Cle Elum Lake is a reservoir in Washington, near Kittitas County.
Stocking records show that the following fish or strains were stocked here. A historical stocking does not by itself prove that a self-sustaining population remains today.
Cle Elum Lake is a reservoir in Kittitas County, Washington and covers about 4,566.3 acres and holds roughly 437,000 acre-feet.
Cle Elum Lake is big water, and a useful pattern in one arm may not carry to the far end of the lake.
Cle Elum Lake is a large Yakima Project reservoir fed by the Cle Elum River. Deep drawdown, cold water, steep shores, and native bull trout require a careful cold-water plan.
Use small spoons or flies for trout near river and creek influence, and keep bull trout out of ordinary harvest advice.
The upper river end can be far from the water during drawdown. Follow the present river path and exposed points instead of fishing an old high-water shoreline.
After the first bite on Cle Elum Lake, note whether it came from moving water, rock, weeds, wood, or open water because that one detail is more useful than a broad report from another end of the lake and tells you what kind of feature to repeat nearby.
Keep Cle Elum Lake's open-water fish and shoreline fish on separate passes because the main targets here include rainbow trout, westslope cutthroat trout and kokanee salmon, and those fish do not all use the same cover, depth, or lure speed even when they are feeding in the same part of the lake.
Before leaving Cle Elum Lake, compare the best feature at two nearby depths and change lure speed once so that short check shows whether the problem is the location or the presentation without turning the rest of the trip into random casting.
Fish listed for Cle Elum Lake include Rainbow Trout, Westslope Cutthroat Trout, and Kokanee Salmon.
During a short evening pass near scattered wood with a moving bait, cast a small spoon, inline spinner, light jig, or fly through cool water for rainbow trout.
During a return to the best bank near the mouth of a pocket away from empty shoreline, start where two things meet: weeds and open water, rock and mud, a point and a drop, or clear water and dirty water; fish that edge at more than one depth before leaving it.
While using one pass along the first break near a protected point with stable weather, shallow water is worth a careful look in spring and again during fall; bright summer days favor shade, weeds, or deeper breaks; under ice, a small depth change can be more useful than a long move.
During a calm morning near the downwind side before changing areas, a light spinning rod, thin line, a few small spoons, inline spinners, and jigs cover the listed trout; carry one slightly heavier setup when other fish or windy water call for more control.
During the first hour near scattered wood beside useful cover, record the wind, water color, depth where the bait worked, and cover after a bite; those four notes are more useful on the next trip than a long list of spots that did not produce.
During a warm summer afternoon near a soft-to-hard bottom change with stable weather, keep the first hour simple: use one moving bait to find active fish, slow down with a jig or natural bait on the best edge, and repeat the same setup when two bites come from matching depth and bottom during that part of the trip.
The main difference is easy to see: Cle Elum Lake is a large Yakima Project reservoir fed by the Cle Elum River.
Start simply: Use small spoons or flies for trout near river and creek influence, and keep bull trout out of ordinary harvest advice.
Watch this closely: The upper river end can be far from the water during drawdown.
Explore nearby waters, including local Featured destinations. Check each page for access and fishing restrictions.
Distances are straight-line estimates between mapped water locations.