I was headed to Merwin this morning (solo) and saw the mess at the launch and aborted that for Yale, I should have aborted Yale when I pulled in and only saw 6 or 7 rigs in the lot.
Fished about 4 hours for 6-7 drive-by's, brought 2 to the boat that were about 9-10 inches that came off, which I didn't mind. Saw a couple caught and they weren't any bigger then what I had.

 

Thanks for the report Scott. Melissa and I chased steelhead this weekend and it was a zoo there too. As we got to the river I thought, maybe we should have chased Kokes today but sounds like after the month of rain everyone decided they were fishing no matter where it was.


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Was there on 22nd cause Merwin was full! Yale produced nice 15" fish. Great day to be on the water.

 

Can anyone give me pointers for fishing yale? Where to go? I remember it gets shallow from the right side of the ramp? Its been a while, and I've never really fished it. Thanks.

 

Ya out in at the boat ramp and head straight across to the south side, you'll see the other boats there. I drag the old school stuff pink hoochie beads and 2 hook setup, tuna corn and baby shrimp. Good luck!

 

https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@9&key=ortwGfjqiV

 

Managed 12 between 2 of us today, Sunday. Wind got calm around noon, sunny beautiful day.

 

Never fished Yale and wonder about where to launch, saddle dam or Yale park I just read in the previous post to go across to the south side so I figure that’s from the park. Thanks for your help

 

I believe the Saddle Dam Launch is closed until after Memorial Day. Need to use Yale Park.

 

I want to travel up the the dam from Yale Park this week . I understand you need to travel on the right side of the lake along the highway . Do I need to worry about and hazards along that side of the lake ? Thanks .

 

Click the link on post#6. Use this as a reference and you should be fine.

 

3/19/2020 Report

4 anglers, 4 rods. Fished 9:35-2:45. 39 kept, including a 12" chinook. Action was pretty good with a few lulls, but lots of triples and a quad. Took a group of teenagers out, including one who'd never fished before! She caught loads of fish and can't wait to go fishing again. Gotta love it!

Fished mostly out and across from the boat launch. 1.1-1.4 mph. Hoochies and spinners behind small Leo Flashers and Brad's Kokanee flashers. Tuna corn.

About 15 trailers in the parking lot. Only the middle dock was usable due to water levels, but it wasn't too bad at all.

Beautiful day with a relatively flat lake and sunny skies.

Just a note, but the fish seemed smaller than the past few years on Yale. Maybe I just got into schools of smaller fish, but the average size was 9-10" with several 8-9" kokanee mixed in. We had a few 11" fish in the cooler, but it was slim pickings as far as nicer quality kokanee. I've only fished the lake this early a few times, so I guess I don't have much to go off of.

 

Good stuff beavin. Nothing better than noobies gettting hooke. Life time memory wink

 

3/22/2020 Report

2 anglers, 4 rods. Fished 8:45-12:15. 20 kokanee kept and countless fish lost. All the usual suspects in terms of gear, with most fish marked and caught in the top 20' of the water column. Fish size was consistent with only a few sub 10" fish and most 10-11" long. We had a couple pushing 12" but they sure are skinnier fish than their cousins at Merwin.

Parking lot was decently full (2.5-3 rows full of trucks and trailers) and we saw a good number of nets out. Wind chop in the morning wasn't terribly fun, but it died down as the day went on.

Fish seemed to be more concentrated, so you really had to stay on top of them. If you did so, the bite was really good. We had all four rods go off twice, and it was extremely rare to only get one bite at a time.

All in all, a great day.

 

Thats a good report. I have never fished Yale, is there a gate at the place you launch. I am wondering if Merwin and Yale will be closed with the stay at home order

 

I did a little research and answered my own question. Tonight all parks and water access will close for two weeks

 

We plan on hitting yale on the off columbia river days. Did really good there last year. Will report.:excited:

 

Hit Yale today. Pretty quick limit! The fish dont seem as big as last year. But we did manage some pretty chunky ones ! Everyone else seemed to to doing good as well.

 

great report, think I will try there next instead of merwin. What part of lake were you in

 

We launched at yale park. strait across the lake headed up. Action did not take long.

 

Sounds like a good place to take my Grandson for his 1st fishing experience. How was the wind ?

 

Always good straight across from the launch! I always check the wind reports before I go.

 

Took my son to Yale yesterday. Didn’t launch until around 9:30. Parking lot was only half full. Six or seven boats pulled in behind me, but there already boats taking out. Almost didn’t launch because of the wind, but decided to give it a go anyways. Headed over to the East side across from the launch as it seemed a little “calmer” over there. Caught two fish in about 15 minutes, so we were hoping for a good day. Fought the wind all day, but we managed to keep 12 (I think my son caught 10), lost a few at the boat, and missed a bunch.

Various dodgers, weeding rings, fire corn, with pro-cure tuna scent is what we used. Seemed to hit fish in about 80’ of water, 2oz of lead, and about 100’-125’ back.

Also caught about five pikminnow. My son was pretty excited when he tossed one back and a bald eagle came out of nowhere to grab it. He was happy to “feed ‘Merica”. Lol

 

Congrats Chris, that smile on Ians face says it all. My first trip since the re-opener will be Monday on the reservoir downriver of Yale.

Took my son to Yale yesterday. Didn’t launch until around 9:30. Parking lot was only half full. Six or seven boats pulled in behind me, but there already boats taking out. Almost didn’t launch because of the wind, but decided to give it a go anyways. Headed over to the East side across from the launch as it seemed a little “calmer” over there. Caught two fish in about 15 minutes, so we were hoping for a good day. Fought the wind all day, but we managed to keep 12 (I think my son caught 10), lost a few at the boat, and missed a bunch.

Various dodgers, weeding rings, fire corn, with pro-cure tuna scent is what we used. Seemed to hit fish in about 80’ of water, 2oz of lead, and about 100’-125’ back.

Also caught about five pikminnow. My son was pretty excited when he tossed one back and a bald eagle came out of nowhere to grab it. He was happy to “feed ‘Merica”. Lol

 

Does anybody know when they changed the limit from 15 to 10 on yale ? My father-n-law(rip) always liked yale due to the 15 fish limit!

 

That changed last year, a committee making out the reg book noticed most lakes were 10 fish so they said Yale must be 10 too. Having no clue that a 16 fish limit for ever on Yale was due to the magnitude of fish in that lake.

 

Great morning on the lake. Got there about 6:45, about 5 trailers in the lot. Could not get all three poles in the water at first they were biting so fast. Got limits by 9:00, no wind no rain. Fish are smaller than merwin but there are a lot of them. Fished on top, didnt matter what you used.

 

Just got back. Got there at the crack of noon. Took longer to drive there and back than to get our limit. Went to merwin first. Made one pass through the parking lot. Seen the big cluster of trailers opted for the serenity of yale.

 

Yale Report - Friday, May 15th

2 anglers, 4 rods. Lake was flat calm when we launched with a lite rain on and off. Lines in at 7:00, Limited and to the launch with a bonus trout at 9:10. Fished mostly across from the ramp and did circles on schools of fish between 20-35'. Did find a nice tree top on the deeper end of that range and that wasn't too fun! Anything pink... spinners, hoochies, etc. Loads of doubles and a few triples. We also lost 6 fish trying to flip 'em into the boat instead of using the damn net. It was our first day out since fishing reopened in WA, and we were definitely not on our "fish landing" game.

Originally went to Merwin but arrived at 6:15 to a line of 12 plus boats and only 7 open parking spots left in the overflow area. No bueno! Turned around and drove up to Yale and we were probably within the first 15 boats there. When we took out (bit of a line to get out) the Yale lot was full and the gate was closed, allowing new vehicles in only when one would leave. Very organized, but dang was I surprised at how busy it was for a salmon opener day.

Fish averaged 10.5-11.5" on the board with a few that taped a little past 12". Certainly not Merwin grade fish, and they seem smaller than last year, but the smaller crowds and two hours to limit out made it a very worthwhile day.

 

Yale report today May 19th. Ended up going solo. Had a wild idea at first to try merwin seeing how it was late(around 11am). Made a tour through the parking lot only to find yet another zoo! Opted again for the serenity of yale. Maybe 6 trailers in the lot and the ramp was wide open! Went across the lake then up to the colverts. Action was pretty much within the first 5 min and continued till I got my 10 really nice kokes! All fish were on arrow flash and brads dodgers with pink hoochies. Are the fish really that much bigger at merwin??

 

I've been alternating between Merwin and Yale. The Merwin fish are definitely a lot thicker! I would say the fillets are close to double the size. Much easier to get limits at Yale though, and no crowds to fight...

 

Got to the lake at 8:00 had our twenty fish by 11:30. A little slower than the past few trips, a little wind, but luckily no rain. Fished on top about 50 to 80 feet back using electric trolling motor. Fish averaged a little smaller this time.