Lake Washington Walleye, Mackinaw, or Sturgeon?

[Palmer]

Has anyone caught any of these species lately in Lake Washington? I've come across some articles on the subject of these species inhabiting Lake Washington and there was a post on this website of a walleye having been caught out of the Lake.

I'm thinking the walleye population should be increasing rapidly.

[A9]

I think this topic was discussed earlier...Check the search function...

That one walleye picture from the Lake Washington report seems fishy. Look at the picture. It's just a walleye in a net, taken by a poor quality camera...

Sturgeon. Every so often (Seems like once a decade) a big sturgeon will wash up somewhere.

Mackinaw? It's presumed that they *might* be there, but no one has caught any and I've heard of none caught so far.

None of these species are worth targeting now....Let's hope these fish stay out of the lake too...

[Fisherman_max]

well sam, i do not see why a sturgeon population in lake washington would hurt anything, might even create a stable fishery. sturgeon are almost always scavengers, they eat what they find on the floor of the lake or river. yea maybe a crawfish might miss out on a dead fish every so often but other than that i cant see any long term "negative affect"

now walleye and mackinaw, i have no clue if they would have a good or bad inpact on lake washington. with walleye the perch population would get thinned but would actually mean larger perch in the future. mackinaw, i really cant say that i know what they would do.

[Derrick-k]

Walleye, and lake trout would be bad for the native salmon steelhead and trout, because they would prey on young outmigrateing smolts.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

sturgeon come in thru the locks. Just about every river mouth in WA state (that flows to the Sound or ocean) has sturgeon in it.

[Fisherman_max]

yea derrick, i did not know how the mackinaw or walleye would affect the natives but i KNOW sturgeon would do fine.

[colton]

has anyone ever caught sturgeon out of lake washington?

[tnj8222]

i have heard of a sturgeon caught in the duwamish river. so if they get in there everynow and then lake washington gets some everynow and then as well. im sure its in very very low numbers though.

[Fisherman_max]

yea, somewhere i heard that sturgeon dont spawn anywere else but the columbia and i think one more river. i am sure that they dotn spawn in the salt but who knows.

[Palmer]

The WDFW will tell you that there are walleye and may still be some sturgeon in Lake Washington. I also have come across some articles stating that there are "Lake Trout" in Lake Washington.

I like to pose the question on this site about every 3 - 6 months to see if anyone has caught any.

[A9]

I thought the WDFW said that the only body of water in Western Washington with Walleye is the Columbia, and every lake that holds walleye is on the other side of the cascades...
I want to say I remember reading an article in the Seattle Times a few years back regarding a UW research boat catching one.

And with some researching the Seattle times, I found it!
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.c ... washington

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

There's the odd walleye that gets caught out of Lake WA every so often. Slabking said he knew where to find them. Not sure if he's on this board, he may be.

[Bodofish]

I caught one on the east end of the 520 bridge. Aug 2006 evening. It was quite a suprise to me.

[tnj8222]

There's the odd walleye that gets caught out of Lake WA every so often. Slabking said he knew where to find them. Not sure if he's on this board, he may be.

he is on this board but i havent seem him post since last summer. slabking knows his stuff!! hes the reliable source i was talking about that told me about crappie spawning near ceder river in lake washington.

[Anonymous]

I also have come across some articles stating that there are "Lake Trout" in Lake Washington.

To my knowledge there are no Mack's or Lake Trout in Lake Washington. The WDFW Officer I talked to last week confirmed this, and told me that "Lake Trout" are now considered the "Cutthroat Trout" of Lake Washington. He referred to the cutts as "lake trout" which is technically not true, as lake trout are not the same as cutthroat trout...not sure where he got that...however, there are occasional walleye and sturgies but no mackinaw or true lake trout.

[A9]

I also have come across some articles stating that there are "Lake Trout" in Lake Washington.

To my knowledge there are no Mack's or Lake Trout in Lake Washington. The WDFW Officer I talked to last week confirmed this, and told me that "Lake Trout" are now considered the "Cutthroat Trout" of Lake Washington. He referred to the cutts as "lake trout" which is technically not true, as lake trout are not the same as cutthroat trout...not sure where he got that...however, there are occasional walleye and sturgies but no mackinaw or true lake trout.

Uh-oh!!!! Our WDFW officers are calling cutts "Lake Trout"??????????:-" [-x [-x

[Anonymous]

I also have come across some articles stating that there are "Lake Trout" in Lake Washington.

To my knowledge there are no Mack's or Lake Trout in Lake Washington. The WDFW Officer I talked to last week confirmed this, and told me that "Lake Trout" are now considered the "Cutthroat Trout" of Lake Washington. He referred to the cutts as "lake trout" which is technically not true, as lake trout are not the same as cutthroat trout...not sure where he got that...however, there are occasional walleye and sturgies but no mackinaw or true lake trout.

Uh-oh!!!! Our WDFW officers are calling cutts "Lake Trout"??????????:-" [-x [-x

Yeah, I know, scary stuff! We talked at Beaver Lake in Issaquah and he said "well you know those lake trout in Lake Washington are prime right now" and I said "you mean the cutthroat right?" and he said nope, "the lake trout which are the cutthroat." I really think there is a lot of confusion and lack of education when it comes to the LW cutt fishery... when it comes to what a lake trout is vs. a cutthroat trout there should be no discrepencies. It's very apparent to me and many others, but some people even a WDFW Officer believed that the cutthroat were termed "lake trout." Yeah, I thought the same thing too.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

There are lake trout and Lake Trout. The common, ordinary lake trout are various species of trout found in lakes.

Lake Trout are a specific trout, actually a charr.

When talking of lake trout/Lake Trout one should take care to explain what one means.

Yes, Lake Trout were stocked in Lake Washington. You have to go back a number of years to find the data. Lake Trout didn't just happen in Lake Chelan, the lakes at the top of Snoqualmie Pass or the lakes over north of Spokane. They were stocked there in previous years.

Cuttthroat trout are lake trout (trout found in lakes). Cutts are not charr. I'd like to think the WDFW employee knows the difference in his trout and was only misunderstood.

I have plans on posting some pics of Lake Trout later this year.

[Palmer]

Yes, Lake Trout were stocked in Lake Washington.

So you do recall seeing an article regarding the planting of Mackinaw in Lake Washington.

I did find an article that over 20 different exotic fish were planted in Lake Washington around 1910 for the big Alaska-Yukon expedition that took place where the UW now stands.

Bull Trout look like Mackinaw and here is an article stating there is a very small population of Bull trout in Lake Washington:
http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/pdf/Utilit ... lkhead.pdf


Here is a quote from a website: http://www.watrailblazers.org/science/crawford/

VII.A Lake Trout (Makinaw) Salvelinus namaycush, Walbaum
The first known introduction of lake trout in Washington occurred in 1900 when fry were planted into Lake Washington, Newman Lake, Lake Whatcom, and Loon Lake by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. Six other lakes were subsequently stocked between 1901 and 1904. Various other lakes were planted from time to time through the years. Even tributary streams of Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington were planted in 1920. Most of the trout were obtained from the state of Wisconsin. The number of lake trout planted between 1921-32 is not known. However, when the Department of Game was founded in 1933, lake trout were annually planted into Deep and Loon Lakes near Spokane until 1938. Some of these fish were obtained from Ontario, Canada, Michigan and Henderson, Wisconsin. Today self-sustaining lake trout populations can be found in Loon Lake, Stevens County].

Here is another quote from another source: http://www.fish.washington.edu/research ... s/9407.pdf
"ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE
LAKE WASHINGTON DRAINAGE"

45. Beauchamp, D. A. 1982. Lake trout (Salvinelinus namaycush) - feasibility of introduction into Lake Washington.
WA Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, University of Washington. Seattle. (unpublished) Location: UW SOF/
THS
FISH, L. WASHINGTON, STOCKING
The biological benefits from introducing lake trout in Lake Washington are addressed by comparing the life
history characteristics and requirements of lake trout with the habitat present in Lake Washington.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Lake Trout were stocked in Lake Washington.

So you do recall seeing an article regarding the planting of Mackinaw in Lake Washington.

I did find an article that over 30 different exotic fish were planted in Lake Washington around 1910 for the big Alaskan exposition that took place where the UW now stands.

I'd be interested in reading some of these articles...especially the topic of Macks planted in Lake Washington, cause I have a hard time believing they exist right now in the lake...they may have been planted and never survived.