Lake Meridian Kokanee Fishing

Located in the greater Seattle area, Lake Meridian is a good destination for stocked trout for west side fisherman. It is stocked annually with trout, and is a great local trout fishery year-round. It is also one of the few lakes on the west side that can holds Kokanee, although they have been rare for quite some years at the lake. So rare that this lake is pretty much not even under consideration for Kokanee fishing for many years. Great news for west side kokanee seekers, it turns out the lake have been stocked with kokanee in 2021 and are now in decent numbers in the lake. In this blog, I’ll provide information on the lake as well as how to go about catching kokanee here.

Lake Meridian Information

Lake Meridian is located on the southern side of Kent, by the border of Covington. It is less than ten minutes away from the Covington Costco. The lake is a ~150 acres lake with a nice park on the south side of the lake, as well as a boat launch directly adjacent to it. At the park, there is a recently renovated pier that folks can fish off. There is decent fishing at the lake, especially after the stocked trout are planted around mid-spring. More information about the park can be found in the link below.

Lake Meridian Park Website: https://www.kentwa.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/238/318

Here, you can find information on boat launch, rules, and parking information. There is usually plentiful parking here, especially in the morning, but the place can get very crowded in the summer on sunny days. The boat launch cost $5 for day use, and there is an electronic pay station there.

The lake is a two-pole endorsed lake, with standard freshwater regulations applied, so no special rules or regulations. The lake also features largemouth and smallmouth bass in addition to trout and kokanee. Kokanee is the species we are targeting in this article. Additional information regarding fishing opportunity at this lake can be found on the WDFW website linked below:

WDFW Website Lake Meridian: https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/locations/lowland-lakes/lake-meridian

There, you can find recent fish plant information for the lake, as well as the fishing prospect calendar to see which months are best for fishing.

For the annual trout plant schedule, the website below has information on both trout and kokanee stocking schedule. You can use that information to plan out when is the best time to hit this lake up.

Trout & Kokanee Stocking Plan: https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/reports/stocking/statewide

The park has plenty of amenities like bathroom and park benches for a nice family outing. You can fish off the piers and also swim there. During the summer, the city also hosts concerts there weekly which is a great time to go and enjoy time with the community.

Kokanee Fishing Technique & Gears

Lake Meridian kokanee fishing is similar to other kokanee fisheries. The same techniques and methods work great here. A great way to target them is by trolling. Since you don’t need to troll fast for kokanee, a pedal kayak is great here. Very convenient to use and a great cardio workout, but not strenuous. This lake is perfect for kayak fishing with launch sites from anywhere on the park, or over to the boat launch for paved roads.

For gears and tackles, I recommend using light trout gears. A light rod and a small 2000-3000 size reel are perfect here. I’ll link my setup below.

Rod (Okuma Kokanee Black): https://amzn.to/3y8GIiX

Reel (Okuma Coldwater Low Profile): https://amzn.to/3rtbfnH

The reel is overkill, but I also use it for salmon fishing. A line counter reel is recommended for trolling to know how much line you’re letting out. You can use any reel for this, all it needs to be able to support is a one to three oz weight to get the setup down in the water column.

The kokanees are not too deep at this lake, usually around the 25~30 feet mark, or even higher during the spring/fall, so you don’t need heavy gears to get it down. I use a scotty lake downrigger with a 4lbs ball on my kayak to get it down. I also use a sliding weight setup on the second rod with interchangeable weight between 1oz and 3oz. If you can use two rods, you can have one with less weight to target the higher water column and the other rod on either a heavier weight or downrigger to get it deeper down. A fish finder is nice to see where the fish are to narrow your focus on what depth to target, but not necessary. There’s a ton of trout in this lake that will take up a lot of the screen so it can make distinguishing between kokanee and trout difficult. Kokanee are usually deeper while the trout tend to be nearer the surface.

Trolling Location

A great thing about this lake is it is relatively small. You can get from one end of the lake to the other in about 20 minutes in a kayak. The trolling spot is conveniently right off the park at the south end by the boat launch and pier.

The most productive spot I’ve found is just right in front of the boat launch and going up to the middle of the lake against the norther side. Since the lake isn’t too big, you can probably troll the entire lake and be able to hook on fish without too much trouble.

Kokanee Setup & Bait

All standard kokanee gears work here. I like a small hoochies with double red hook behind a small flasher or dodger. Leader at 10# and about 10” long. Below are some tackle I like to use.

Dodger:

Mack D Dodger: https://amzn.to/3eG66G9

Sling Blade Dodger: https://amzn.to/3CH7RuD

Lures:

Mack’s Lure Double Whammy: https://amzn.to/3CG0zHH

Kokanee Squidder Rigs: https://amzn.to/3SbaH0P

My preference is anything with the color pink. They’ve been effective for me. The other nice thing is the rig above will work for trout also if you want to double up. If it’s a slow day, I’ll target trout also here since they are pretty plentiful at this lake and put up a pretty nice right, especially with light tackles.

The key is tipping the hook with either a piece of corn or a piece of Berkley Glup! Maggot.

Berkley Glup! Maggot: https://amzn.to/3EWPsNr

Both are just as effective, so whichever you have on hand will work. I like to use corn (fresh from a can) if I have them, but I pack the maggot just in case since they’re portable and long lasting.

When To Go

The best time to go is during Spring or Fall, but summer is also good for Kokanee here. My recommendation is to go early in the morning here since this lake is open to wakeboarder. The park hours for fast boating are after 12 PM, but I’ve seen them come out as early as 9 or 10 AM, so it’s best to get in at sunrise. The bite is usually better in the morning. Another good thing to check is the stocking schedule. Then you’ll know when the lake is filled with fish for optimal fishing, or when to avoid the crowd.

Conclusion

Lake Meridian is a great spot for local fishing in general. The park is clean, accessible, and with plenty of amenities that makes going there very enjoyable. Trout fishing is great here with the yearly plants of thousands of trout. Now that Kokanee are being planted again, the lake is very productive for them, especially in the spring to fall season.

Kayak fishing is fantastic for this lake. It is the optimal lake to for kayak fishing, especially for a pedal kayak that you can slow troll with. My hobie pro angler 14 performs great here and the trolling platform setup I have make it a great kokanee fishing vessel.

Bank fishing is also great here if you want to introduce fishing to the kids. Especially after the trout plant as the release spot is right adjacent to the pier, which makes pier fishing very productive during that time frame. The go to setup would be your typical bottom rig for trout fishing for a set it and forget it technique. Casting lures and retrieving is also very effective from the bank. There are also smallmouth and largemouth bass available to target as well as yellow perch.

I would definitely recommend the lake a try if you are looking for a great kokanee fishery that’s located right in the city. I hope the information on this blog provides you with a good foundation to give this lake a shot for some local Kokanee fishing. Check out my YouTube video on the lake for additional info and some action footage. Let me know if you have any questions in the video and I will try to answer them as fast as I can. Thanks for reading and until next time!