3 Ponds

What do you do when the rivers are blown (lots of snow and rain) and the wind on the coast prevents you from fishing the beaches? Some guys tie flies.  Maybe someday I will, but not yet.

I'm reading a lot of great trout writing at the moment, and plan to write about the surprisingly good outdoor literature I am discovering in this subgenre of fly fishing. (How is John Gierach of Fly, Rod and Reel not every bit as celebrated as The New Yorker's Roger Angell, who writes about baseball?)

Nevertheless, this weekend I left the books on the shelf and set out to scout three local ponds I've been curious about. Stream flows don't matter to these bodies of water, and ponds are often protected somewhat from wind, or at least you can find a spot to cast with the wind at your back. Plus, I need to take some little kids fishing later this year once the temperatures warm up.

I got no fish, not even a bite, which is fine. I was scouting and got some good casting practice. The winds were tough at times, and the air temps were about 42-43 degrees. I stuck a thermometer into Beaver Lake and got a reading of about 38 degrees, which according to this AnglersOnline article is just about their survival temp. No wonder they weren't biting. One local I spoke with who was on a small fishing float said he got no bites out in the deeper water, where they are likely suspended to wait out the weather.

Here are the three ponds I visited today:

Phantom Lake -- I'm not sure it's really a lake. It is a good sized pond in Bellevue. With snow and slush still fairly deep, I was the only person in the parking lot and the only guy on the pond. Park just off 156th Ave. SE. I walked through the park, and out onto a nice pier on the northwest end of the pond. It juts out past the reeds and bushes that line the shore. Should be a good pond to try in the spring. I can imagine casting into the thrushy banks when temperatures warm up.

Pine Lake -- This spot has pretty limited public access.  A sliver of a park is on the eastside of the lake just off 228th Ave SE in Issaquah. I didn't fish there today because the park was closed but I was able to see the park's shoreline from a residential street on the south end of the park.

Beaver Lake -- This sweet little lake (see photo) blew me away. It is gorgeous. Tucked into a remote, wooded area of Sammamish, Beaver Lake is about 50-feet at its deepest and shaped like a trout jumping from the water. Evergreens and hardwoods line the shore but there is room to cast from the banks. Most fishermen seem to take jon boats launched from a small public launch on the southeast end of the lake. Beaver is stocked annually by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.