1) lakes in your area to consider: Blackmans, Silver, Goodwin, Ki. All have fiar to good shore access. Goodwin is a state park. Target species would be trout mainly.

2) Those sound like sculpin - your basic bottomfinder nuisance fish.

3) Your spinning gear will work just fine, in fact better for a beginner than the fly gear.

4) this web site for starters. Explore the articles and stories section for a wealth of info on different fishing techniques, places, etc. Read the reports to get ideas and clues. After that check out the WDFW website (but this site has more info

Hope this helps!