Bear Lake Fishing near Granite Falls, Washington

• Overview

  In Washington, Bear Lake falls inside Snohomish County. Around the bank it is open valley. At 20 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Granite Falls lies 11 miles from the water. It is 22 miles to Everett, the nearest city. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Bear Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Snohomish County names Chinook salmon, pink salmon, Coho salmon, largemouth bass and pumpkinseed. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. At Bear Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  August is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 60°F, while December sits near 33°F. The season stretches long at both ends here. Some winters give nothing at all, so plan for open water. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. It sets the rhythm of the year at Bear Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. There is a car park at Pinnacle Lake Trail, roughly half a mile away. Toilets show in mapping about half a mile away. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Hempel Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Bear Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.