

i think most people tha fish silver live in oregon and washington. lets face it we have mostly crystal clear lakes the frustrated ones get on a muddy lake like silver and dont realize that the fish or on the structure. they give up after not catching anything but they are fishing it like clear water. to catch fish in silver you have to know how to fish muddy water. get deep in the brush or touch the pillings on the dock. the fish hold tight to the structure like no other thats why i love this lake. reminds me of my NC muddy water days where i learned to bass fish.

so far this year i have fished silver about 20 times. i catch a ton of fish everytime. its my favorite lake!!

[CK14]

i agree that the hold super tight to the cover, the only other lake like it is the potholes. if you don't get your bait under/in the bushes you won't catch many fish at all. that's why a black/blue or black/purple jig & pig is perfect, bulky enough to catch hawgs but compact enough to get it in the bushes.

[Jo]

I have fished the lake 3 times on my 1st time I said I would never fish any where for bass again. On my 3rd time I wanted to say I would never fish Silver again. So much of a large lake that I think every cast will catch a fish.
One cast I let my pole down to tie my wife something new and Bam like that I had a fish. I have not caught one bass on top water in this lake? I have not had a strike on a frog? Silver lake seems like it needs to be fished very slowly down deep in the brush? That is frustrating to my whole family of top water throwers? I must find a home on the lake or make trimonthly retreats to fish.

[bob johansen]

Jo - I see you are in Tacoma. Cross that new Narrows Bridge and try some of Mason County's clear water lakes for some excellent top water action. Probably a lot closer than Silver Lake in Cowlitz County.

[cavdad45]

I have fished the lake 3 times on my 1st time I said I would never fish any where for bass again. On my 3rd time I wanted to say I would never fish Silver again. So much of a large lake that I think every cast will catch a fish.
One cast I let my pole down to tie my wife something new and Bam like that I had a fish. I have not caught one bass on top water in this lake? I have not had a strike on a frog? Silver lake seems like it needs to be fished very slowly down deep in the brush? That is frustrating to my whole family of top water throwers? I must find a home on the lake or make trimonthly retreats to fish.

You can catch them on plastic frogs. Stay out of the big massive lily pad fields though. There are so many carp in there and they are always thrashing, splashing, and rolling making an uncomfortable location for wary bass. Find isolated and broken up pads that 90% of bassers avoid because it looks void of opportunity.

The last weekend of June, there was a bass tournament on Silver and there were guys fishing all the "good" spots and flipping the shorelines. I was wanting to work a row of pilings,but there were a pair of contest boats and I did not want to crowd them so I went all the way around and worked the shore until I came to a small lily field that was only 15' by 10' and tossed a spinnerbait through several times. I missed a strike and followed up with a Trophy Scum Frog. The water boiled and I had a handfull. I landed a 6lb 13oz toad. By the time I released her there were 5 bass boats nearby and several guys were tying on frogs.

Another way to use frogs, is skipping them under overhangs or in dense areas.

[Jo]

Thanks bass tracker and Cavdad45 for the tips. I'm not giving up on Silver yet it is a cool lake. I'm sure your tips will help.
I like to fish Leland in Mason.

[CK14]

[Stay out of the big massive lily pad fields

that is key. when i was there last it was hard to find shoreline without pads but when i did it was fish after fish. if you can find shady bushes with little or no pads next to it, you'll be into fish big time. in the spring and fall the pads aren't much of a problem and you can fish bushes all over the lake and in the canals.

[cavdad45]

Those canals that CK14 is talking about are good spots. I was there two weeks ago and it was HOT and windy. Just to escape the wind we slid up one of the canals and started tossing spinnerbaits and chatterfrogs and found plenty of respectable fish. We spent the majority of our day scooting down this one canal and the other half coming back up the canal flipping worms and jigs.

CK14, I really like the info you post, especially in the bass fishing section. Quality Stuff!!! Keep it up...CAV

[CK14]

CK14, I really like the info you post, especially in the bass fishing section. Quality Stuff!!! Keep it up...CAV

thanks man! i like to think i know what i'm talking about. and all this talk about silver is making me anxious for my trip there in october!!! =p~

[cavdad45]

CK14, I really like the info you post, especially in the bass fishing section. Quality Stuff!!! Keep it up...CAV

thanks man! i like to think i know what i'm talking about. and all this talk about silver is making me anxious for my trip there in october!!! =p~

I will be going back near the end of September myself. Too busy this week and the following two I'll be on vacation. Hope to catch ya on the water up there sometime.

I'm the fat guy in the 14' Tracker jon boat standing on the seat benches. Hard to miss.

[Jo]

Can you tell me about the canals? I did find a canal on the far side of the lake furthest from Silver Lake Resort but
it looked like it didn't go much further than some ones house. I busted my rod close to the house so I was bummed and didn't keep going. I have also seen a canal(maybe) going into the pads next to some pilings by the head qtrs
of something. One of the resort workers told about the headqrts by timber point I think he called it. I couldn't tell if it went back far. The bees were buzzing around us and my wife started freaking out so I didn't check it out. This is where I broke the tip of another pole. The large hook was in the tip eye and when I went to pull it out the tip broke. Two pole at one lake now I'm fishing with ugly sticks.:colors:

[cavdad45]

If you are near Streeter's Resort, go left and you will see a huge pad field. Behind that pad field there is some open water and then another pad field along the bank. You will see a canal that goes back a long, long way that is a good one to try. It looks like it goes directly to Mt. St.Helens. That is about as close as I want to give out on the web.

[cajunlat]

I found this map of silver lake before my buddy Terry and I went fishing there. It helped us learn some parts of the lake faster, before we even got there.
(Hopefully the picture uploads!)

[fishnislife]

Nice map cajunlat. That is a good resource. I think a lot of people will benifit from that.
Great info. on Silver guys. I think some people around here would kill for this kind of info. or at least kill you for telling someone.


fishnislife

[bpm2000]

thats a good map - roger knows pretty much everything there is to know about that lake

[cavdad45]

Thanks for the great map!!! It is very accurate as to where the bass hang out.

Anyone know how to print it? I am very computer illiterate.