Right on my sister workes in issaquah right by the creek that goes to the hatchery and said not many fish as few yrs. and then she found out dairy gold had a bad leak of some kinda of gas thats been killing alot of the runs! any info on that 1?

I had heard the same type of things over the last few years. Yet, those Cutt's up in the North end of Lake Washington need to go somewhere, and I just figured Lake Sammamish. So what the heck...I also have read that the Kokenee are way down in numbers as well due to run-off pollution from the plateau ... So it's the same olde story .. Habitat degradation. SAD

I grew up on the Cedar River in the late 60's and early 70's, and during steelhead season we would pick up HUGE cut’s while drifting egg sacks, and when the rivers were out, we would hit the Sammamish slough and not only get Steelhead but also monster Cutt's ...

I think the fish counts are low in the creeks because the lakes were warmer than usual this year and the majority of Kings come up in late August. there was no water in the "slough" this year and whatever was was too warm. i believe a lot of ish perished due to the conditions this year and the fact that the King run was smaller than anticipated. While Darigold undoubtedly adds to the degradation of the stream... I would doubt that they are the "main" cause.

As far as Kokanee go... for sure the buildup of people in the watershed has totally harmed these fish. Last Spring however, I caught many Kokanee to about 17". Hopefully these fish are on the rebound somehow. Good luck!