Mandate Barbless Hooks For Lake Sammamish

[Mike Carey]

Sharphooks, have you ever contacted the WDFW biologist for Lake Sammamish and had this discussion with him/her? If not, I would encourage you to do so and report back to us what the biologist had to say. Change only takes place when someone has enough passion to turn words into action. I'm happy to follow up a conversation with the WDFW biologist after you after you do so and I'm willing to write an article on the fishery as well and get it out into the angling community. But only if you take the initiative.

Mike, your recommended pathway to hopefully bring about change on this now discussed matter is a very good one, however, I believe it needs to be carried out by someone who has more youth and energy in their favor than a person like myself who soon will be saying goodbye to my 70's. Hopefully that person will show up here and take the reins as you have suggested. I see my role here as one who is simply bringing this matter to the forefront only. I only wish that I could carry it further, however, its simply not practical for me at this point in my life and I do hope you understand. Please know that I've already over the course of a number of years have worked diligently with many others fine folks to resurrect the Kokanee fishery on Lake Sammamish. I therefore consider my main thrust effort to now be limited to what I've already done.

Totally understand and thank you for your past efforts. Yes, others do need to take up the fight. I'm not saying I will, but I'm not saying I won't...

[smokey34]

Have to side with Sideburns - As I said before - Barbless hooks, small limits, closures etc. are 'feel good' acts that anyone can get behind, BUT the much bigger issue is predator species, water quality (including temperature) and food source. Baring improvements in these - you can plant a Cazillion fish a year and the only change is smaller adult fish. Sammamish is a HUGE lake - The reason it can't support a kokanee fishery any longer sadly has little to do with fishermen.

[Sharphooks]

Thanks everyone for voicing your opinions here and thanks to Mike Carey for giving us that opportunity. I know many of you have very strong feelings that run deep and that is to be respected. From my point of view and to conclude my remarks here, I will reiterate that Lake Sammamish is now encircled by a multi million person population. It not the somewhat off the beaten track lake that I once knew back in the 50's, 60's and part of the 70's - - - and, yes, negative ecological factors have played into what we now see happening on Lake Sammamish. To treat Lake Sammamish in the same manner from a fishing regulation standpoint as a similar lake with the same species of fish located in a vastly under populated area of our state untouched by negative ecological factors just does not click with me. The way I see it, like it or not, fishing regulations need to be changed for Lake Sammamish and sized appropriately to match the very high demand for fishing opportunities that now exist in the Greater Seattle area. I think to maintain the status quo as to how Lake Sammamish is fished is without any doubt in my mind a pathway that in a short period of time will lead to a lake that has very undesirable fishing opportunities across all species of fish. The status quo simply put can't be maintained. In another way of putting it, we can't have our cake and eat it too. I do hope the decision makers within the WDFW will act when they consider formulating upcoming fishing regulations to ensure our Lake Sammmamish fishery is sustained for all to enjoy as an outdoor experience for years to come.

[TrackerPro16]

If the Koke fishing is in that bad of shape then stop that fishery and see if it recovers. As has been stated I doubt just the fishing for them has caused the problem. Maybe stop all 'commercial' fishing?
The runoff into all the lakes is probably more of a problem.

[FishingFool]

As a bass fisherman that fishes Lake Sammamish A LOT, I have no problems with barbless hooks. I'm not doing this for a living or tournaments. It's just a hobby for me. I just like to be out on the water and catch some fish. I do what I can to minimize the damage to fish I catch, such as pinching my barbs and using a rubber net.

Now what I have an issue with is, the no treble hooks allowed during this duration. You can not get your crankbaits and similar lures to run right otherwise. Maybe the lure companies can come up with a replacement, but the market is so small for this, it's not worth the hassle. Also with treble hooks, I dont know if they even make "barbless" versions. I've caught plenty of small fish with the treble and it can do significant damage to the smaller fish(2-8"), depending on how they're hooked.

In all my limited years of bass fishing, I can only remember 3 times I've caught a trout by accident. 1 was at Lake Sammamish on a tube in deep water. 2 were at Lake Meridian. 1 on a wacky-rigged dropshot and other on a crankbait. The crankbait actually hooked into somebody's broken line, which was hooked onto the fish.

The issue with Sammamish, I suspect it has more to do with water quality and predatory issues, than barbed hooks.

[Sideburns]

Sharphooks, I enjoyed the discussion and I honestly have taken your concerns to heart. Civil discussions like these plant seeds that bring about change. These native cutts and the last of the native kokanee strains are very important to me too.

[FishingTenor]

I thought I better chime in with my experience on Sammamish. I Grew up on Sammamish late 60’s on. Kokanee, Bass, perch fishing was excellent. Could catch perch off the dock nearly every cast with a worm. Kokanee 3-5 typical in an hour of trolling with les Davis and worm. Easy to get 30-60 crawdads in a trap overnight. Could gather 20+ small frogs on the beach. In 70’s UW research put crawdad traps all down the lake from south end. This completely decimated the population of crawdads! New waterfront houses and fertilizers on manicured lawns + septic systems using lake water must have impacted the water quality and spawning beds. Definitely not over-fishing nor barbed hooks. Honestly, I don’t love the use of barbless hooks and I am not a big fan of catch and release. It ruins my hooks for when I do want barbs in a different location. It was a relief when they lifted the restriction on barbed hooks in Sammamish. I have chosen to keep only what I will eat fresh with my family after a catch of 2-3 fish max. I question how many fish caught and released will survive even without the barbs...? In the Kokanee era on Sammamish, I never caught a single cutthroat, crappie or northern pike minnow, but caught those in 2018. Definitely a change in species and habitat. Cutthroat have shown to be much more adaptable to variations in temperature and thus are thriving year round, are growing in numbers and are probably feeding upon Kokanee and their smolts, eggs. It is great to see such a lively discussion. See you on the water...Larry

[Sideburns]

Thanks for your input fishingtenor. I'm curious about those crawfish traps of the 70's. This is the first ive heard of that. Do you have any idea of what the university's goal was? I would imagine it would take hundreds if not thousands of traps to have such an effect? A quick google search shows they are still doing "invasive crawfish research" out there.

It sure is interesting how many lakes Ive noticed the Kokanee decrease / Cutthroat increase phenomenon. I wouldnt have guessed a filter feeding species and predator species would be so directly entwined. Ive noticed anglers on several other lakes mistake little cutts for the previously caught kokanee, since the increase/decrease in populations commonly seems to be timed so close. Those shiny little cutts look very similar and seem to school similarly to kokanee too.

The water phosphorus levels are what sewage and fertilizers mostly affect, but even with all of the online available water quality data (for many king county lakes), Ive had a hard time seeing a direct relationship to reported fish caught.... I have read that the phos was actually much higher in the 60's. https://www.kingcounty.gov/~/media/envi ... h=366&as=1

[FishingTenor]

Hi Sideburns,
I believe there were hundreds of crawdads traps, maybe more. UW school of medicine took them for research purposes. Maybe they discected them in the medical school. Completely decimated the population. Don’t recall if it was one or two summers. This should never happen. Another possible impact happened with the Issaquah creek. When they developed the property and created the Issaquah Microsoft campus, fill from foundations and trees were pushed into the creek rather than taken away. I saw this and contacted the local hatchery group FISH. The person I talked to was of the opinion that this would improve, rather than worsen creek habitat for fish. Large tree roots could serve for shelter, shade and even rearing for fish. The salmon runs don’t seem to be altered by it, but I don’t like the idea of anyone messing with the stream.

[FishingTenor]

Hi Sideburns, I just though about another change that should be monitored related to its impact. The Sammamish outlet was modified last year to allow increased flow out of the lake when it gets high. This is the first year that the docks have not gone under water, because excess flows out. Homeowners like this a lot, but I wonder how this will change habitat for fish and wildlife...? Just occurred to me and thought I should share with someone else.

[noah the angler]

THE ALIENS FROM SPACE SECTOR 3 DO NOT WANT BARB LESS HOOKS BECAUSE THE FISH WILL TAKE OVER THE EARTH! I AM NOT LYING I HAVE DONE MY RESEARCH SAVE WASHINGTON< SAVE THE COUNTRY< SAVE THE PLANET AND SAVE SPACE DONT FALL INTO THE TRAP!



JK LOL hahahahahahahahaha