Lake Sawyer - Are the Fish Biting?

Judging by all the fishermen now on the lake, trolling or casting as the sun rises and sets each day, fishing must be good this year?   As soon as the state lifted COVID-19 related fishing restrictions in early May, it seems we could have used a full time parking and boat launch attendant at times just to direct traffic at the boat launch.  After being cooped up, people apparently just needed to "get out there" - and hopefully catch some fish too.  From those people I talk too as they go by our dock, it's probably a combination of both ok fishing and it being great to get out.  There certainly are fish, including this largemouth bass caught by a happy angler yesterday morning.

You might note that having a cell phone for taking "selfies" is now standard equipment for most fishermen. Nice fish but this young man carefully put it back in the lake for the next fisherman to catch..

For those not familiar with fishing conditions at Lake Sawyer, the lake is open for fishing year-round.  You won't catch many fish in winter months given cold water temperatures, but by spring, you will have quite a few native and stocked fish to test your skills.  Several lakes in the area, like Lake Wilderness, are set up for seasonal fishing only and stocked with significant numbers of rainbow trout each year targeted for a big "opening day" crowd.  Lake Sawyer also is stocked with some rainbow trout (3,024 on May 6 this year, weighing an average of 2.80 fish per pound) and also stocked with a large number of fingerling Kokanee (65,550  fingerlings stocked this year, maturing in 2021 or 2022, at which time hopefully a good number will have "grown up" to be 1+ pounders).  

Of the fish native to the lake, a number of native cutthroat trout and warm water species such as smallmouth bass and largemouth bass are the most sought after by anglers with sizable numbers of yellow perch, black crappie and brown bullheads (aka catfish) also caught.  Perhaps we can leave the catfish to our local osprey families and have them leave us the Kokanee fingerlings.. 

These largemouth bass can grow to become pretty sizable.

It will be fun to see how the Kokanee (landlocked sockeye salmon) fingerlings grow.  I believe this is the second year in recent history that Kokanee fingerlings have been planted in the lake.  These are nice fish for both catching and eating.  When we first moved here in 1981, I trolled around in my canoe and was able to catch several - one of which was over 1 lb.  From lake to BBQ in a matter of minutes.  Happy fishing.

Comments

[Ty]

I miss fishing Lake Sawyer. I use to fish at Sunrise Resort, and let me tell you, there are some massive Bass in there! My biggest Largemouth from llLake Sawyer was 9lbs, I was being lazy that day and caught it on 2 nightcrawlers next to the lily pad patch. I did however, release her back into the lake to fight another day. This was about 15 years ago! Another person caught a Smallmouth around 7lbs. That lake also produces some BIG triploid trout! Hopefully someday I can take my wife there to fish.

[Craig Goodwin]

Thanks for sharing Ty!