Stump Lake near McCleary: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Out in Grays Harbor County, Washington, sits Stump Lake. It sits in mixed woodland country. Surface area is around 28 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Ground here is low by Washington standards. Nearest town is McCleary, 4.2 miles off. Elma is 7.6 miles and Shelton 13 miles. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Stump Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Open biodiversity records for Grays Harbor County list Coho salmon, rainbow trout, Chinook salmon, Chum salmon and cutthroat trout. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. At Stump Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 62°F in August and bottom out at 39°F in January. Ice comes and goes from one year to the next. Cover comes and goes, so treat it with suspicion rather than trust. The cooler months are the comfortable ones to fish here. That shapes the year on Stump Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. For a change of water, Lake Arrowhead is 2.5 miles distant. Signs at Stump Lake carry more weight than any list.