Help wanted with capturing Lake Washington cutthroat.

[G-Man]

The University of Washington is asking for assistance in collecting Lake Washington cutthroat trout for a tagging program. The plan is for sports anglers to catch, hold alive and call a researcher to come and tag the fish before releasing them back into the lake. Anglers participating will need to have a live well or some kind of holding tank to keep the fish in good condition until a researcher can arrive and process the fish. See flyer below.

Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to contact Casey Clark (clarkc25@uw.edu), Phone: (206) 616-3660 or Adam Hansen (aghans@uw.edu), Phone: (206) 221-5425.

[The Quadfather]

Interesting... Thanks for posting that.

If you get the results eventually of their study, I hope you will post a link to it as well.

[Mike Carey]

This sounds like a very fun project to get involved with.

[Steelheadin360]

My kind of research!

[G-Man]

Once they are tagged and released the re-capture program will begin. For this they will seek people to volunteer their catch counts of tagged and untagged fish.
I'm also offering assistance to anyone who would like to participate and needs a little help in targeting the cutts on the days the researchers are on the lake.

[Live2Fish4Life]

This sounds like a blast to get involved with. I have to wonder would my 12ft livingston be big enough for the lake?

[G-Man]

Depends upon the conditions of the lake at the time you're on it. The past few weeks the water has looked like a sheet of glass, people were out in anything that floats. As long as the wind is under 10mph, you should have no problems. If the weather report is accurate, this upcoming Saturday will be a little dicey.

[Live2Fish4Life]

Thanks G-man! Have there been decent numbers around the south end of mercer of late? I would definitely have to watch the weather before going out.

[G-Man]

Yes, this time of year is good for the south end of the Lake.

[G-Man]

FYI - no research boats are planned to be out on the Lake this weekend due to the forecast of high winds.

[salmonbarry]

I'll have to rig up some kind of live well to help with this! My buddy uses an ice chest and puts one of those oxygen bubbly things that they use in fish tanks to keep his sand dabs alive when fishing for ling cods so may try something like that!

[Bodofish]

I'm guessing no one is reading between the lines, "Predation Study". Sounds like they're trying to get a handle on how many Cutts are eating how many smolts on their way back to the salt water. It's been discussed before, a more aggressive approach to reducing the Cutt population to save a few Salmon smolts. Yeah, OK I know, glass half empty. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I know they have a theory in mind or they wouldn't be doing a study. I'm kind of curious what it is? Or if they'd even say.

[G-Man]

Yes, it's part of a larger study regarding the recovery of all salmonoid species, not just sockeye in the Lake Washington/Sammamish system. Other predators are being monitored as well, but the cutts have been a bit more difficult for them to catch than expected, which is why the call for assistance.

[Bodofish]

I was actually thinking more along the lines of the Cedar Kings. Their numbers dropped to near 0 then they started a hatchery program, they made a awesome comeback and then shut the hatchery down....... Am I missing something?

[G-Man]

The coho on the Cedar are actually doing pretty good and the kings are holding serve since they started passing all migratory fish except sockeye above the dam at Landsburg. In fact the coho are doing well enough that they may be a factor in smolt predation, as they hang around in the fresh water for the better part of two years. Caught a couple last weekend that were in the 12" range, one clipped one intact.

FYI - They post the number of fish passed over Landsburg http://www.seattle.gov/util/Environment ... 15446.html, but there is a 2 to 3 year lag in the reports. Keep in mind that these numbers are for fish that make it to the dam and does not count fish that have found a spot and spawned in the system downstream of Landsburg.

[G-Man]

We'll be giving it a try this Saturday on the south end of the Lake, wind permitting, of course.