Northwest Fishing Reports

I finally caught a nice smallmouth on Lake Sammamish. It was in 8ft of water near marymoor park. My dad, brother and i were fishing for perch (did really good too) with a long leader, and then a short leader coming off of it with a hook. Kinda like a dropshot, but with the hook not directly on the main line.

We had been catching perch all day so i just switched out the worm with a i think 5inch brownish berkely power worm. After about 30 minutes of throwing it, i finally got a bite. It fought really good, but we landed it with a net because we're not experienced bass fisherman.

I wish i could say it was safely released, but sadly, it wasnt. I asked my dad if i could put it back and he said no, he wanted to see what they taste like out of here. I switched rods with him and he caught a few more smaller ones and threw them all back though, so i guess that was good.

Anyone know what it was doing there? I hope it wasnt on a bed or anything...
And does anyone have an idea on the wieght? It was 16.5 inches. And in that second pic dont think its small cause of the Perch, cause those two are 12.5 each.

Around 2.5 lbs probably....

http://www.smallmouthbass.org/bass-weig ... ulator.htm

This site gives an approximate girth measurement for a specified length. If you had exact girth measurements we could get a more accurate approximate for the weight.

This site says a 16.5 inch length approximates girth to be just over 12 inches, bringing total weight to 2.3 lbs or so....

Based on the color, looks like a female.

I'm sure Sammamish will survive, I know the feeling when fishing with my dad, he wants to keep everything. Put it this way, without our dads, we wouldn't be fishing.

Yeah nice fish but if i am correct i believe you are not able to keep bass between 14-17 inches.

fishingmachine wrote:Yeah nice fish but if i am correct i believe you are not able to keep bass between 14-17 inches.

The is no longer a slot for smallmouth.

Oh okay there was one last year right. But JT nice fish that is a hog

I believe current regs say 10 smallies, only one above 14" can be retained. Next time, tell your old man to keep the smaller ones, they taste better and hold less pollution.

Thanks guys that is good to know.

kzoo wrote:I believe current regs say 10 smallies, only one above 14" can be retained. Next time, tell your old man to keep the smaller ones, they taste better and hold less pollution.

Exactly... Nice 2lber...

Thanks guys for the wieghts, and the compliments.
Im kind of relieved, i thought people would be pissed off about keeping that smallie.

How did she taste by the way?

[quote="JT26"]Thanks guys for the wieghts, and the compliments.
Im kind of relieved, i thought people would be pissed off about keeping that smallie. [-o&lt]

Don't sweat it JT. The WDFW changed the rules for smallies because they are beginning to overpopulate. If they become too abundant, there won't be many big fish to catch -- just a shload of dinks. Keeping a few for the dinner table is actually a good thing!

By the way, those are some VERY nice perch!