A buddy and I hit Sammamish today from about 10am till about 2pm fishing for cutts. We started on the East shoreline and trolled up and all around the weather station. Picked up our first fish up past the point in 22 feet of water on a dodger and hootchie with a blade on it. Trolled a while longer and got a double hookup on the West side of the weatherstation, but only managed to get 1 of the fish to the boat. Went down around the mouth of the creek for about an hour hour and a half and got no bites. Tried trolling needlefish and varying speeds/depths, we just weren't hitting 'em. Didn't see a single net fly all day, talked to one boat at the launch who said they had gotten 2, both fish we got to the boat were smaller fish about 15" or so, nice pretty fish though. Think this lake has been getting a TON of pressure, normally this time of year it is nonstop hookups. Last year in March when we fished it was us and maybe 2 or 3 other boats on the water, now it looks like a salmon hotspot out there 25 boats + on the weekend and 10-15 on the weekdays every single day. Reminds me of what has happened to the Lake Stevens fishery.

G-Man

3/7/2011 1:11:00 PM

Sounds like a tough day on the water Matt. The lake did get hit pretty hard this winter so that may have had an effect on your success. Sammamish doesn't have nearly the food base that Washington does and can't take that type of pressure for a prolonged period, perhaps it is time to slash the trout limit to 2 fish a day. We'll get a better idea of how the cutt population is doing come mid April when folks target fish feeding on the released coho smolts.

docshane

3/8/2011 1:24:00 PM

I really like your idea of limiting the catch to 2 fish, I would like to take my kid out with me, but one hookup every hour is brutal on a 5 year old. Maybe we need to recognize as sportsmen that we are potentially having an adverse impact on the fishery and stop keeping every cutt we catch. I have read some articles in the past promoting keeping all cutts caught because of the impact they have on the smolt. I released two fish this weekend and I wish more guys would follow suit. I know they are delicious, cause I keep them too, but maybe we need to collectively focus on balance here. This forum may be a good opportunity for us to examine the impact we are having as well. Some nice guys I spoke with in a drift boat caught 6 and kept one. I say, good for them, you got a nice meal, had some fun, and conserved the resource for others to enjoy as well.

G-Man

3/8/2011 9:05:00 PM

Sorry to hijack your report Matt. The State really needs to decide what it wants out of Sammamish. Because it doesn't have near the food supply for cutts that Lake Washington has, I think they adversely effect the kokanee population and put a dent in any smolts that find their way into the lake. If the State really wants them there, it would be best if they put some tighter restrictions on retention as the cutts are receiving more pressure than I believe they can naturally sustain. Something to take notice of is that towards the end of summer and early fall, the lake temps and oxygen content make for tough conditions for all salmonoid species and catch and release is not practical. During these times a fish that is released doesn't stand a good chance of surviving the ordeal.

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