Lake Washington

[perry p]

Hey Guys,

Can anyone tell me if Lake Washington is a decent bass fishing lake? I've had success on Lake Stella and Manuella but I think Stella's bass are highly pressured. I live in and fish Waverly lake so I can handle milfoil. I'm new to this site. Any input would be appreciated!

[LMITOUT]

I don't fish for bass, but I have hooked up with some nice smallmouth in Washington and I think the largemouth are OK too.

Welcome to HSO!

[perry p]

Thank you so much for the reply! Bass fishing is tops for me, with channel catfish taking a close second. It's great to have good lakes close to home, because of time constraints.

[walleyes4me]

Make sure you keep a bunch for the frying pan. Release to the grease. Make room for more walleyes and crappies.

[BigGrassBass]

I used to have a lot of fun bass fishing over on Cedar. It's been a few years, but the quality and quantity, for me, was way better than average for the area. I'd personally start there if I was looking for bass in that area.

[canman]

Bass are very easy to come by on the lake. The trick is to figure out where they are. I like having the option of smallies and largies on the lake.

[Farley]

Washington is an excellent smallie lake. Same with Cokato Lake.

[perry p]

Thank you so much for the replies, gentlemen! Lake Washington is the type of lake that my family would really enjoy. I assure we safely release any bass we catch, even if I have to cut the barb off of the jig. Cokato lake is interesting also with the catfish population. We fish for them before the bass opener. We are used to fishing around a great deal of vegetation; no lake has more than Ramsey lake in Wright County, but that stuff is a fish magnet! Maybe we'll check out Cedar sometime, thanks all!

[my4x4yj]

You like weeds, Cedar is where you'll find them. By second week of June you almost have to use a push pole to navigate, and with the low water levels because of the drought may be unfishable by boat. The duck guys may get thier wish of making it a supior waterfowl habitat.

[walleyes4me]

Largemouth or smallmouth both are good deep fried and in a sammich . Hope you all know Im just jokin. I just love to fish no matter what the species. Even carp give you a helluva fight.

[bturck]

I have had some very good results on the largemouth on Ripley right in town. Fall of the year, live frogs on weedless hooks up in the pockets in the bullrushes on the north end. Some real pigs released over the year. Washington I would agree is also a top producer...

[perry p]

Lake Ripley does hold some big bass. A local taxidermist put a 7 pounder on the wall last summer, fishing with a night crawler under a bobber. Gotta have a sense of humor! Thanks again for the input.