Goat Lake in Lewis County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In Washington, Goat Lake falls inside Lewis County. The water sits 6,404 feet up. It covers about 19 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It sits higher than most water we list in Washington. You are 37 miles from Tieton. For a city, Tacoma is 68 miles off. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Goat Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Reported across Lewis County: Coho salmon, rainbow trout, Chinook salmon, largemouth bass and cutthroat trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Anyone new to Goat Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 54°F at the top of summer and 25°F at the bottom of winter. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. Climate figures give an open season running early May to late November. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. Time your trip to Goat Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Heart Lake, 1.2 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Goat Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.