When my family came for the week, we had to find some places to explore and fish. Adrian asked around at work and they recommended Rattlesnake Lake for a great recreational area and good catch-and-release fishing.
Rattlesnake Lake is very popular in the summertime, both for the lake itself and hiking up Rattlesnake Ridge (which is on my list, once I can find a partner in crime!). The lake itself has many stumps, which are supposedly used by birds as nesting sites. However, we used the deeper ones for diving boards...
There is a legend of a bugler occasionally playing taps at sunset in the woods near Rattlesnake Lake. For more than 30 years when the mysterious bugler plays, most stop to listen. The lake has recently become a popular place for locals to slackline and perform other outdoor activities on the lake's spacious, grassy shores.We didn't hear him, but how amazing would that be!
I'm going to be honest here, I'm kind of a prima-donna when it comes to eating fish. The rest of my family loves it, but meeeh. I only eat fish from the ocean and I only eat it fresh and I only eat it raw. The only cooked fish I'll eat is typically mahi mahi and cooked salmon = gag reflex. So the fact that Rattlesnake Lake is a catch and release lake? Totally up my alley.
The important thing here is that you MUST use barbless hooks and zero bait. So basically, you have to entice the fish with your lure's good looks. You can get in big time poaching trouble otherwise.
Really beautiful place! The drive takes about 30 minutes from Maple Valley, about halfway to Lake Kachess, where we camped a few weeks back. The bathrooms are simply port-a-potties, but they're clean for the most part. The beach is incredibly rocky, so it's not exactly beachy/loungey.
We put together our first tackle box a few weeks ago and luckily my brothers and dad took one look at it, then headed to the store to outfit us with some lures and other fun things. Otherwise, we would have been fishing with line and empty hooks.
Jonas learned how to cast on one of our trips (yes, multiple. we loved it!) to the lake and he's getting pretty decent.
Gabriel is really quite the fisherman. He has learned to cast and can bait his own hook; next up: tying his own line. It'll come soon, I'm sure of it.
The fishing was hit or miss at certain points of the day because there were tons of people on boats and rafts. They were very obnoxious but this is clearly more of a swiming lake then anything else, so we had to let it go.
A few key pointers when at this lake that I really need to remember for next time...
Water shoes. Holy mama, those rocks will tear up your feet in an instant when walking out to the stumps.
Make sure the inflatable boats are actually in the car.
Also, make sure the inflatable boat PUMP is in the car.
It was so amazing having my family here for the week. The boys were so happy to do so much in such a short amount of time. 3 lakes, 4 days of lakes. City twice. Relaxing. Wine. Vintage Espresso and Wine...
Love them.
Was a beautiful day. Oh, and also, we need to remember to bring a small bucket because there are massive amounts of raspberries along the treeline that you can eat. I mean, they didn't poison my brother, so they must be okay, hah.
Also, in case you were wondering. That is not a yellow perch. Debatably, it's a carp. Or a sucker fish. You decide (or tell me what it is...).
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