Tiger muskies were first introduced to Mayfield Lake in southwest Washington's Lewis County in 1988 to rebuild a local Coho salmon population by controlling the squawfish that preyed upon them. The program later expanded to additional lakes. Seven lakes in Washington State are currently stocked with Muskies. In addition WDFW has also made one-time plants in several lakes for rough fish control purposes. These include Fazon Lake in Whatcom County, Green Lake in Seattle, Red Rock Reservoir in Grant County south of Potholes Reservoir, and South Lewis County Pond (multiple plantings in this lake). Since these lakes are no longer being stocked, and the planted fish were sterile and only live 8-10 years on average, it is unlikely any specimens still survive in any of those waters.

Remember that effective May 1, 2008, the minimum size limit for Muskies increases to 50 inches. Prior to May 1, 2008 the minimum size limit for tiger muskies in Washington State is 36". Under both regulations there is a one fish per day limit and C-P-R fish don't count against the limit. Please handle them properly.

Click the name of the lake to take you to the writeup, which includes a link to a Google Map, and sometimes additional links.

Lake Tapps, near Tacoma, 2296 acres. 2 reviews.
Mayfield Reservoir, in SW Washington near the town of Mossyrock, 2200 acres
Merwin Reservoir, in SW Washington near the town of Woodland, 4090 acres
Newman Lake, in Eastern Washington near Spokane, 1200 acres (Idaho's best tiger muskie lake, Hauser L., is 4 miles from Newman L.)
Silver Lake, in Eastern Washington's Spokane County, 486 acres
Evergreen Reservoir, in central Washington's Quincy Wildlife Area, near the town of Quincy, 235 acres. 2 reviews.
Curlew Lake, in North Central Washington near the town of Republic, 870 acres

2,296 acres, near Tacoma. Like Mayfield Lake, this is a Tacoma City Light impoundment that exists for the purpose of hydroelectric generation, but the city wants to abandon its nearly 100-year-old hydropower plant because it is uneconomic. The lake’s future is uncertain, and because it costs money to maintain the dam, it’s possible that Lake Tapps will cease to exist within a few years although efforts are being made to save the lake by marketing drinking water to Seattle.

The dam raised the water level to combine several small lakes into a fairly large lake. It is in a semi-urban area, and immediately adjacent to an urban area, so the shoreline is completely developed with homes, there is heavy boat traffic, and it has all the other characteristics of an urban lake. Nevertheless, it is a good muskie lake and produced well in the 2006 and 2007 seasons, with some big fish available here. It has two public boat launches, which can be hard to find, and boat launching fees are high. There are no overnight facilities on the lake, but there are plenty of motels in the surrounding city.

This large lake just east of Sumner (2296) 4.5 sq. miles has every feature possible: grass flats, shallow Lilly pad mud bottom areas, steep drop offs to 100 feet, rocky points, sunken timber, standing timber, canals, cold inlet water, numerous springs, riprap, bridge piles, docks of every style, narrows with current and calm open areas. Although seasonal water levels may fluctuate, access is normally April to November. In winter water the level may drop as much as 40 feet.

The lake is a man made compound, created about 100 years ago: the water comes through a diversion flume from the White River in Buckley and travels above and below ground across the farmland to the east side of the lake at Inlet Island. This lake has numerous islands and coves which creates 45 miles of shore line.

There was a fish trap at the diversion dam in Buckley until the flooding of 2005 when the trap was torn up. With the trap disabled any fish in the river could get into the lake. So don't be surprised if you catch a trout, steelhead, or a possible salmon. The carp are prolific in size and numbers, crappy and blue gill are here but not in huge numbers, perch are a pretty good bet when water warms. The real draw to this lake is the fantastic smallmouth bass fishing and the occasional monster of the deep, the tiger musky. The first Musky's [about 400 ] were released in 2001 at about 12 inches and following years about the same numbers and size, in 2008 no fish were released. Also in 2008 the minimum keeper size limit was set at 50 inches so catch and release will be the norm.

The lake has 2 public and many private development boat launches, both public launches charge a fee. On the south end Allan York Park launch is owned and operated by the City of Bonney Lake. This is an automated system with a charge for launching and retrieving of $8.50 in and $8.50 out for a total of $17.00. The gravel trailer parking lot is quite a hike up the hill from the launch. It does have a tie up area outside the ramps large enough for several boats waiting for the truck and trailer drivers. When positioning the trailer to back down the ramp you will have to pull out into the street. Watch for children running behind your trailer to get to the other dock.

Your second options is the Pierce County Park and launch 2022 198th Ave. E. Sumner Wa. on the north end of the lake off 12th St. E. This is a very clean, nice park with flush toilet restrooms and snack bar and lots of room to lie in the sun and have a picnic. There is a huge swimming area, and a sand beach for the kids. Lots of area to shore fish from the park and levy that runs about a mile to the north. It will cost $10.00 total to launch and retrieve your boat or $7.00 to park the car and bank fish. There are 3 ramps and a waiting area with docks in front of the snack bar. The large, paved parking area is about 100 yards from the launch and is an easy walk. Simple to follow arrows will keep the launch wait to a minimum.

Always move your boat out of the launch ramps before you move the trailer to the parking lot so the next boater has room to launch or retrieve without waiting.

In western Washington; this is a pretty good lake with a decent number of fish, and big fish too (30 pounders exist here), and has a resort and two public campgrounds. There's also gas and food available in the nearby town of Mossyrock.

The county park just off Highway 12 after passing through Mossyrock from the east has a good boat launch with ample parking, a picnic and swimming area with showers, and a campground with hookups. Ike Kinswa State Park, on the other side of the lake, is accessed via a side road farther west on Highway 12, and also has a campground and boat ramp, but the county park’s facilities are better. There is also a private resort (Mayfield Lake Resort) with RV sites, cabins, and boat launch on Winston Cove, the turnoff to which is only a few hundred yards from the turnoff into the county park.

First stocked with tiger muskies in 1988, this impoundment is Washington’s most popular tiger muskie lake, and holds the state record (31.25 lbs.). A fish weighing an unofficial 34 lbs. was caught here a couple years ago. Mayfield and Riffe dams are owned by Tacoma City Light. The water flowing into Mayfield from Riffe Lake is cold year-round (about 48 degrees in summer). During the summer months, the top 6 feet or so of water is warmed by the sun and most of the muskies will be in this layer. Thus, you usually don't fish this lake deep. City Light often releases water over the spillway on weekends to maintain flows in the Cowlitz River below the dam, drawing off the warm surface water; this puts the fish off their feed, and for this reason Mayfield is best fished for tiger muskies in the middle of the week. Weekend fishing isn't very good here. Early morning and just before sunset offer the most action but fish can be caught at midday during the summer months.

The lake is several miles long and averages about ½ mile wide. Maximum depth is 190 feet behind the dam, and the old river channel, which hugs the north shoreline in the lower half of the lake, averages 90 to 100 feet deep. However, Mayfield Lake has some large shallow areas that concentrate tiger muskies, so locating fish is not very difficult. In the lower end of the lake, Winston Cove's shallow, weedy upper end holds some tiger muskies, as does Tilton Cove at the upper end of the lake adjacent to the state park and campground. However, the largest concentration of tiger muskies is in the large weed flat across the lake from Tilton Cove.

Apart from these weedy areas, fishing for Mayfield’s tiger muskies consists mostly of working sunken stumps and downed trees along shorelines. The entire shoreline from the county park to the big weed flat across from Tilton Cove should be fished. Above the weed flat, adjacent to the fish hatchery, is a cove whose shoreline is littered with sunken stumps and logs that often hold tiger muskies.

The best time to fish Mayfield is June through August, although the tiger muskies remain catchable until October. Radio tracking studies indicate they suspend in deep water and are inactive in winter and early spring. Stomach content studies show they feed almost exclusively on squawfish.

This excellent Washingtonlakes.com post by our member Don W. has more information about Mayfield.

4,090 acres, on State Highway 503 above Woodland, which is on Interstate 5 about 30 miles north of Portland and Vancouver. Take I-5 to the town of Woodland in southeastern Washington, exit there and get all the gas and groceries you'll need in town (because there are none at the lake), and head up into the hills on Highway 503. The dam is only about 10 miles outside of town, but both public boat launches are at the east end of the lake, so you'll be 20 miles out of town before getting to the fishing. There's also a back roads shortcut from Vancouver going directly to the top end of the lake where the boat launches are.

A deep cold impoundment known for its good-sized kokanee, this lake is 12 miles long, has 25 miles of undeveloped shoreline littered with stumps and logs, and averages 100 feet deep with a maximum depth of 190 feet. Most of the fishermen here will be trolling in the middle of the lake for kokanee. There are two boat launches maintained by Pacific Power; the Cresap Bay boat launch also has a campground, but to camp there on summer weekends you'll need to make reservations weeks or months in advance, due to the campground's popularity with summer recreationists. Motel lodging is available at Lone Fir Motel in Cougar, 6 miles away, but here again you'll probably need advance reservations to get a room on summer weekends or during the fall hunting season. The lake's proximity to the Portland-Vancouver metropolis brings a lot of people to this lake. Note, however, that both highway accesses to the lake are twisty, windy, hilly two-lane highways that are quite dangerous and lots of motorcycle deaths and car accidents occur on those roads because of people driving too fast and overestimating their ability to negotiate these mountain highways at high speed.

Tiger muskies were stocked here in 1995 to control squawfish, and the WDFW normally plants a few hundred 12-inch fingerlings every year to maintain the population. Weeds are almost non-existent, and this is primarily a shoreline casting fishery, although a few muskies have been caught with trolling tactics. This lake puts out good numbers of 20 lb.-class fish, and definitely has fish over 30 lbs. Traditionally, the highest concentration of muskies has been on the south shoreline; but in the 2007 season, the numbers seemed significantly depleted (probably due to angler harvest prior to the change to the 50-inch regulation) and the relatively few remaining fish were scattered all over the lake.

Merwin (Lake) Reservoir (4,090 acres): This North Fork Lewis River impoundment located near the town of Ariel is shared by Clark and Cowlitz counties, with 2,400 acres in Clark County and 1,690 in Cowlitz. Land locked coho salmon and kokanee are the main target. Angling is best in early spring, with fish in the 10-inch class. Small northern squawfish can be numerous and pesky. Tiger muskies were planted in 1995 to help control squawfish populations.

1,200 acres, near Spokane. Driving directions from Spokane: Go east about 14 miles on Hwy. 290 and turn north on Newman Lake Dr. (just before reaching the Idaho state line). The boat launch is on the east side of the lake. Most of the shoreline is developed with homes and the lake has virtually no structure except docks. The docks and the big lily pad beds are the obvious areas to work. The lily pad beds are impenetrable, though. Idaho's best tiger muskie lake, Hauser Lake, is only 4 miles away (via Hauser Lake Rd.) but you want to arrive there early in the day because the only public boat launch begins jamming up rather badly after the human herd wakes up. Contrary to previous reports, this lake is being stocked, mostly recently 618 fish in June of 2007. Previous plantings were 364 in July 2006, 499 in June 2005, 340 in June 2000, 600 in October of 1993, 550 in November of 1991, and 1,650 in September of both 1989 and 1990.

Idaho Fish and Game's stocking page lets you look up stocking history for different fish in different lakes (sorted by Region) dating back to 1967.

Newmanlake.com has additional information about Newman Lake.

A little south and west of Spokane, near the town of Medicine Lake, and first stocked in 2000, this was a "hot" tiger muskie lake in 2007, booting out good numbers of respectable-sized fish. I don't have a lot of information on this lake, but a couple of our Chapter 57 members fish it regularly and may be able to help you with useful info.

235 acres, near Quincy. Driving directions: Drive on I-90 to the crossroads of George, turn north on Hwy. 281, then turn left on 2nd N.W. at the blue farmhouse, cross the bridge over the irrigation canal, and follow the dirt road to its end. Another way to access the lake is to continue on Hwy. 281 to Golf Course Rd., turn left and look for the sign.

This lake is in a compact, more or less treeless, wildlife refuge surrounded by farms. You won't get a wilderness experience here (you'll see powerlines and hear farm machinery), but this land is managed by the state Department of Natural Resources and like all DNR lands in Washington the camping is free. Only outhouses are provided; you'll have to pack in your own drinking water, and you are expected to take your trash with you as there are no trash receptacles or trash removal provided at the camping sites. Rattlesnakes may be present in the brush off the graded roads. There are several lakes in the refuge but only Evergreen has tiger muskies.

Evergreen is fairly small, not heavily fished, and has walleyes and largemouth bass in addition to tiger muskies. The best area for muskies is a weedbed along the west half of the north shoreline from a promontory rock to the islands. This weedbed is about 100 feet wide and goes from shore to roughly the 12 foot breakline. The muskies burrow into this stuff, and the weed tops grow close to the surface, so you'll need shallow running bucktails to work above the weed tops. You'll snag the weeds less if you use spinnerbaits or single-hook bucktails. The fish will come up out of the weeds after your lures, if they’re interested. Chartreuse is a good color here. During summer, Evergreen can get an algae bloom, and fishing is difficult in these conditions. Water levels also can fluctuate dramatically, as this lake is a holding tank for irrigation water and the drawdown of water for the surrounding farms can be 2 or 3 feet overnight. The lake is fairly deep with maximum depth over 60 feet when full.

This excellent Washingtonlakes.com post by our member Don W. has additional information about Evergreen Reservoir.

870 acres, near Republic. Driving directions: From I-90 take the Hwy. 21 exit (between Moses Lake and Ritzville) and drive north through Odessa and Wilbur, then take Keller’s Ferry across Lake Roosevelt and continue through Republic. This is quite a long drive even from I-90. It's worth it, though, as the lake is underfished for tiger muskies and has good numbers of 25-lb. class fish. Hwy. 21 skirts the east side of Curlew Lake. There is no free boat launch but the lake has several private resorts and a state park with camping, hookups, showers, and a good boat ramp (free for campers, otherwise fee required).

Of all Washington's tiger muskie lakes, Curlew Lake most nearly resembles a Wisconsin or Minnesota musky lake in terms of structure and surroundings. It has islands, shallow weedbeds, drop offs, points, wood, and docks (but no sunken rock bars that I know of). Curlew traditionally has been popular among bass and trout fishermen, although both the bass and trout fishing have dropped off some in recent years. No one seems to know very much about its tiger muskies, and until recently many of those caught probably were incidental catches by fishermen targeting other species. From the local lore I've collected, it appears they hang around the docks. I would also work obvious shallow weed beds, shoreline wood, and the railroad trestle area. There is a fair amount of recreational boating traffic, so early morning, evening, and mid-week are the best times to fish. I have also heard reports that Curlew Lake is primarily a night fishery; i.e., the fish lay low during the day and come into the shorelines to feed beginning at midnight. This is what the state game department electroshocking crew experienced. In any case, they're not easy to catch here and until you learn the ropes you have a high probability of getting skunked.