Myself and my two dogs jumped in my drift boat to fish the south end of Lake Washington for the first time. Tough fishing. I went there because I thought the south shore would block the south wind a bit. It did but not by much. Pretty bouncy ride in my flat bottomed boat. Also, the Cedar was puking out tons of mud and debris throughout the whole area I wanted to target; Cedar mouth to south point of Mercer Island. I then motored up to Seward Park and trolled a Triple Teezer spoon on a sinking fly line and a perch diving Rapala plug on a gear rod. Nothing. Same thing on the north side of Seward. Then I tried to fish the choppy side of I-90 but decided it was too sketch. I then went across on the mellow side and fished the north end of Mercer Island. Nothing. After that it was getting darker and I had to fight the wind all the way back on the east side of the island with my 9.9hp.

Fun day off and good looking water but apparently I have a lot to learn about Lake Washington cutthroat fishing. Weather, river flow and fish all worked against me on this scouting trip. Hopefully I gained a little wisdom for better luck next time.

onebigsteelhead

1/19/2011 8:20:00 PM

You should check out the Cutthroat reports for Lake Sammamish. Very productive fishery at the moment. We are heading out this weekend. Try white hoochies with a grub on the end of your hook. According to the weather reports should be partial sun this weekend (of course don't hold your breath:). Good Luck!

Matt

1/19/2011 9:20:00 PM

And with the partial sun it also says LITTLE TO NO WIND which is key in this troll fishery.

RiverChromeGS

1/20/2011 5:41:00 PM

Another thing, i have never caught a top water cutt in lake washington. They seem to want bait, fish bait. They eat fish, so herring is ALWAYS productive, and Deep, around the mouth of the cedar, the fish hug the bottom. I have been snagged up in weeds before, stopped the boat to make sure my downrigger ball doesnt break off, and i get soooo many fish when this happens. Use a downrigger, fish 10 feet off the bottom in 50 feet of water with herring or something like herring (spoons, brads mini cut plugs). This is what the monster fish eating lake washington cutts want. i posted 2 posts back, check out the description and pics, all deep on herring. Try this again soon, on a calm day. Its good right now, you'll get fish.

fishmanjh

1/28/2011 5:33:00 PM

Actually, I've caught the majority of my big cutts 15-20 feet down. Down riggers certainly help in the summer, yet in April, May, and early June I just troll my home made wedding rings with worms and do fine shallow. And in fact ,if you are in a drift boat, all the better. Before a got a "fishing" boat, I used to row, and the erratic action caused by rowing is a bonus, plus you get a bit of exercise. So don't give up. It's a big lake and a 1000 ways to fish it.

I wish I had oar locks still ...

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