It was already mid June. I've been fishing my usual haunts for a few weeks since the opener. I sometimes find myself torn between fishing for trout and fishing for bass. With all the newly stocked lake opportunities and news of large trout being caught everywhere, it sometimes becomes a dilemma trying to pry myself from the madness and resume fishing for bass.

With only an 18-inch Rainbow from my recent flurry of trout activities, I decided to get back to what I know best - bass fishing. Gathering tips from a few folks that I've met from fishing around Thurston County, I decided to go on an exploratory fishing trip to Lawrence Lake. Lawrence Lake is located southeast of Yelm. There is a proper boat launch and even access to some bank fishing. It's a little out of the way from the major towns, which I thought was probably a good thing in terms of crowd control.

The weekend when I first fished Lawrence Lake, I was under blue bird skies and mild temperatures. Arriving just after first light at the boat launch, I noticed a flurry of top water activity. This kind of sign can only heighten a fisherman's excitement and senses. I quickly got my boat on the water and dashed to where all the commotion was occurring. Not really knowing what was causing the dimples and splashes on the water, I sat and observed for a few minutes. Mostly, I noticed bugs on the water. After a few more minutes I saw backs of fish. Trout for sure. I'm just not sure which variety. Lawrence Lake is also known to produce some rather large brown trout. With this clue, I once again abandoned my largemouth plans and rigged one spinning rod for trolling duty. I tied on the venerable Pop-Gear and Wedding Ring combination and started to troll in a north to south direction just northeast from the boat launch. Not more than a minute after lowering the gear, I felt a strong grab and my rod quickly bending to accommodate the pressure. After a short fight, a nice solid 2-lb rainbow was in my boat. A quick release and I was again on the move.

I kept heading south of the lake just to the right of the small island and found even more trout. I was in sensory overload. It seemed that almost everywhere I looked there was a fish rising. Mother Nature was serving breakfast and I was in the middle of the kitchen table. A buffet of insects was immediately visible on the top film of the water and the Trout obviously noticed that as well. They were voracious and almost ignored my presence. Once in a while I would get a glimpse of a large dorsal fin. The kind of size that would make your knees shake and your eyes as pig as pancakes. I stopped trolling and rigged an ultra-light rod with a Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow. I was casting in every direction and would get blasted by an eager rainbow. The rainbows ranged from 12 to 16 inches and all were fat and brightly colored.

It was a frenzied 15 minutes of casting and reeling before the action subsided. The fish were still around and I could still see and hear the rises. Wanting to experiment, I abandoned the Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow and rigged to bottom fish with some Powerbait. I could feel the grass from the bottom as my sinker dragged. The lake seemed to be shallow. I don't own a depth finder or any type of sonar, I rely on exploration, trial and error, and some hints from old bathymetric maps. Looking at a bathymetric map, the lake's deepest spot is at 25 ft. The floating Powerbait produced only one fish. With this, I deduced that most of the activity is on the top part of the water column. I re-rigged my ultra-light outfit for fishing a worm under a bobber. Right away I was catching fish again. What's more fun than watching your bobber disappear under the water?

I lost count of the trout caught that day, but I can remember the feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment. I returned a few weeks later to earnestly search for bass. I started my search at the same corner of the lake where the rainbows were concentrated a few weeks ago. I quickly picked up one decent largemouth on a Senko. However, that was all I found at that section of the lake. I scooted over to the east side where there were docks, grass, weeds, and visible structure. Starting at one end I quietly sight-fished from 30 feet away from the bank. That day I wondered if I was hallucinating. I didn't just find the bass, I found what seemed to be the mother load. With my first pass I was able to spot numerous 2-3 lb. fish and some that definitely fit the category of "hawg." I spotted about 12 fish in that one stretch. You might say that 12 isn't that much. However, if half of that 12 is 5 to 7 lb. bass I think you can recognize the rarity of that occurrence, especially here in the northwest. Of course, my key word here is "spot." I was only able to catch three fish of the 2-lb. class. The rest seemed to be in some sort of pre-spawn, post spawn, or just plain non-biting mode. Two of the fish I caught were bedding fish. I used a grub and plunked it right on their beds. I twitched, wiggled, and just left it there until finally the fish just plainly got annoyed and took a swipe at the lure.

Since then, I've been fishing Lawrence Lake quite regularly. July to August marks the top water bite. The key is to get to the lake at first light and to cast from a distance. My favorite top water plug for Lawrence is the Torpedo. I've witnessed some crushing blows with this lure. I've also caught bass using Senkos, plastic tubes, Rapala Husky Jerks, and grubs for the bedding fish. I can't say that I've unlocked any secrets to fishing Lawrence Lake. However, from my observation and experience, Lawrence definitely produces some husky bass and probably a few trophy browns and rainbows. Last summer, a friend that I shared my information with, caught a solid 6-lb. bass using a Senko early in the morning - a trophy fish in my book.

I should also note that the lake is loaded with perch. Quality sized perch ranging from 8 to 10+ inches can be found easily. Once you've located one, it's a good bet that there are more of them. I've had perch hit various plastics and spinner lures. However, at Lawrence Lake the best method to catch for quantity (for a fish fry) is a piece of worm fished at the bottom. I used an ultra-light setup with a small split-shot placed about 12 to 18 inches above the bait. I've had one occasion where one of my fishing partners and I caught and released over 30 perch at one hole.

You might encounter some boat traffic at Lawrence Lake during the summer months. But, at around 300 acres there is enough room for fishermen, jet skiers, and the power boaters. Learn to adjust with the various situations and you might just end up with a great experience at this out of the way lake.

Directions:
From Yelm, take Hwy. 507, S on Bald Hills Rd. SE approx. 1.4 mi; W on Vail Loop Rd. . 5.5 mi; E .5 mi on Lindsey Rd. SE; S 1 mi on Pleasant Beach Rd. SE.