Fishing Lake Washington over the Winter Advice?

[Chesterdog]

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[Angry Perch]

Winter cutthroat fishing is good.  Longfin smelt and three spine stickleback are the primary forage fish, so emulate either for success in the winter.  A pearl UV coho killer is a superb cutt lure.

Perching for monsters in Lk Wa is a real thing. They start grouping up in massive schools in late sept/oct, then start getting deeper as winter comes on. First week of November, I usually looked in 40-60 ft off of Groat Point to start.  Vertical jig a chrome Swedish Pimple with a perch eye as bait.  Great fun, 12"+ fish not uncommon..

 
For perch, don't look for fish on the bottom, look for humps, or areas where the bottom gets "thick". Get on a good school with a few rods in the boat to keep the action going, and it can be lights out. Don't be scared to size up that spoon a bit too. Think miniature Point Wilson Dart type lures that will rocket to the bottom. Try to fish jigs in 60 feet and your spending more time dropping than reeling 'em up!

[elkchaser54]

I'd fish with ya if you need a buddy . I'm located in seattle too

[J.Brower]

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[jeffro]

I always trolled the bridges for trout and caught a lot of whoppers, cuts and rainbows.
But ‘bows over 20” are considered steelhead and must be released, so I targeted cuts mostly.
Might be a bit of a run for you, and the weather can kick up really fast.
I also fished bass down nearer to you, the point outside of Newport shores and the I-90 bridge abutments always seemed to hold fish.
Perch, I would head over to the east side of the channel north of Seahawk camp.
Good luck

[Sutherland]

Your going to have fun, lots of good areas to find fish. Enjoy and share some pictures when you go out. Good luck!

[bassquatch]

Winter bass are all about using your electronics to find structure and cover combinations:

Structure: drop offs, humps, ledges, creek channels, etc.
Cover: wood, rocks, vegetation, dock and bridge pilings,etc.

Combining any of the two is a higher percentage spot. Now through Dec-Jan 30 to 50 feet can be productive with rocks being the best 'cover' option.

Hula grubs and drop shot are good options. Use each with at least 3/4 ounce weights/jigheads. 

[Brushcrawler]

Definitely try out the perch. When you get on a school, drop a waypoint and keep circling back as long as you can find them. It can be really good in the winter!

[Axle]

Perch are a great way to have fun and spend time on Lake WA. Perch tacos are awesome!
One guy who lives on the lake said the perch go to the south end of the lake in fall and winter. He must have been right because that's the only place I can get them in fall and winter.
One day last year, my son and I were fishing in 70' of water and on one end of the boat, my son was nailing the perch but on the other end of the boat, I could not stop catching peamouth chubs. Allmost all of them were 1.5lbs to 2lbs each. We've caught a few crappie in winter too.

[luvmystang67]

I'm excited to give this a shot.  I'll update with photos of success (hopefully).

I'm still not convinced on eating the perch, but it sounds like i need to give that a shot too.

I ate some deer kidneys in the UK and some sheep spinal cord in Kazakhstan, so perch aren't too crazy.

[WSU]

I tried kidneys from an elk I shot and am not sold that they are edible.  Disgusting.  Perch are good.