Federal Way has plenty of water for anglers looking for places to cast their lines.
This article will show you eight great fishing lakes where you might catch trout, bass and other freshwater fish. On top of that, Puget Sound offers opportunities to catch several types of salmon and possibly dig a few clams while you’re at it.
For a couple of the more popular lakes mentioned below, we also have more comprehensive articles that will give you more information and strategies for catching fish near Federal Way.
If you’re willing to drive just a little, plan to also check out the links at the bottom of this article that will take you to similar features spotlighting the best fishing spots in nearby communities including Seattle, Auburn and Kent.
Five Mile Lake
Just southeast of Federal Way in the Lakeland South area, this lake tends to be stocked with several thousand trout each spring.
Trout fishing at this 35-acre lake (a.k.a. Fivemile Lake) will be fast and furious for a few weeks and then taper off quickly and be all but over before summer sets in.
As we’ve tracked the stocking over the years, plantings have often occurred in late April or early May. Recent plants have been around 3,200 catchable hatchery rainbow trout.
All fishing won’t end when the trout get caught out or too stressed by warming water.
Largemouth bass and bluegill are among so-called warmwater fishes for a reason, and you can reliably catch them here starting around the middle of spring, throughout summer and into fall. These fish are tougher but not impossible to catch in the coldest months.
There also are largemouth bass and bluegill, which likely will bite best as the water warms and trout fishing fades.
Five Mile Lake Park on South 366th Street (off Military Road S.) is a good place to start your fishing trip.
Lake Dolloff
This 20-acre lake just east of Federal Way (across I-5) in the Lakeland North area is often stocked with over 2,000 hatchery trout in the early season. Late April, give or take a few weeks, is about the right time frame.
Trout fishing will be best for a few weeks as the water remains cool and before anglers catch a majority of the fish. There also may be some wild cutthroat trout in the lake.
As the water warms later into spring and on into summer, you’ll likely have more luck catching resident largemouth and smallmouth bass (including some nice ones), black crappie and varous panfish species.
Other game fish here include both largemouth and smallmouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, rock bass, yellow perch and brown bullhead catfish, all of which are more active in the warm months.
Lake Dolloff reportedly can grow largemouth bass to excellent size for such a small lake.
This fishing spot is located in the residential Lakeland North between Federal Way and Auburn, just east of Interstate 5.
There is a state-owned public access for shore fishing, along with a boat launch for small watercraft, off 36th Avenue S. at the lake’s southern end.
Lake Geneva
While this lake in the Lakeland South area isn’t big (we’re talking less than 30 acres), it typically gets stocked with a very generous number of hatchery rainbows each spring.
When that happens, fishing here will be great for a short time that may stretch out a few weeks before it slows noticeably.
Unlike many lakes in King County, Lake Geneva has a seasonal opener in late April. It’s likely to be stocked with 5,000 or more legal-sized trout ahead of the opener and be ready to fish from day one.
Most of the fish will be caught during those spring weeks. If any trout manage to survive the summer, you might see an occasional catch later into the year before the closure.
As warmer weather takes hold in late spring, angling pressure will fall off and bit and those catching fish will likely start targeting resident warmwater fish such as largemouth bass and bluegill.
If you’re fishing from the bank, Lake Geneva Park on the northwest side is a good place to try. If you have a small boat, there’s a gravel launch along 38th Avenue S.
This lake is literally across 38th Avenue S from Lake Killarney. See a separate listing for Killarney, which also is stocked with trout.
Lake Killarney
This very near neighbor of Lake Geneva, as mentioned above, Lake Killarney in Lakeland South also gets a nice burst of rainbow trout fishing in the spring.
If recent years are any measure, Lake Killarney is likely to be stocked a single time either in late April or early May. WDFW might plant about 2,500 hatchery rainbow trout, a generous amount of opportunity for a 30-acre lake.
As with neighboring lakes, Lake Killarney is also a year-round habitat for various species of nonnative warm water fish, including largemouth bass, bullhead catfish, and popular panfish, including yellow perch, bluegill, and pumpkinseed sunfish.
To fish Lake Killarney, head to the 38th Avenue South access point, just across that street from the Lake Geneva access.
As long as the water level allows, you can launch a small boat on Lake Killarney, which will greatly improve your ability to reach more fish.
North Lake
This is a small but heavily stocked trout lake on the east side of Federal Way.
At just 55 acres, WDFW stocks a pretty amazing 9,000-plus hatchery rainbow trout in this fairly small waterway.
North Lake is managed as seasonal water and is typically stocked right before the late April opener. Trout fishing should be excellent from the jump.
The lake also offers anglers the chance to catch largemouth bass, yellow perch and perhaps other resident species.
Public access is provided by WDFW on the north side, just off Weyerhaeuser Way S., which is on the east side of Interstate 5. The access has both bank fishing and boat launching access.
Be sure to read our more detailed article about fishing at North Lake for more pointers.
More: North Lake Fishing
Puget Sound
Federal Way borders Puget Sound for several miles, from Poverty Bay to Dash Point State Park.
Offshore, Chinook salmon roam the depths year-round, chasing candlefish and other prey and can be caught trolling deeper water from boats.
Dash Point stretches into Tacoma in Pierce County, at Dash Point Park, where some of the best shore fishing occurs along beaches that drop fairly steeply into deeper water, allowing bank anglers to reach more fish.
While there’s a public fishing pier here, at last check, it was in need of repairs and had been closed for several years.
The most popular fishery here is when the pink salmon are migrating close to the shorelines during the late summer period of odd-numbered years. At the peak of the run, anglers will line the beach here and several other spots on Puget Sound.
Most anglers trying to catch these “humpies” will cast jigs, spoons, hootchies or other types of lures that can be any color, as long as that color is pink, pink, or pink.
Coho salmon may also be targeted from beaches and boats in this part of the Sound.
Whenever you fish for salmon, always study up on both the permanent rules and any emergency rules. Things can change quickly.
Clammers mostly come to Dash Point State Park’s beach in Federal Way to dig for horse clams during the first part of the year, but definitely be sure to check for closures. At last check, the state park in Federal Way was open, but the Pierce County park side was closed.
Star Lake
This lake in the Lakeland North area just northeast of the Federal Way city limits is most popular when it’s stocked with hatchery rainbow trout.
Prime time for trout stocking is often in the late April time frame, give or take a week or two in either direction on the calendar.
Star Lake is just over 30 acres in size, which isn’t that large, considering WDFW is likely to plant somewhere over 3,000 trout here.
Trout fishing will be best in the few weeks after it is stocked, before too many are caught out or the water starts to warm a bit much for trout.
As the water inevitably warms and the trout fishing action slows, you can change it up and fish for largemouth bass and other warm-water species.
You’ll find Star Lake (which is shaped a bit more like a triangle than a star) just east of Interstate 5 near the S. 272nd exit.
Nearly all of the shore is lined with private homes, so head to South Star Lake Road for a skinny little public access point between homes on the south side near the center where the lake bends south to a point. It’s right where 37th Avenue joins Star Lake Road.
Honestly, you’ll find very little in the way of shore fishing space at this tiny access, so short of casting off the launch itself, the ideal approach here is to launch a small watercraft and get yourself out on the lake.
Steel Lake
Along with North Lake, Steel Lake is among the best-stocked trout lakes you’ll find in Federal Way.
It’s not very large, but it’s very nicely planted with hatchery rainbow trout.
Expect plenty of those fish to be delivered prior to the season opener in late April (this is not an all-year fishing lake). Additional trout might be stocked during the prime spring season. Recent season totals have been in the 8,000 trout range.
Warm-water species can also be fun to catch. Largemouth bass and yellow perch are among the common catches during nicer weather.
The lake is home to the popular Steel Lake Park and Family Funland.
Check out our full-length guide to fishing this lake.
More: Steel Lake Fishing
Trout Lake
While there are two Trout Lakes with trout fishing in King County, the one in Lakeland South is the only one near Federal Way.
This is a small suburban lake (a pond, really) that is stocked once a year with a modest number of trout.
Expect a few thousand hatchery rainbows to be planted here. Recent history suggests that it will occur in late April, but that schedule can shift a bit.
When the trout fishing cools as the weather heats up, largemouth bass, crappie and bluegill can fill the void in the action.
These species not only like warmer weather, they also like hiding around structure such as the boat docks and, later in the warm season, the aquatic vegetation that can ring much of the shoreline.
Most of the lake is surrounded by private property, but there is public access on the south side, where you have a limited ability to cast from shore or can put in a small boat to really open up the entire lake to fish.
Washington Resources
WDFW Fishing and Stocking Reports
WDFW Fishing Regulations
National Weather Service forecasts