Note: this is from a few days of fishing in May 2024 so far. So your experience may vary.

Fishing Pine Lake

Located in Sammamish just 20 minutes from Redmond, Pine Lake is a nice spot for a quick trip to get your fishing fix in. It is surrounded by conifers and like many other Seattle lakes, encircled by private property.

About the Lake

The only real public fishing spot here is a fairly large dock, which can get crowded at times. It provides a decent access point to deep water — with a good cast, you can pretty easily access 20 count water depth. Casting Powerbait or Micetails towards this deeper water typically yields good results after a trout plant. The regulars have mentioned that very long leaders (5 ft) are important here for catching fish, but I’ve so far been able to catch fish with with my normal 2-3 ft leaders.

I’ve also noticed casting off the sides of the dock, e.g., horizontally to shore, can also do fairly well. I’ve had pretty good success here using a minijig. Seems like people also do ok flicking spoons.

If you want to fish from shore, you’re probably out of luck. There are really only two spots that you can cast from the shore, and about 30 feet off the shore there is a substantial weedline, so good luck reeling in a fish.

Notes

Seems like a boat would be really helpful here, but I’m a shoreline angler.

Recommended Gear

For the trout:

Powerbait Micetails

A piece of soft plastic infused with Powerbait flavoring. These days, I far prefer micetails over Powerbait, as I think they have a bit of extra attraction in moving water. Additionally, micetails are way less messy than the Powerbait, and you don't leave random floating pieces of plastic dough floating in the lake after you're done fishing. To make sure they float, use a size 8-10 mosquito hook.

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Mini jig, 1/16 or 1/32 oz

A small tube that can be twitched in the water to entice wary trout. Keep your rod tip high, and wiggle the lure in the middle of the water column. Can be very effective, especially if you can see the fish. Can be hard to cast far, unless you're using very light line (2 - 4 lb)

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Acme Kastmaster, 1/8 oz

One of my favorite lures for trout fishing, very useful for covering a lot of water and finding where the active fish are. It's a very aerodynamic lure that can be casted quite far on light line. I've had the most success on stop-and-go, erratic retrieves. Use gold Kastmasters on sunny days or in murky water. Use silver Kastmasters on cloudy days or clear water. Kastmasters can be somewhat expensive - South Bend also sells Kastaways which are somewhat cheaper but can't say I've personally used them.

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Panther Martin, 1/16 oz

A classic trout spinner. I like a retrieve with many erratic jerks with these spinners, to let the blade flutter as much as possible. Traditionally the gold blade with black body and yellow spots has been the most effective for me, but the other colors should also work.

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Powerbait

The classic trout bait. I typically use micetails in favor of Powerbait these days, but sometimes the original dough will work when nothing else will. Take a small bit of the dough, and mold it around a size 16-18 treble hook on a sliding sinker rig. Cast the bait out and just let it sit. It can smell kinda bad, so be ready to vigorously clean your hands afterward. I've linked the garlic flavor, but the corn and original scents work just as well. I personally don't think the color matters a whole lot, but some people swear by chartreuse.

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Thomas Buoyant, 1/4 or 1/6 oz

A Kastmaster alternative. It casts a somewhat smaller distance, but the spoon has a slightly different fluttering action that seems to sometimes entice more hits.

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