Washington Fly Fishing Forum banner

Rattlesnake Questions

2K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  rattlesnakeflyguy 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I spent some time looking at past pposts about Rattlesnake and was thinking about giving it a try, but have a few questions for any of you NON "Get your map and just give it a try" people.

I will only be able to fish afternoons and weekends, but should be able to make it out this week if the weather looks promising. Is putting on by 3 or 4 too late to get things figured out and find an area to fish? It seems the lake is prone to lots of wind. Is the afternoon/evening generally better or worse for wind? From the boat launch, is there a better course to take (clockwise vs. counter) or is the lake easy enou to figure out? Washington Maps lists it as 50-100 acres. 50 would certainly be different to fish than 100.

Thanks in advance. If anyone cares to join me one day this week, let me know and I am happy to bring beer!

Thanks again,

Pieter
 
#2 ·
Pieter, starting at 3-4 in the afternoon gives you plenty of time to fish: the gate is locked at 9:00PM. whether or not that's enough time to 'figure' it out is up to you! Been lots of recent reports and what to use. I have only fished at first light, mostly due to preference[I was the 'other' guy on Jim H's report], but plan on trying some late afternoon excursions. The wind is always a crap shoot, you get east of Hwy18 and it's always a different weather system. If I have a choice on days to fish, I'll always pick the days with a rising barometer: less wind, nicer weather and I usually catch more fish. The lake is about as low as it ever gets, so effective area to fish is probably 50 acres. Look for rises as your rigging up and go fish there! I usually fish right in the middle and alternate between a Floater or Intermediate and a full sink. Have fun! Fred.
 
#3 ·
Pieter -
I hit Rattlesnake on Friday from ca. 4:30 to 8:30. Wind was not bad and disappeared altogether after about 7. There were quite a few other anglers, but plenty of room to fish. Eagles and Osprey were more competition than the other fishermen. For the last hour I was on the water the Osprey put on quite a display. I didn't have any success with a leach pattern, but there were rising fish all evening, so when I switched to a small softhackle or an emerger, I ended up with several takes, and hooked up with a few, including a nice 16" fish. It was my second time on the lake, so I think you ought to be able to figure out enough in an afternoon to get into some fish.
Dick
 
#4 ·
Sportsman is an accomplished Rattlesnake Lake angler and his advice is spot on, as is Richard's.

The only thing I might add is that the gate to the lake is locked promptly every evening at the time posted on the sign by the gate as you arrive, which for now is at 8:30pm. An officer will drive down to the launch and use his loudspeaker to announce that there's 10 or 15 minutes left. If you don't want to spend the night there, plan to be ready to pull out or already out by the time he arrives.

You can fish late if you park your vehicle in one of the areas outside the gate and don't mind a little lugging back and forth from the launch to your car.

K
 
#6 ·
I was out there Sat. from about 12:30 -4. Only managed 1 fish a 14'' dragging an olive bugger. There was a lot of activity....fish jumping all over. Some guys seemed to have it figured out and were doing better. I heard some of them say that it had been a lot better in the morning.
The wind didn't kick up until about 3-3:30.
 
#7 ·
. . . Only managed 1 fish a 14'' dragging an olive bugger. There was a lot of activity....fish jumping all over.
Not sure what you meant by 'dragging a bugger', but in my experience just kicking around trailing a fly rarely produces well. A far more productive is staying in a position, casting, letting the fly settle from 10 to 30 seconds and then stripping with a variety of pauses, speeds and lengths.

But if fish were rising, that most likely means they were keying on something higher in the water column and not on an offering fished deep. At times like that, fishing a leech pattern (ie. an wooly bugger of any color) is probably not an optimal strategy. See Richard's post above about fishing an emerger or soft hackle instead.

K
 
#8 ·
Hello all, I am new to the area but made a trip to Rattlesnake Saturday evening. My son and I were only planning on a scouting trip but we did try to fish from shore. We will return later this week or on the weekend for sure with float tubes packed.

As far as meeting up for some company that would be great. I am hoping to find a few local spots to get time on the water. Just drop me a note, I am available most evenings or we can plan on the weekend. I live in Issaquah so it is a short drive for me,

Mike
mike.simi@yahoo.com
 
#10 ·
I fish this lake about 3 times per week. I'd be willing to meet anyone there and fish with you out of my set-up. In the last week I've had about 25 fish days each day I go out. What I use are 4 main flies. The first and the most deadly is the BH thin mint (variation of a bugger). Next, soft hackles work really well. Olive bop leeches are great too and there is one fly shop that carries tons of these! Next up is the hares ear parachute. Go very small. I hooked one 15" fish on a BH lightening bug a couple nights ago and got a nice 18" trip on a BH Hare's ear. There is one area of the lake that holds most all the fish right now and they are very willing biters indeed! If you are using nymphs or streamers you can't beat thin mints. We were using these on full sink line, I think 8-9ips from RIO and doing really well. Out fishing everyone for sure. In the evenings going with emergers is sometimes really the best way to go. Remember, go small at Rattlesnake and don't fish buggers all day. This mistake I see all too often. You want to go small and fish late. The biguns come out to feed late in the day/evening around 6-10pm. The wind is what the wind is, always breezy. Oh well. It's not too bad most days. Anything olive (leeches) work great, and heck, I even hooked a good amount of fish on a purple egg sucking leech! Hare's ears have been doing really well as of late.

I'm always willing take someone out -- just shoot me an email at: rattlesnakeflyguy@hotmail.com -- and I will get back to you within the day!
FYI -- The lake is very, very low and trailored boats are hard to launch right now, so stick to the toon or tube...

Tight Lines -- rattlesnakeflyguy
 
#13 ·
Also, no powerbait dudes, heard 2 fools got busted today and it wasn't pretty with some gigantic fines! Them powerbaiters have no place here...go to Pine or something. You will be called in everytime, especially if I run across some of you.

rattlesnakeflyguy[/QUOTE]

RS fly guy,
thanks for the tips. I will definately try that advice next time I am out. You know now that you mention the powerbait dudes I remember some guys that I suspected doing that when I was there. I heard one of them yell "quick grab that rod...you got a fish" & proceded to catch a fish as well as probably 3-4 more between the two of them after that. At the time couldn't remember if it was a no bait lake. Nice to see somebody got busted for breaking the rules.:thumb:
 
#14 ·
ha i was one of the fly guys that called them in! it was pretty impressive how the officer busted them too. he dressed up as a bait guy n snuck up along the shoreline n made conversation, n then once he confirmed the reports, he busted them. one got a $250 dollar fine, and the other got $540 because he tried to burn his line off when the officer asked him to show his gear. smart move. we knew somethin was up when we trolled by, they would reel in and just sit there until we passed. also, if you do see baiters out on rattlesnake, calling 911 is the best way to get the word out, since the park officers are directly dispatched by the 911 dispatch. hopefully if we can bust enough of them, that kinda stuff will start to slow down a bit.

waterside,

the trout bum
 
#16 ·
Yes, very much so. Calling 911 is the preferred method on dealing with powerbaiters on Rattlesnake. Do not try to solve the issue yourself or approach the illegals...this can be dangerous. After talking with Mosley he said call 911 everytime. Officer Mosley is the guy you want...he works some sick magic within the WDFW. I have no remorse for the powerbaiters nor people who troll worms with wedding rings right down the middle (I've seen this as well) -- nothing really surprises me anymore. Trying to hide behind stumps, burning your line...pathetic really. And we all have our eyes on ya. Some people just gotta break all the rules. I'll tell ya one thing, if I were a powerbaiter, I'd be running if you saw me in my toon cause you know who I'm dailin...and I'll even give you a head start...start running now cause I'm out there all the time and I ain't phone shy.

rattlesnakeflyguy
 
#17 ·
RSFG,

Nice "Candid Camera" shot! Look at those sagged-down shoulders as they trudge off, guided by the long arm of the law. All I have to say about that is: Mwah-ha-ha-ha!
 
#19 ·
iagree

I agree, although it can be hard sometimes to find the right streamer/nymph to go with. Thin Mints in BH always work, always, along with the mayfly hatch. BH Hares Ears work good here as well. I'm still trying to fine tune the chronomids and emergers as the ones in tan and olive around the shank produce the best out here. Best of luck, rattlesnakeflyguy
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top