What a great day on the water Saturday. On the water at 8:30 AM. Very little wind, and filtered sunshine. We started off trolling the area off Issaquah Creek using Dick Nite dodgers and homemade wedding ring spinners on downriggers at 20 feet. Trolling speed 1.4 to 1.6 mph. First two hits came quickly, but my 6 lb. fluorocarbon leader snapped on both. Two nice lures committed to the depths. That's fishing.

Moved on up to the weather buoy, where we were marking fish pretty steadily. About 20 minutes into the troll, rod jumps up and a fish on. No snapped leader on this one and we landed a very bright 17" cutthroat. This became the pattern for the rest of the day as we averaged about a fish every 20-30 minutes. Largest was just shy of 18", and went down to 14".

Most effective terminal gear were wedding rings with gold/orange faceted glass beads and #3 Colorado blades in copper/brass. Hooks tipped with a piece of nightcrawler. Color/pattern of dodger didn't seem to make much difference. After 5 hours, we both hit our limits, pulled up the gear and motored around a bit enjoying the weather.

Third time fishing Lake Sammamish this Winter. Trip 1 yielded no fish, Trip 2 saw 3 in the boat, and limits on the last outing. Appreciate the advice from the good folks on Northwest Fishing Reports, and appears we are dialed in for this fishery. At least that was the case on Saturday!

Hunter757

1/30/2017 9:57:00 AM

Sounds like a great day! Thank you for the report.

Sideburns

1/31/2017 1:06:00 AM

Great! glad to hear they're still biting/ active near the surface. Are there still midges everywhere? I had a skunk on my first trip and only a few the second trip as well. Third time's a charm... I might have to give it another go.

Bat_Fish

1/31/2017 8:00:00 AM

Midge population was down significantly. Just a few of the critters buzzing around. Hardly noticeable until one flies in your mouth...

hookset'n

2/1/2017 8:55:00 AM

When the fish wants to run and pull the dodger backwards, you need at least 10lb but I run 15lb. This imparts more action to the lure as well with the stiffer leader. Use fluero if you are concerned about leader-shy fish.

Bat_Fish

2/1/2017 10:30:00 AM

Thanks hookset'n! I went with Seaguar 6 lb. Fluoro for low viz, give, and lure action, but it obviously wasn't enough and cost me both fish and gear on Saturday. Picking up some of the same in the 10-15 lb. range today. BTW, fishing buddy caught his limit on his first setup. Didn't change a thing all day! Rare day when that happens. At least for me. -Cheers

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