Mayfield Lake question...help please

[muskyhunter]

Went out to Mayfield last Saturday. Does anyone know what the deal with the finger/cove that runs along the North side of Highway 12 and on the West side of the Hwy 12 bridge? I went there just to check it out saw it from the highway looked somewhat interesting. When I got there I noticed that the water temp was about 8 degrees colder than the rest of the lake and there was a brown slick of something on the surface. And the depth was only about 6 feet. Which is okay. And found one heck of a drop off that starts just off the edge of the rip rap... Is there a spring there? thanks

[tmusky1]

Muskyhunter, I know exactly what cove you're talking about. I noticed the same thing with the temperature change. One thing I do know is, I fish it every time I go down there and have never seen a fish of any species. I'd be curious to find out if anyone else has ever caught anything out of there.

[littleriver]

I've fished that cove a few times and never done very well.. hadn't noticed the temperature differential though...


The "dropoff" is easy to explain.... when mayfield dam was completed it resulted in a steep canyon/gorge the Cowlitz River used to flow though being flooded..... this canyon runs close to the west shore of the lake where Hwy 12 crosses and is right next to the shoreline when you get to the Ike Kinswa boat ramp......

the colder water in that bay could be caused by currents that push the much colder water way down deep in the canyon up into that cove when the wind is blowing from a certain direction...... but that is just a guess....


I buzzed around the lake a few years back with a good friend using his boat and depth finder..... The depthfinder was one of those high end Lowrance units... very sensitive........ I think that particular unit runs about $800 without the GPS attachment...

anyways, it was interesting to hover back and forth above the canyon break.... some kind of fish seemed to be using the break for habitat or reference.. because we would continually mark fish in the 30 and 40 foot water just back from the canyon dropoff.... it could have been interference because vertical structure like that can do wierd things to a sonar ping, but I like to believe I was marking fish......

[muskyhunter]

Thanks guys,
Littleriver..That break area that you are talking about. My buddy seems to think thats where the Macks may be hanging out..Sitting right there by the steep humps..he's an extraordinaryly excellent Salmon and Mack fisherman. I may need to try that area again when the skis arent' hitting. Thanks for the info guys..Todd

[littleriver]

I wouldn't get too excited about what's happening along the breaks, but it's definitely worth checking out..

I've never heard of any Macks in Mayfield, but the lake is definitely cold enough, deep enough, and it has lots of forage....

a group called "Friends of the Cowlitz" raises thousands and thousands of rainbows in net pens and they are released throughout the year at an average size of about 1/2 pound..... couple of them probably make a good lunch for a hungry Mack or Tiger Muskie...


I read a story in one of the national fishing mags a decade or so back about the Muskies in Lake Huron... Norther Shore of Huron is South Ontario and they've built up a pretty decent guiding industry so what's happening with the fish is big news there..

Anyways, there are a lot of little bays and shallow bars along the Ontario shore of Lake Huron and you can see the big Muskies (the real kind not the sterile crossbred "Tiger" kind) hanging out near submerged trees and stuff all along the shoreline... and these muskies are 40, 50, 60 pounds kind of fish.. they get everyone excited.... so the big thing has always been to hire a guide and get this big old casting pole and a level wind casting reel and have the guide move the boat very quietly within casting range of the fish and then drop a big 'ol 14 or 15 inch plug in front of the big 'ol muskie to try to get it to bite... seems like a reasonable plan but the muskies would rarely bite..... every once in a while you'd get some action, but mostly they would sit and watch the plug go back and forth in front of their face.......... guides got concerned and called in the fish biologists to investigate......

anyways, to make a long story short, it turns out that the muskies were feeding on the salmon that swim around in the deeper offshore waters..... when they were in the shallows it meant they were full and just sort of relaxing and digesting their meal. When they got hungry the would go out into the deep and chase down a 5 or 6 pound salmonoid for dinner... once satisfied they would then head back to the shallows to rest.......

Given the structure of Mayfield lake I can't help but wonder if maybe the tigers there don't do the same kind of thing... run out to the breaks and feed on schooling trout and when they've had their fill, just head back to the shallows to kick back and annoy muskie fishermen who think they can cast a stupid lure at them that looks like food and tempt them into striking..........


just a theory, but it might be worth checking out some time...