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Washington Lake Report
King County, WA

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04/12/2013
46° - 50°
Trolling
Cutthroat Trout
Other
Chartreuse
Cloudy
Hook & Bait
Morning
46° - 50°
04/12/2013
2
1395

So had a conference call at 9am for work but was able to put in on mute while I got the boat ready at Atlantic city launch. There was not a single boat trailer in the parking lot when I arrived so was able to sit out the call until 9:30 getting things ready. Finally at 9:30 headed over the west side of Mercer across from Seward Park and started my troll south using my freshly cured whole herring in a glow helmet. It was windy and was tough to keep the boat straight but kept it between 80-115 feet of water marking lots of bait around 20feet down. Was using an ounce and a quarter lead and just as I was rounding the bend my rod slowly starts to bend so go to take it out of the rod holder when it tugs and then goes slack. I start reeling in again when I get another strong tug and then nothing so when I reel in all I have left is an empty helmet and 2 hooks with no fish on! HOW DO they do that!!

Now the boat was really bouncing around so it was hard to get another herring on so grabbed my other rod already to go with a Brad's cut plug stuffed with herring and let out about 50 feet of line. As I was putting it in the rod holder, the rod tip buries into the water and it's FISH ON! No getting away for this guy as those 2 sickle hooks did their job and was able to net a beautiful 16" cutty! The hook had completely gone through his lower jaw and was hooked on the other hook so this guy was not getting away!

Decided to call it a day as I had to get to work only to have my big motor not want to start! Darn! It turned over a couple times but I think my mixture of old gas and new was not making it happy so had to motor in on my 8 horse 4 stroke Yamaha. Took longer then I wanted it too but it wasn't bad as it can push my boat along pretty good especially when I am by myself. The fillets were surprisingly bright orange as I have heard some of these cutts have whitish meat so was pleased when I cleaned it. I noticed 2 white sticklefish in it's stomach so may try using a white coho killer next time out just for fun. Has anyone ever tried that out here? Just curious!

See you on the water!


Comments

MotoBoat
4/12/2013 8:31:00 PM
That fish has some serious girth for its length! Did you happen to weigh it? Looks so much longer, if it weren't for the tale of the tape. What is the make and model of that reel. Looks familiar, but can not quite make it out?
salmonbarry
4/12/2013 8:53:00 PM
Hey motoboat, yea it was a fatty! The reel is the black max by Abu Garcia and I have a silver max on my other rod which is the Jared Johnson kokanee special.. They are sweet reels, very smooth and great for these fish because it has enough give on the drag where I don't lose too many kokanee's when hooked.
Toni
4/12/2013 9:53:00 PM
Nice fish. Is that black max have a flippin switch?
salmonbarry
4/12/2013 9:58:00 PM
Not sure what that is; but it does have a switch when you flip it, the bail stops when you release the bail release.
ARK
4/12/2013 10:18:00 PM
Samonberry,
I'm afraid that is not a cutthroat......looks like a resident (staying in Lake Waskington for its life) Coho! I've fished Lake Washington since the 1960's, and caught many many cutts....never come close to seeing a red fleshed fish like yours that wasn't a Coho or Sockeye. And a native at that, still had its "fin". Its mouth is very salmon like, not like a cutt.
Weekend-warrior17
4/13/2013 7:59:00 PM
@ ARK i was deffinatly thinking the same thing!! Looks a whole lot like a sockeye.. silvers dont have spots on there tails so im bettin on a sockeye (native)
LittleTrib
4/13/2013 8:08:00 PM
Definitely a cutthroat. Square tail and short anal fin = trout
urbanangler
4/13/2013 8:35:00 PM
nice lookin fillets!
salmonbarry
4/13/2013 10:58:00 PM
ok guys! Sorry but I am new to this fishery and I know there are a lot of different fish in there and also that the cutts look different from fish to fish; but I noticed this one had 2 feint orange slits under it's jaw so took it for a cutt. I will be more careful in the future in determining whether to keep it or not from now on. Thanks for the heads up Ark!
Nelly1
4/14/2013 2:04:00 AM
That's a cutt slamonbarry, don't let those trolls tell you any different. They need to keep thier mouths shut, geez.
Jeff_e_d
4/14/2013 9:39:00 AM
Sockeye are a bright bright silver with no spotts on the tail. That fish appears to me to have the typical spotts on the tail that you would normally see on a cuttroat.
Jeff_e_d
4/14/2013 9:42:00 AM
Also, coho may have some or a few spotts on the top of the tail but none to very few on the bottom. That tail is uniformially covered with spots.
SaNFiShOn
4/14/2013 10:57:00 AM
Nice catch! Its definitely a cutthroat.
Weekend-warrior17
4/14/2013 11:09:00 AM
Learn how to respect others @ Nelly1 and who says troll your a child?
Nangusdog
4/14/2013 8:09:00 PM
Nice fish Barry, congratulations!...wondered why we didn't see you on American Lake today!
I fished a couple hours in the mid morning and put three chunky rainbows in the kayak.
Nelly1
4/15/2013 5:38:00 AM
@WWarrior17..I think it's disrespectful to post to a guys report that kept a wild sockeye when it's obviously a cutthroat.
Oh, and it's *you're, btw.
Nelly1
4/15/2013 5:40:00 AM
oops... correction
@WWarrior17..I think it's disrespectful to post to a guys report that he kept a wild sockeye when it's obviously a cutthroat.
Oh, and it's *you're, btw.
Weekend-warrior17
4/15/2013 9:37:00 PM
@ Nelly1. YOU'RE annoying AF. maybe i was giveing him advice for the future nothing is obvious about that " trout" smh.
G-Man
4/16/2013 6:45:00 AM
Other than body shape everything else about that fish screams sea run cutthroat. The coloration on the cutts that make their way back from the salt is much less distinct compared to those that are lake residents. Add to that, colors and spotting tend to fade the longer a fish is dead and out of the water. As I don't surface fish much, almost all of the fish I catch are lake resident fish. The true sea runs tend to stay near the surface of the lake and chase smolts as they make their way out to the sound. Those of you who think that this is a sockeye or a silver, just take a look at the tail. When is the last time you saw a salmon with a square tail and small, evenly distributed spots all over it?
rayborbon
4/16/2013 8:53:00 PM
I think it looks like a coho. Doesn't look like a cutthroat to me.
salmonbarry
4/16/2013 10:45:00 PM
Thanks G-man and that makes perfect sense as I have been fishing the top water mostly lately and would explain the redder meat as well. Hope to see you out there sometime!
G-Man
4/17/2013 9:42:00 PM
You guys are killing me. Have a look at the fish in my report from the 20th of January 2013, that is what a coho looks like. Also, if you were to look into the mouth, you'll find that the coho have some grey/black color in there where the cutts will be all white.
blurock
4/18/2013 11:52:00 PM
Wow... I know I'm late to the party, but I can't believe what I'm reading and have to chime in. It's clearly a Cutt... And most likely a sea run. Meat color tells you nothing, even resident lake fish can have nice red meat, especially in Lake Washington. I've caught planter trout out of Lake Ballinger with pink meat. And all it takes is looking at the fish, and it's easy to see its a real nice fatty trout. But if you really gotta look, that tail clearly gives it away. Silvers have silver streaks in their tails and a very different shape to it, as well as spots only on the top half. And this fish is no where close to a sockeye... sockeye don't have spots on their tails, and only tiny spots on their body, usually hard to notice even. Salmonbarry you were correct in keeping this fish, and a nice fish it is! Congrats on the great catch, and thanks for the great report. The slits on the throat always give it away too. Keep up the great work, glad to hear your boats running better now too (From reading your other more recent reports)
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Fast Action Guide Service

Phone: (425) 753-5772