T_dunzo
1/24/2019 8:50:54 PMA lot of people report that the bite will just die off for a few hours then pick back up on lake Sammy. Maybe it was unlucky timing?? My only other thought is trolling speed. I’ve noticed better success trolling on the slower side there.
RobinR40_98
1/24/2019 8:56:40 PMI agree with the hot cold analogy. If you read people that limit they often spend entire day fishing not a few hours. If I caught that fish in a few hours of fishing I’d definitely rate the day higher than a 2. Nice Cutt. Well done!!!
Sharphooks
1/24/2019 10:40:06 PMmrotskoff:
This is what I can tell you from my own experience, and somewhat like the others here who have commented to you, Lake Sammamish Cutthroat can turn their bite period on and off several times each day. I tend to think barometric pressure has a lot to do with it. When they are not in the biting mood, it can make you feel like there are no fish in the lake. On the flip side of things, when they get into a biting mood, it can become a very exciting fishery. Very basically to obtain good fishing results, you have to be fishing where and when the fish are feeding. Using a fish finder can be very helpful to locate areas holding fish.. As mentioned within this website on many occasions, a good but not always accurate indicator of a good fishing location is to fish where you find a sizable populations of birds working the lake. I've found if working one lake depth does not produce fish strikes, changing to a shallower or deeper area can work wonders. If I'm not getting any fish action, I never stay in the same general area more than about 30 minutes. Changing lure size from large to small or vice-versa can produce a quick change of results as will a change from one color or pattern of lure to another. At best, all I can say is that enjoying good fishing on Lake Sammamish can be a very inaccurate science and it can be very challenging. One of those people that commented to you here indicated trolling speed can be a difference maker. Before you start fishing with a lure, I highly recommend setting the lure out on the water next to your boat and then watching to ensure lure action is matched up correctly with a specific trolling speed. That is a very critical factor. With the recent good luck that my fishing partner and I have had using the God's Tooth lure, we have found a slow troll of 1.5 MPH to 1.8 MPH seems to work well when the hook is attached to the fat end of the lure and with a Duo Lock snap attached to the split ring at the other end of the lure. One other factor that I believe is very important before I sign off here is the setback from the boat to the lure. Some here may fish differently, however, my fishing partner and I contend the Cutthroat can be very shy of motor noise so we like to use a 60 to 70 yard setback from the boat. That was a very nice looking Cutthroat you caught today. Hang in there and best of luck to you next time.
This is what I can tell you from my own experience, and somewhat like the others here who have commented to you, Lake Sammamish Cutthroat can turn their bite period on and off several times each day. I tend to think barometric pressure has a lot to do with it. When they are not in the biting mood, it can make you feel like there are no fish in the lake. On the flip side of things, when they get into a biting mood, it can become a very exciting fishery. Very basically to obtain good fishing results, you have to be fishing where and when the fish are feeding. Using a fish finder can be very helpful to locate areas holding fish.. As mentioned within this website on many occasions, a good but not always accurate indicator of a good fishing location is to fish where you find a sizable populations of birds working the lake. I've found if working one lake depth does not produce fish strikes, changing to a shallower or deeper area can work wonders. If I'm not getting any fish action, I never stay in the same general area more than about 30 minutes. Changing lure size from large to small or vice-versa can produce a quick change of results as will a change from one color or pattern of lure to another. At best, all I can say is that enjoying good fishing on Lake Sammamish can be a very inaccurate science and it can be very challenging. One of those people that commented to you here indicated trolling speed can be a difference maker. Before you start fishing with a lure, I highly recommend setting the lure out on the water next to your boat and then watching to ensure lure action is matched up correctly with a specific trolling speed. That is a very critical factor. With the recent good luck that my fishing partner and I have had using the God's Tooth lure, we have found a slow troll of 1.5 MPH to 1.8 MPH seems to work well when the hook is attached to the fat end of the lure and with a Duo Lock snap attached to the split ring at the other end of the lure. One other factor that I believe is very important before I sign off here is the setback from the boat to the lure. Some here may fish differently, however, my fishing partner and I contend the Cutthroat can be very shy of motor noise so we like to use a 60 to 70 yard setback from the boat. That was a very nice looking Cutthroat you caught today. Hang in there and best of luck to you next time.
rjsorensen7
1/25/2019 9:43:57 AMJust my two cents, albeit similar to most on this site. We typically run the same flasher + lure/spinner setup, but in particular direction flashers (macks double-d) with a 100ft setback to help get the presentation out and away from the boat. Depending on whether we plan to keep fish or not we also like to scent the flashers and tip lures/spinners with piece of nightcrawler. Usually fish in the 10-20ft range and keep speeds between 1.3-1.7mph occasionally zig-zagging to see if speed changes will entice a strike. Chartreuse has been our most productive color this year, but reds and purples have worked well. Barometric pressure seems to make a difference as well as light conditions.
mrotskoff
1/25/2019 10:01:06 PMThanks to you and all the folks making comments. I'll certainly keep trying, and will experiment with your suggestions. We followed the birds on a different day we were out there when the mayfly hatch was on - caught four trout (had three anglers though, could have caught many more if we were really on it!). On the day related to this particular report, there was no hatch and no bird activity. Certainly had me wondering about those hatches, and why I'd never seen them on Lake Washington. Bottom composition? Depth? Something else?
FishingTenor
1/26/2019 11:05:40 PMHey mrotskoff, I saw a lot of midges near the southeast shore on Wednesday. I am not recommending that area, but suspect the conditions were good for a recent hatch... I think the set-back is key, but also that they need to be found. Be open to finding other fish in the lake also. In 2018 I caught bass, sucker, crappie, cutthroat, N Pike minnow and kokanee (released) in sammamish. There are plenty of perch in there also. I am heading out there tomorrow morning with my smaller boat. Hope to see some other NWFR anglers.
NW_Fisherman
2/19/2019 12:04:50 PMI was fishing the lake 2 weeks ago with the kids. Ran different sets of spoons, flashers, and wedding rings. Ran 2 lines at 10-30 feet with flashers and got 3 fish. Ran 2 other lines with wedding rings and a couple split shots and got 5 on that. Put a pinch of a worm on the end of the line with some scent. I was not fishing where the majority of boats were at and was still very successful. I found the fish on my fish finder and just did circles around them. The bite was on for about 2 hours then shut off so we headed home. Trolled at 1.7 mph