The channel

When you launch from the public launch, if you go to your left/West, that area up to the bridge (Industrial Boulevard/Lake Washington Boulevard) I call the channel.  It is basically the canal that connects the locks/gates to the main lake.  Structure wise it is pretty similar the whole way with a man-made rubble shoreline, silty bottom, and trees lining the shore.  From the bridge it is around 18 feet and slowly descends to about 12 feet by the launch and then deepens again by the gates. The whole area is pretty much nice fishing structure but I have never put too much effort into fishing it. 

The two areas that are productive is the little area around a water in flow area.  It is some sort of run off spot that constantly has water flowing into the channel.  It is located on the opposite side to the launch about fifty feet before the bridge.  Listen for the water running in.  This is a decent spot to catch bluegills.  The second area is my most productive schoolie striper spot.  As your facing the bridge on the way out to the lake, there are three full size trees on the left side.  There is a fourth tree but it is right on the shore line.  From that fourth tree straight out and almost in the center is an area with a bit of broken bottom structure.  It seems to attract bait and also Stripers.  That stretch runs down to about equal to the water run off area is my drifting bait area in the channel.  Just below the bridge on the north side is another area where the bait seems to conjugate midwater column.

First Dock (outsde the bridge)

Once you pass under the bridge, you come upon the first set of docks to your right (north).  This is the end of the deep water channel or where they stopped the deep dredging.  As you are paddling along the center of the canal, if you look to your right you will see a huge circular water storage tank.  As you come perpendicular to the tank you will see (if you have a depth finder) a drop of about ten feet (24 to 34 feet within a ten foot range).  This pretty much runs almost shoreline to shoreline.  This is another good spot to work the drop especially on the outgoing tides.  At the end of the first dock is a drop light that is set-off by a motion detector.  It provides a very lit up area at night.  This is not as productive as the dock end light by the tug boats farther up, but security at the moment has that area closed off. 

As you pass under the bridge, if you pass to the right of the docks and the two parked barges, you come up to a sheltered area in the back where I pick up the majority of my bait.  The specific spot is a concrete slab located equal to where the two barges are backed into each other.  It forms a little current area between the gap that flows into the shore where the concrete slab and a large tree are located.  Lots of bluegills located in this area.  Farther down there is another water outlet which occassionally has water coming out.  A lot of the overhanging trees hold gills under them.  Work under the trees or right along the shore line.  Drop your bait under a bobber and if you don't get some nibbling within ten seconds, pull up and drop in another spot.  If you catch one, stay in the same spot and see if there is a school.  One solid area will fill your bait needs for a day.

The docks are posted 100ft off limits and occassionally there are security guards.  Personally I fish these areas and if they kick me out I just say okay and move along.  The docks are the best areas to find Crappie.  The bank on the opposite side ranges about three feet deep out to about ten feet from the bank with a lot of greenery and then a drop off to about 34 feet.  Lot's of shore fisherman hit these areas.