LittleTrib
12/15/2012 12:01:00 AMThe spawning colors on that the third fish almost make the Coastal Cutthroat look like a Westslope. Beautiful fish. The native Coastal Cutthroat populations in Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish seem to be healthy and stable for now. But these metropolitan lakes won't be able to stand the typical statewide 5-fish limits, especially with increased angling pressure, forever IMO. I enjoy fishing both these lakes, as they're close to home, but I never take more than one or two fish. Not a big fan of freezing excess trout, and they tend to fry up best when fresh anyway. Can't judge the meat quality on those fish close to spawning, though I haven't been able to taste a noticeable difference between actively feeding-stage an pre-spawn stage trout (as opposed to "boot" salmon that are close to death).
Good job and nice fish.
Good job and nice fish.
docshane
12/17/2012 7:24:00 AMYou are right on the regs, but if you catch a rainbow over 20 inches they consider it a steelhead and in Lake Samm and Washington and it must be released. Same with ALL Kokanee in lake sammamish and on lake washington where you can keep kokanee but under 15 inches are considered Kokanee and over 15 are sockeye and the rules change throughout the year on Lake Washington. It seemed like last year there were much higher numbers of Kokanee being caught in lake sammamish, I know I was, but later this year I seem to be finding mostly cutts. You guys did pretty darn good, congratulations on your catch, personally I keep most of the fish I catch out there in the 14 inch + range because I love to smoke them. The smaller ones get turned back. I have caught them with well developed eggs as well and add them to the steelhead bait supply. What were you guys using for lures?
theairboy
12/27/2012 5:59:00 PMGood job Capers,
I try to look at it this way. I love Kokanee and Salmon. As a lot of us found out last year the Kokanee population seem to be getting better. I caught about 6 Kokanee per trout last time I was there. I even switched to larger gear in hopes to prevent catching them. It did help.
That being said I was once told Cutt's love to eat small fish and I think you should enjoy any trout you catch within the limits. That s what I do and I tell my self that I just saved a lot of small fries to eat in the future.
P/S I'm not a Biologist in fact will most likely need spell check to fix that for me:)
I try to look at it this way. I love Kokanee and Salmon. As a lot of us found out last year the Kokanee population seem to be getting better. I caught about 6 Kokanee per trout last time I was there. I even switched to larger gear in hopes to prevent catching them. It did help.
That being said I was once told Cutt's love to eat small fish and I think you should enjoy any trout you catch within the limits. That s what I do and I tell my self that I just saved a lot of small fries to eat in the future.
P/S I'm not a Biologist in fact will most likely need spell check to fix that for me:)