Ghost Lake Fishing in Skamania County, Washington

• Overview

  Ghost Lake is a Skamania County water, in Washington. The bank is 3,770 feet above sea level. About 5 acres of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. Some 19 miles away sits Morton, the nearest settlement. Then Amboy, 34 miles, and Yacolt, 35 miles. Also within reach: 0.6 miles away is Strawberry Lake, Meta Lake just 1.8 miles, 2.2 miles away is Grizzly Lake, Ryan Lake just 2.3 miles and 2.4 miles away is Saint Charles Lake. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Ghost Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Skamania County names Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, rainbow trout and cutthroat trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. At Ghost Lake light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put August at about 60°F and January near 30°F. The swings are modest, so patterns change slowly. In a normal year the cover is thin and short-lived. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. It sets the rhythm of the year at Ghost Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. The nearest alternative is Strawberry Lake, 0.6 miles out. Treat access at Ghost Lake as something to verify.