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American Lake

Fishing Report 
22K views 95 replies 5 participants last post by  jford0731 
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#1 ·
Went out on 3/5/99 in search of anything. Drowned some nightcrawlers, powerbait and even a few plastic crayfish in the cove near the new marina. Fished from 1100am to 130pm without a bite.
 
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#2 ·
Did some nickel and diming on the boat then grabbed my daughter and went fittin. Arrived at the lake about noon and started trolling. As usual, for this time of year, the kokes are up shallow and tight lipped. So shallow they scatter in front of your boat and you can't mark them on the fish finder. We bagged the downrigger and put out long lines with 00 dodgers, short leaders, a no name plug, and berkley trout sent, We nailed one nice 15 inch koke that put on an awesome Ariel display. A very feisty fish indeed.
 
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#4 ·
Trolled American Lake north of Silcox Island to the hospitol (5/17) and again today (5/30). Did well on the 17th and nothing today. But with the weather clear and sunny and the views of Mt Rainier how can it be a bad day.
 
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#6 ·
Trolled American Lake starting at o'dark thirty 5:00 AM until about noon. Picked up a lot of six inchers and released. Trolled on North side of Wilcox plus over by the Vet Hospital using pop gear and wedding band lures with maggots with leaded line at various depths. Also still fished over by the Ft Lewis launch area. Caught a few more small silvers plus a few perch!! Oh well, maybe one of these days they will increase in size!!!!
 
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#7 ·
Trolled a small plug in the middle of the afternoon. Water temp was 55F. Had a fish on for about 3 minutes before it popped my leader. It had jumped 4 times by then. Yes , it was big. It looked like a steelhead when it jumped. I know I shouldn't had the drag so tight when I'm using 3.75 lb test leader material. So it's still in there.
 
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#8 ·
went to american lake today got a late start went to the duffle bag for some bait got half way to the lake realized we forgot the life jackets went back to the duffle bag cheaper than going home got to the lake about noon the army showed up and said they were jumping out of perfectly good helicopters into totally cold water we said we would stay out of there way went over to the culvert . got a new ultralight rod and reel while setting it up Matt got the first fish a 9 inch kokanee over the next few hours fishing was pretty steady four of us caught limits biggest was 11 inches average was 10 going back tomorrow if the wind doesn't blow will try in front of the hospital bigger fish there will let you know
 
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#9 ·
went back to american about 9am cold and wind was blowing so went to the culvert was slow finally limited about 12:30 same size as yesterday 8 to 11 inches can't wait till next week clear lake out of eatonville opens will wait till the following week before we go this lake is a fish factory for kokane we have caught as many as 100 fish in an hour will let you know as soon as we go
 
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#11 ·
Last weekend me and 2 friends went out on the lake an spent the day on one of those rental boats from shoreline (On Ft. Lewis) We limited out in by the end of the day with 15 kokanee's and 2 Perch. Trolling is the way to go with Kokanee's, they are hot right now trolling and a spinner is all you will need for a great day of fishing! Good Luck!
 
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#12 ·
Put in at about 0545. Caught one rainbow, (10") on a floating Rapala! (I was actually hoping for Bass). Several hours later, I caught two Kokanee (both 11"), trolling a silver Dick Nite (my comfort spoon) behind a single, tiny Colorado spinner and 1/4 oz. sinker. The Kokanee were both caught just north of that big island (don't know it's name). I enjoy using ultra-lite gear, don't use pop-gear, down-riggers, etc. Also don't like still fishing. This makes getting the lure down to any depth somewhat of a problem. A 1/4 oz. sinker is about max for my favorite outfit. Any ideas on how to troll for Kokanee, using ultra-lite gear, when the water is warm, and they are 30 feet down? Anyone tried jigging for them?
 
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#14 ·
Fished for a couple of hours on the Ft lewis bay of American lake without a whole lot of luck. Caught 2 small trout. I using a super duper and the other on a dry fly. There were a lot of fish rising but I couldn't figure out what they were feeding on .
 
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#15 ·
Launched from the DFW ramp about 8:30, rowed (no motor) out about 250 feet to ~40' of water, and dropped anchor. We tossed a 1/2 worm with no weight (besides the swivel), and around 18" of leader. Had our limits of (~12") rainbows by around 11:00 AM, when we finished the day in shallower water on a mess of perch. Definitely will be fishing the lake again, only next time we'll be heading around the lake toward the west side. Sure wish the skiers and high-speed enthusiasts were a bit more considerate to us slow-pokes looking for a relaxing day of fishing.
 
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#16 ·
That lake puts out trout year round. Weve been catching some big rainbows this winter, 6 to 10 pounders are not uncommon here these next few months. A true winter fishery. I mostly want to comment on the BAD public launch in the middle of the lake on the east side. Lock your rigs up and set your alarms. Weve seen anything from vandalism to cars stollen. BAD NEIGHBORHOOD hard to beleive so close to the base.
 
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#17 ·
Fished on 2-9-03 and caught two nice trout around a pound. Followed Fishing and hunting new's advice and trolled the surface with rapalas and roostertails. Caught one on each, my dad didn't catch anything but he didn't mind. Fair number of boats on the water but they spread out on this large buetiful lake.
 
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#19 ·
fished american on the 23rd and couldn't get the fish to bite. they
were there, just didn't like my offerings. I was hopping to get one
of those big 5+ pounders, but that didn't happen. Merry Christmas
everybody!

Max
 
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#20 ·
Went out out today with some good friends of mine and fished off
the Bill's Boathouse docks. We all caught our limit of Kokanee. We
were using worms and bobber. Even saw a boater come in with a 3 1/2
lb smallmouth bass. Was a good day everyone was getting there
limits it seemed.
 
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#21 ·
Great day out on American Lake very cold but very nice as well!! Got on the water at about 8:00. Started trolling near the boat launch with weddingrings. 10 minutes into it we got our first Rainbow ruffly 12inches. Another 10 minutes and I was into what turned out to be a 3pound Rainbow. My buddy Castanova also caught a nice fish. A 2pound Cutthroat near the V.A. Tight Lines and be safe!
FISHSEAN
 
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#22 ·
Fished American Lake Easter morning (killing time while waiting for everyone to get into town for the egg hunt) at the park just north of the WDFW launch (the park with the swimming area, forget the name of it). Landed a six inch trout on a small silver spoon. Would have caught a lot more, but I'd brought the wrong tackle box and didn't have small enough hooks to land most of them (nothing worse then watching six fish, even small ones, chase your lure in nipping at it but not big enough to get their mouth over the hook). Tried worms on the floor and off the top, but no luck with that.
 
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#23 ·
Started fishing around 11:00. Running silver/red and brass/green wedding rings with nightcrawlers. Fished in front of the VA in 40-60ft and caught three planters (10") within 15 minutes. Trolled over to the island and did circles around it. Caught fish on all sides. Ended up C/R two limites within a couple of hours. Marked lots of schools (probably Kokes) between 20 and 40 ft.
 
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#25 ·
I was going to get up early and get to American lake before it got to hot. Once I found the south launch (I have never been there before) and started fishing it was 6:30am. I headed east trolling a flasher and spinner. I switched to ¼ ounce weight with flasher and wedding ring with corn. I caught a rainbow by Harry Todd docks. Then I got deep by the island so I put on a ounce weight with the flasher and wedding ring with corn. Nothing! It got to hot so I started to head toward the launch and was throwing a worm toward shore and hooked 4 or 5 rock bass (first I have ever caught). It wasn’t a bad day but I really was after kokanee. I will have to try another day.
 
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#26 ·
Went out to American Lake at Bill Boathouse after wasting some time at Spanaway Lake. Spent about 2.5 to 3hrs fishing and caught only one fish about 14 inches out of three people. Bill said the fishing was slow due to the drastic change in weather. Even though the fishing was slow it was nice to be on the water and that trout tasted great on the grill!
 
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