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Washington Lake Report
King County, WA

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04/17/2011
Trolling
Cutthroat Trout
Other
White
Plastics
Noon
04/17/2011
2
1303

Not quite sure what to make of today’s fishing adventure. It would appear that the cutts in Lake Washington know the sound of my boat and vacate the area as soon as set up to troll. The weather today was just about perfect and I set out to see what was going on at 520 and Evergreen Point. As has been the case for the past couple of months, the bait was just about everywhere. It seemed that every grebe I saw had either a stickle back or a smelt in its beak. I worked the area over with a few different setups and had 2 small chinook take my mini hoochie about mid span of the bridge. The water temps in the area were right at 47 degrees and looked to be slightly stained with a tinge of green, the algae must be in bloom. I decided to run down to the south end to see if I could find any cutts staging for the smolts coming out of the Cedar. Spotted a large flock of grebes near Coleman Point and ran a flasher and hoochie right off the bottom in 40’ of water. Finally, something with some weight behind it hit my gear. Turned out to be a near 4lb, per the digital scale, smallie that put up a nice fight. What I found odd was that the surface temps here were at 51 degrees and gradually receded as I trolled further towards the mouth of the Cedar. I picked up another juvenile chinook half way between Coulon and South Point and that sealed it for me. The waters in the south end are still a bit cloudy, but much better than they were a couple of weeks ago. The Lake level is just about what I’d consider “full pool”, maybe a few inches shy. I think I’ll target the spawning perch my next trip out.


Comments

Elijah.Loves.Fishin
4/18/2011 12:36:00 AM
wow, now that's a toad! what a fat smallie! the tail fin looks unusually fat too, must have put up a great fight!
G-Man
4/18/2011 8:42:00 AM
The tail does look abnormally large, and I could really feel her using it.
coretron22
4/18/2011 10:24:00 AM
I was out at the Fishing pier in Seward Park...saw someone trolling the point as I approached, but didn't see if they caught.
I stayed until dark, because I too was seeing fish everywhere. I'd see a bunch of 4-6in. fish jumping in sporadic places, so I figured there were hunters underneath, but nothing wanted my offerings.
Any ideas what I was seeing? Should I fish the bottom under these schools, or try to imitate them?
G-Man
4/18/2011 11:57:00 AM
What you saw were probably salmon smolts and they are going to be all over the lake in search of food. Once they are in lake and the cutts are targeting them, any baitfish imitation (spoon, mini rapala, hotshot, etc) will work. Try and get your presentation down about 10 feet and you should get some action if the cutts are around.
danm
4/18/2011 12:15:00 PM
I think I saw you trolling north of 520 around 11am or so as I drove across the bridge. Nice bass. I have to try trolling for bass to see if I can get any. I hooked perch while trolling for cutts on lake washington but never a bass. Nice.
vdoperal
4/19/2011 1:37:00 PM
Where would you go to find spawning perch? I can catch them pretty consistantly in the warm summer months but hey always seem to disappear this time of year for me.
G-Man
4/19/2011 3:53:00 PM
You should be able to find them in the 40' range right about now. Watch your fish finder and when you see a mass along the bottom in 50' to 30' of water, drag a spinner and worm through it. If you come up with a perch, anchor and jig away.
dresscode5
4/23/2011 5:37:00 PM
How deep was that bass??? Good looking fish, congrats.
G-Man
4/23/2011 6:26:00 PM
I had just started bouncing bottom in 40' of water when the bass took my gear.
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Website: Fast Action Guide Service

Phone: (425) 753-5772