nice fish thats a fat cuttroat!!
I would love to fish that lake sometime to bad I live so far away

the one we released was even fatter.

Nice fish Derrick!

I do the same thing you did - when I get a fish, or a strike, I loop around & go back through the same area. I was out Sunday morning, and caught 4 fish, basically in a row, looping back through the same spot. Now, I know that cutts aren't supposed to be schooling fish, & I believe that, but sometimes, & for some reason, they'll be hanging out in the same spot - whether it's food, structure, temp or current - they're just be there, in numbers.

Also, If I miss a strike - I defiantely run back through the same spot. There've been times when I've spent too many hours, trolling around, looking for action - any action. So if I miss a takedown - I'm going back for another bite at the apple.

Anyways - Great fish & great fishing Derrick!

Cheers!
~CLK

Derrick nice job,Thanks for releasing the fish!

Nice fish! I just had some smoked up at Jensen's and they were PERFECT!

Remember, cutts eat salmon smolts, so if you can keep em, eat em, or give them to someone who will. Taste great and "save a salmon".

SlimySlab, the cutts eat relatively few salmon, and that's not a good reason to keep them. They eat primarily sticklebacks and longfin smelt, judging by several I've kept and by talking with the state biologists who managed the lake, now retired. I've kept a few, and that's perfectly fine, but I would encourage anglers to release most of them to preseve this outstanding fishery we enjoy right in our backyards. Another isssue is PCB levels in cutthroat tissues, the legacy of long industrial use of the lake. The state Department of Health is concerned enough about that to advise no more than one meal per month of Lake Washington cutthroat greater than 12 inches, and no more than three meals per month of smaller cutts.
Cheers and tight lines!
Greg

salmonbelly- You could be correct about the cutts primarily eating sticklebacks and long fin smelts, but rest assured they do eat a lot of salmon smolts. Puget Sound Anglers had a derby 2 weeks ago and some of the most respected anglers in Lake Washington's history were present and talked about the cutts being MAJOR predadors of sockeye smolts. I've fished the south end of LW for over 30 years and ferquently find salmon smolts along with the stickle backs.
I personally have only kept 6 fish out of the 20 fish I've caught in the last 4 weeks. The choice is yours, but if you have friends that want to eat or smoke em- go ahead. There is and have been really large numbers of Cutts in both LW and Sammamish for a long long time. I live by and fish the lake a lot. In the big picture not a lot of people actually fish for cutts and even far les catch many. Have fun, be responsible, and if you want to take a few fish- go ahead and do it!

Slimyslab, the day is long since past when we as anglers should make an effort to kill a valued native species to promote populations of another (I would make an exception in the case of sea lions). Incidentally, cutthroat are native to Lake Washington, sockeye are not, they are Baker River stock planted long ago.