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Sammamish Lake Report
King County, WA

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Details

07/01/2008
Smallmouth Bass
Other
Plastics
Morning
07/01/2008
5
419

Got out to Sammamish early this morning, it was pretty cool outside, and cloudy, but it was great weather for fishing.

The day before, my dad told me if my brother and i had the boat all set up, attached to the truck, and had all the gear in it when he got home from work in the morning (he works nights) he would take us out there. I don't think he expected us to actually do it, so when he came home and saw us ready to go he was mad he made the offer. Haha.

I saw this show a long time ago where they were killing the smallies on tube baits, so i went out and bought some and forgot about them till today. They were either 3 or 4 inches. I found them in my box, and tried them out, and so did my dad and my brother. All we did was throw them out there, let them sit at the bottom for a few second, then moved 'em up. My dad caught the first fish probably 15 minutes after we started. It was a nice fish somewhere in between 1 and 2lbs, then a few minutes later he hooked into another one that was at least 2.5, a lot bigger than what i had caught. My dad caught one more smaller one for the rest of the day.

My first fish put up a great fight, i hooked it almost exactly where my cast landed, so i had to pull it in a ways. When it got to the boat, it was pretty scary. It kept on trying to dive strait down, and i was fishing from the front of the boat so i didn't want to get it wrapped up in the anchor line. I just had my brother net it for me. I think it was around 1.5lbs. I put it on the stringer (just for pics later) and about twenty minutes later i hooked into another one. I thought it was a perch at first cause it just bounced the rod tip up and down for a sec, but then i started to reel in, and it gave me a pretty good fight. I was able to just pull this one into the boat by the line. It was probably around 3/4lbs. I need to get a scale, lol.
I also lost one at the boat, that was ALOT bigger than the other two. I know its the same story you hear from all fisherman, but its true! I brought it all the way to the boat, and being the un-experienced bass fisherman i am, i tried to net it myself. Didn't work out very well, cause it saw the net and went crazy. It dove, my rod bent, then snapped right back up. Bye bye fish. So i took pics of the fish on my stringer, and released them. They swam of fine.

My little brother also got a nice little bass. Around the same size as my small one, but it was a pretty fish. It was a lot brighter then any my dad or i caught.

Then for the rest of the morning, we just fished for our dinner. We got about 40 perch, and kept 12 nice sized ones.

Sorry about the pics, i took them with my cell phone camera.


Comments

SlimySlab
7/1/2008 10:44:00 PM
You write very well young man. Nice pictures, great fishing and good job getting the boat ready. A day you'll remember forever. Fish ON!!
tagwatson360
7/2/2008 6:47:00 AM
'm not buying for a second that those fish are alive. I can tell by the yellow eyes and discoloration of their bodies that all three of those bass are dead or very close to expiring. If you want to keep fish inside the slot limit and risk getting a fine, that's up to you. Please don't feel the need to lie about releasing them alive.
BassinBomber
7/2/2008 10:21:00 AM
Hey Tag,..are you an employee for WDFW or an expert in Fish Species/ID or someting? Why would you even post something as negative as your comment,..at least PM the individual for privacy purposes,..who do you think you are? And who are you to judge anyone?
JT26
7/2/2008 11:51:00 AM
The two in the top picture were alive/released.
The light one was kept. I never said it was released, just the two i put on the stringer.
JT26
7/2/2008 12:02:00 PM
Statewide Smallmouth Bass rule: No minimum size. Only 1 over 14 inches may be retained. Daily limit 10. Bass may be caught, retained and released alive from a livewell until a daily limit is in possession.

So im pretty sure that fish was legal, unless theres something i dont know about....?
fishingmachine
7/2/2008 12:17:00 PM
Yes that fish is legal to be kept. The first picture fish are alive due to the color they dont look dead or expiring at all. Very nice fish JT.
Shad_Eating_Grin
7/2/2008 12:25:00 PM
Looks like Tag needs to re-read the rules. There is no longer a "slot limit" for smallmouth bass.
Rich McVey
7/2/2008 2:20:00 PM
Good fishin JT, I like reading your reports. you seem to post more than anyone else for Lake Samm so I guess that kinda makes you one of the "Lake Samm Forum Experts" :-) , Your killing me though.... I drive by Lake Samm twice a day. One day Im gonna drive off the road while Im looking to see who is out on the lake and where the boats are. Guess I need to find a place to park the boat while Im at work so that I can drop in for a few hours on the way home.

Keep up the good work!!!
Bruce Nelson
7/2/2008 4:38:00 PM
Good report JT! I'm going to have to try smallmouth in Sammamish I guess. Tag, sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut and have people think your a fool rather than..............................
tagwatson360
7/2/2008 4:44:00 PM
I stand corrected on the slot. I apologize.
EdmondsBassMan
7/2/2008 9:13:00 PM
Way to go JT! Nice fish and nice job on getting the boat ready to go! Also way to know the rules and regulations. You cited them like an expert. Tight lines!
robberelite96
7/2/2008 10:41:00 PM
All those fish look dead to me... WHY WOULD YOU PUT THE FISH ON A STRINGER IF YOU WERE NOT GOING TO KEEP THEM?!?! Release them ASAP if you are not going to keep them... great BIG fish too...
3riversbasser
7/2/2008 11:17:00 PM
JT gotta take your word for it, but in the future I would suggest releasing the fish immediately so their not getting drug around the lake on a stringer all day, even if they swam away fine, chances are their survival rate is low based on the condition they appear to be in. Good job gettin into the fish though, but to keep the fishing good for years to come take pics right away and release them,
BassinBomber
7/3/2008 7:31:00 AM
I agree 3river,..JT just take the pic right away then release,..that's def the best way to C&R,...Tag you're an @#$ you should really apologize to JT rather than the fact that your info is incorrect. Great job JT,..just take the advice of the other Bassers that make an impression on you,..!
Jake Dogfish
7/3/2008 7:10:00 PM
Nice Bass. Thanks for the report JT.
I remember the first time I discovered tube baits :)
T Dot
7/5/2008 1:10:00 AM
well now...

brownbomber shouldnt you now apologize to tag for name calling? this is not elementary school, nor are we children either. if you need to name call, whiy practice what you preach, and keep it to pm.

now to answer your question aboot who he is, well thats g14 classified information. when you do find out, im sure you will be quite surprised aboot your findings.

that is all.
jdlunk
7/5/2008 7:16:00 AM
Wow, all you sesitive bass guys, so worried about keeping a few bass. I agree if you are going to keep them then put em on a stringer and eat the tasty little buggers, and if not then take a picture and turn em loose. There is a good reason though that the smallmouth limit is now 10, and that is that if there are too many smaller fish, it stunts the growth of the population. Therefore I say keep the smaller ones and cook em, just as good as a perch really. And release the big ones, just my .02.
JDL
fishismylif
6/22/2009 9:23:00 PM
BassinBomber, Im kinda with the guys on this that say the fish are dead. In the pic with two fish the one on the left looks like its back is curving the wrong way and both fish look dead in the eyes. The one fish on the right is dead but the posted did already say it was and thats fine.

On another note...To call a person with so much knowledge as Tag an @$$ on the forum is probably the most disrespectful thing you can do. He does nothing but offer help and kind words to every single person that has ever asked him a question in the bass community. He is a great mentor and an outstanding angler.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Fast Action Guide Service

Phone: (425) 753-5772