Previous Next

Since it was going to be the last sunny day for a while figured I would hook up the boat and hit the water Monday. Toss up between going down to Pt. Defiance for salmon or Lake WA for trout and maybe some salmon. Decided on Lake WA. It was a cold 43 degrees when I launched.

Launched at 8:20am and headed North for the 520 bridge up the east channel. As I passed the North end of Mercer Island I remember Danny Garrett from WDFW (he was on NW Wild Country's Podcast this last Saturday talking about Lake WA fishing) saying the North end of Mercer Island was a productive area at times. Since I have never fished that area I figured what the heck, lets fish here. Fired up the Navionics app on my cell phone and looked for the drop offs on the North end of the island. Put my gear in the water after doing a little searching for fish on the sonar.

Had one violent takedown after about 30 minutes that came off but nothing else after that. Switched out gear numerous times but no luck. After a few hours I figured it was time to head back towards my go to spot that rarely lets me down. The South end of Mercer Island. Just trolled on the kicker motor at 2mph back to the South end of the lake and past Seward park. As soon as I got to the usual area I have good success in (marked as hotspot), fish on! A nice cutt is in the net and into the cooler. After that had 3 takedowns that came off before getting to the net. Over the period of about 3 hours caught 2 more cutts and one very nice rainbow. I also caught something that I think was a small steelhead. It sure looked like one, it was about 18" long and looked just like a steelhead from the rivers. I wish I would have taken a picture of it but I wanted to release it asap. Are there steelhead in Lake WA? None of the usual bycatch to release today which was nice. Also drug some poor perch around for about 20 mins without knowing it was on the line.

All of the fish were caught between 40 to 65 ft on these 2 combination. A 4.5" sling blade UV herring bone pattern dodger with a kokabow "Eagle" spinner bait or a 4.5" sling blade gold/silver dodger with a purple wiggle hoochie, 18" leaders on both setups tipped with a pink gulp maggot. Trolled between 1.6 and 2.2 mph. They seemed to like the faster speed today around he 2mph range plus. Tried my white coho killer again that worked so well for me last week and nothing. Great day out on the water.

The jet skis and wake boards are gone so get out there and fish Lake WA. Surface water temp is dropping quickly. Fishing should pick up soon.

Be safe out there. -G

TrackerPro16

10/10/2017 4:30:08 PM

By the rules under 20" is a Rainbow, over 20" is a Steelhead. All wild Steelhead (over 20") must be released. Good report! Thanks!

gcban

10/10/2017 10:06:43 PM

I have looked all over the place and I am sure now it was a steelhead. Looked like it was fresh out of the salt water, shiny and bright with all the spots. That was truly a first for me.

salmonbarry

10/10/2017 4:47:29 PM

Great report! Yep that is my haunting grounds for sure! Hope to get out either this Friday or the end of next week to give it a whirl! Nice to see what your boat looks like so next time out and see you will say hi!

gcban

10/10/2017 10:14:44 PM

Thanks, hope I get to meet you out there sometime salmonbarry. Please do stop by and say hello if you see me. Name on the back of my boat is Joe's Island. Going to try and get out there again either this Saturday or Monday or maybe both.

Markin' Fish

10/10/2017 8:01:32 PM

Hey there,
Hit the lake this morning and only had about 2 hours. Trolled around the south end of Mercer Island in 90-110 ft of water. Didn't mark much and had no takedowns. Both setups used were similar to yours. Will be out again next week.

Thanks for the report.

gcban

10/10/2017 10:25:07 PM

My boat is such a production to go hook up, (it's at a storage lot not my home) launch and get out on the water, I usually won't go out unless I can spend the whole day out on the water if I need to. I was setting my gear 100+ ft back behind the boat. I also put herring anise and garlic tuna scent on my dodgers. Same as I told salmonbarry, please stop by and say hello if you see me out there.

salmonbarry

10/13/2017 6:08:32 PM

Thanks for the reminder as one thing I forgot to mention was after not getting much action, I did move my presentation back to 100 behind the boat-which used to be the norm for me but had been keeping it closer since fishing deeper; but as soon as I did is when the action started!

G-Man

10/14/2017 10:30:19 PM

The Cedar river used to have a pretty good run of Steelhead until Herschal and his buddies bellied up to the buffet table at the locks. There is no reason to believe that there aren't a few left in the system or that the resident rainbows in the system won't venture out into the salt, thus becoming steelhead. One can usually tell a resident rainbow from one that has seen the salt, the body shape and coloring is much different. I haven't kept a rainbow from the system in past 5 years, their number seem to be dropping quickly. The biggest joke is the mandate by the State that any non-native steelhead caught in Lake Washington must be retained. At this point, they could use all the geneitc diversity they can get, the native fish just aren't getting it done.

Leave a Comment:

Login

Flag

×

Why is this comment inappropriate?

Close Submit

Delete this comment? Provide reason.

No Yes

Edit

×

Cancel Save