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Urban flyfishing report: Green Lake

1K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  TomB 
#1 ·
Got out to Green Lake this afternoon, 530p-830p; was pretty sunny in the afternoon, but the wind came up a bit and blew in some clouds. Fished out of a float tube with my 3 wt and a full sink initially... I got a few nice fish quickly (10"-13" with thick shoulders) on beadchain eye damsel nymphs right away, but it was a little tough to get them dialed in.

I took fish pretty consistently on several patterns, including weighted (bead chain) and unweighted damsel nymphs, a conehead bugger, and a weighted bunny leech, but the most productive was the damsel nymph (tied with light olive marabou, size 10, with a short tail to discourage short strikes). I started with that full sink line, switched to a 10 ft sink tip for most of the time, and in the last hour a floating line and a 7 ft leader/ 4x tippet worked great.

No triploids, but the biggest was a thick 14 incher that hit like a freight train-- tons of fun on a 3wt! I ended up with about a dozen fish.

The wind kept the evening chironomid hatch down, but there were still some nice risers right before dark, and lots of smaller fish sipping and rolling on emergers. I didn't try any dries because I was having fun fishing subsurface, but I bet they'd work great. Powerbait guys on the bank weren't having much luck, but another guy in a float tube got some nice fish on an ultralight spinner and a small spoon.

Can't beat the 5 minute drive from work for a fun afternoon...
 
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#2 ·
It's been along time since I fished Green Lake, but I agree w/ fishing close to home. I used to have tremendous fun w/ a gray bodied, partridge emerger pattern, slow retrieve - fishing along the southeast corner from boathouse/aquatheatre to just past the second fishing dock. Might give this a try - I used to catch some huge browns - 23" plus - pretty regularly. Well keep it up, sounds like fun.
JB
 
#4 ·
kodiaksalmon said:
So where is Green Lake, and what's in it?
The lake is located just northeast of Woodland Park Zoo, on the east side of Hwy 99. There are tiger muskie, rainbow and brown trout, bass, two types of carp, and a variety of pan fish. Visit www.washingtonlakes.com for a more in-depth description of Green Lake.
 
#5 ·
A better question is, 'what isn't in Green Lake'! To my knowledge there are several species of carp, largemouth bass, browns, rainbows, and even big muskies-- like 20lbs big; I've seen one that was probably 15 lbs. A little disconcerting to know those are in there when your legs are dangling from a float tube. (Edit-- you beat me to it ceviche!)

Green Lake is located right in Seattle, just west of UW; if you use google maps and type in 'green lake, seattle, wa' you'll find it. Not sure if you guys have seen this yet, but if you click 'satellite' on the google maps site, you'll get hi-res satellite photos so clear you can almost see the fish in there...

It's had some serious water quality issues, so most people look at you funny when you're actually getting in the water; it's fun to fish once in a while, but it's less-than-serene location keeps it from being a major flyfishing destination. Partly why the fishing is so good now is because WDFW has planted stockers and triploids in the past month; I believe things level off a bit as water temps warm and the algae in the lake increases.

JB, thanks for the tips--if you ever want to get out again we should hook up, it's more fun to float with others...
 
#6 ·
i was at greenlake last nigth for the sundown hatch and a lil carpin', YES YOU HEARD ME RIGHT! the carp are up on the shores by the docks and there are some bigguns' in there. i had mostly refusals from them but a couple turned for fly that made my heart RACE! ill most likely be there tonight? bhudda
 
#9 ·
There are areas that I know are wadeable, as I've seen some fish scientists checking on their carp nets on the west side of the lake. One guy was in a wet suit and the other was wearing only waders. However, by now, that area is covered in lily pads. As far as the rest of the lake, sure, there are areas, but you best bring a wading staff. My best advice is to not wander too far from shore. Still within carp waters?
 
#10 ·
From shore, I've caught fish on the north end of the lake, standing out on a little concrete/metal grate structure that sticks out a bit into the water. But all that water around there is shallow, so it may be wadeable... follow the above advice, be careful and bring a staff. But you can cover so much more water in a canoe or float tube, and can troll slowly between spots-- I got most of my fish slow trolling or trolling/stripping. The fish are up in the evening so you can even cast dries; I've gotten fish on a Griffith's gnat before, and I'm sure an adams or a cripple/emerger pattern would work also.
 
#11 ·
I'd be careful about fishing for Carp in that lake. I believe that they are green carp and there is no season on those fish in Green Lake. I read it somewhere in the regs that it was closed for them there fish. I believe that they were planted to keep the weed growth down and now the are Tiger Muskies in there to try to keep them down.

Jim
 
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