Klineline Pond Fishing

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For a former gravel pit filled with water, this small pond near the heart of Vancouver offers a lot of bank-fishing options.

The 12-acre pond, inside Salmon Creek Regional Park and just off Interstate 5, is heavily stocked with trout and also has populations of bass and panfish.

Leave your boat at home.

Trout Fishing

Klineline is heavily stocked with hatchery trout during the cooler seasons, typically from late fall clear through spring.

There are likely to be extra trout planted right before the annual Klineline Kids Fishing Derby, and many fish are likely to be available soon after that.

Klineline trout plants often include thousands of pan-sized trout, mostly rainbows but also good numbers of cutthroat trout.

Brown trout have also been planted at Klineline at times, but these aren’t always in the plan.

The pond also is stocked with some trout in the the 1- to 2-pound range, and even several dozen broodstock trout that can average as much as 10 pounds, potentially with some larger individual trout in the mix.

Use the links below to help determine when the pond will be well-stocked with trout.

Fishing for remaining trout will taper off quickly in late May and into June, and by summer the water likely will be too warm for trout to tolerate.

Bait-fishing is the most popular way to catch stocked trout from the bank, but casting lures such as spinners and spoons or fly fishing can be effective as well.

See our article Trout Fishing: Basic How-To Techniques and Tips for more information on catching trout.

Bass and Panfish

Largemouth bass are available in modest numbers and will bite best starting in spring, when the water begins to warm and bass go into spawning mode.

Bass continue to bite well throughout summer and into early fall, although they can be caught all year. Slower presentations work best in colder water.

Largemouth bass are predators that feed on smaller fish, crayfish, and really just about any critter they can fit into their wide mouths.

Soft plastic lures, crankbaits, spinnerbaits and other lures that imitate their forage will catch bass. They also will bite nightcrawlers but baits tend to result in more fatal hookups, and most serious bass anglers release these long-lived fish.

Klineline has a good population of sunfish, including lots of bluegill and some pumpkinseed sunfish as well.

Sunfish are on the small side but they are eager biters and excellent fighters for their size.

Bluegill and their cousins tend to bite best in warmer weather and feed enthusiastically on red worms, pieces of nightcrawler, mealworms and crickets. They are expert bait thieves, so thread smaller baits close to your small hooks for the most catches.

An angler on iFish.net reported good numbers of bluegills at Klineline that will strike flies fished under a bobber, especially at dusk. Ant and Adams patterns should work.

Other fish you might catch here include bullhead catfish, common carp and northern pikeminnows.

If you accidentally catch a grass carp, it must be released. These fish were planted to help control aquatic weeds that might otherwise overrun the pond.

The other smaller ponds in the park likely have some of the same warmwater species but are not planted with trout.

Location and Facilities

Klineline Park is located within the large Salmon Creek Regional Park.

There is excellent bank-fishing access on the south and west banks. I-5 is on the east side and there are homes along the north shoreline.

Watercraft of any kind are not allowed at Klineline.

It’s located on Northeast 117th Street, easily reached off either Highway 99 from the east or Hazel Dell Avenue from the west. It’s less than 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

There is good park and fishing access for people with disabilities.

The park is a popular place, especially during warm weather. It also includes a swimming area with seasonal lifeguards on duty, plus a splash play area, traditional playgrounds, lots of trails and plenty of picnicking.

Find more fishing spots in Clark County

Washington Resources

WDFW Fishing and Stocking Reports
WDFW Fishing Regulations
National Weather Service forecasts

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