Lake Wash report 3/16

Met up w/ Pole², Espiga, and Charles for some trolling on Lake Washington. It was a little colder than expected and the wind was doing it's thing. It was very slow and had to really search for the fish. I ended up putting 6.5 miles on the yak odometer and had 3 hookups w/ one to the yak @ 13.5".

Z

Zee ... the Lake WA master!!!

Which way did you go?  After we circled south I came back north and couldn't see you anywhere.

-Allen

Nice work Zee!!  Yeah, where did you go?  To the fish I guess.    Did that smaller spoon you were telling me about do the trick?

-Jesse

Yeah, sorry about that guys. I talked w/ Espiga about cruising the s. end of Mercer and on my way got tangled up w/ Charles. Really, he didn't see my line..  . No worries buddy, happens all the time.

So I cruised Mercer (caught and landed first) and then to the w. side down to the cedar r. mouth (two more). There were a ton of marks @ 80'-100' but didn't have any gear that could get down that far. Wonder what they were And the smaller spoon did the trick.

I was hoping we'd meet up again but w/ the rough weather I don't blame you guys for packing it up. Next time we should bring our radios.

Z

Yeah, sorry about that guys. I talked w/ Espiga about cruising the s. end of Mercer and on my way got tangled up w/ Charles. Really, he didn't see my line..  . No worries buddy, happens all the time.

So I cruised Mercer (caught and landed first) and then to the w. side down to the cedar r. mouth (two more). There were a ton of marks @ 80'-100' but didn't have any gear that could get down that far. Wonder what they were And the smaller spoon did the trick.

I was hoping we'd meet up again but w/ the rough weather I don't blame you guys for packing it up. Next time we should bring our radios.

Z

Well, good thing I didn't try to find you.  I was thinking you went up the Mercer Channel ... to the right instead of the left.  I started to head up the channel, but then the wind started up again so I turned around.  Jesse and I headed towards the Boeing plants until it got shallow then headed in.

Dr Hook at Gamefishin showed a pic of marks at 80-100'.  His guess was that it was baitfish, possibly smelt.

-Allen



-Allen

More pics.



This guy's house is directly across the lake from the guy w/ the helicopter. Insane one-upmanship!

Z,

I was half expecting that fish to be posted on AOTY under Chinook, but I noticed that you also posted this on NCKA and called it a coastal cutthroat.

I'm not a salmonid expert, and I'm slowly learning them as I go, but I thought cutthroat were more.. well.. "spotty" with red markings on the underside of the jaw.  Maybe I just can't see them in that photograph.  The fish in the photo just looks more "salmony" to me.

I guess I also don't know anything about Lake Washington.  Does it even have chinook?  If so, is there a fishery for them there?

Anyway, either fish would have me beat at this point on AOTY. Good work getting out there.


Brian

My guess is sockeye (doesn't Lake Washington get a run of em?)



Sea-run cut should have a very prominent orange slash on the lower jaw, where the gill plate begins, and be a little spottier, like this:



Either way, good on you.  I just picked up a new kayak and then proceeded to spend the entire weekend doing chores around the house.

Definitely a sea run cutt.  Actually, probably a cutt/rainbow hybrid.  The ones in lake Washington are very much NOT spotty and do not have a prominent throat slash.

BTW, the tail itself should clue you in on that being a trout and not a salmon.  But what the heck, let's count anal fin rays.   

-Allen

The pic isn't the best so does make this a little questionable to ID. But if you look at the tail it's fully spotted and there's a faint slash under the jaw. Most likely like Pole said, a hybrid cuttbow. Here's another.

Z

Thanks Z,
That second photo looks a lot more troutish to me.  I know, I know.. look at the tail... but it is a little bit forked in that first photo.  Don't worry I believe you, but my first thought was dang.. Z has a salmon already.  Although at 13.5" I wasn't too scared.

Brian

Cuttbow would make sense.

Sea runs are among my favorite fish... I'm looking forward to doing some fly fishing for them via kayak in tidewater this year.

but my first thought was dang.. Z has a salmon already.  Although at 13.5" I wasn't too scared.

Brian