It is two day report – today (12/30) and 12/28.

Today, started at about 0830. Calm lake, some midgets but did not see many risers – it was ok with me because I was after coho. But I started hooking one cut after another. All on surface. Forth fish was about 6” coho. All that is under 2 hours. I took a couple pics of trout. Then with a bit more sun, I lowered my setup to about 5’ and it was constant coho action. All cohos were about 13” and no fin. All kept (third pic). The cuts were a bit larger in 14-15” range.

On 12/28, started at about 0900 and was after coho also. Got a fancy beer as a xmas present and thought to complement it with smoked coho. However, weather was deteriorating quickly, so I decided not to be picky and kept 4 cuts and one coho – it was last fish right before the storm started. All fish were caught by 1100 (forth pic). Smoked the fish next day (fifth pic) and had nice dinner with friends.

It is my first report (even though I have been lurking here for a while) and reason for doing it is some discussions I have seen on this board related to Sammamish cutthroat fishery this year. To be clear, for me there were many 10+ fish days this December. Yeah, I know no pics it did not happen. I do not keep many cuts, so not many pics – just quick release. But sometime, I take pics like two last outings. This time of year I hit Sammamish two times per week on average. The biggest difference in ‘18 is very weak midgets, so even birds do not feed on them in big numbers. Because of that, it is much harder to locate fish. Sometimes it takes a couple hours, sometimes pretty much whole day. However, once a patch of midgets is located (and weather cooperates – crazy dropping pressure kills fishing) it is a game on. Most of cuts I caught this year were on smaller side in 14-15 range with a few nice one (sixth pic). Homemade beaded spinners is my go to lure followed by God’s tooth spoons. Slow speeds ~1.3mph work better for me this year that is very different from 1.7-2mph in the past. I fish 50/50 south and north end with east side seems to be a bit more productive. Note that I am not implying the overspoken five fish limit on Sammamish has not taken a toll on cuts. Just sharing my experience for Dec ’18.

Keep fishing.

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