My fishing partner and I had our lines in the water by 7am with the first fish (18" cutt) coming at 7:05. The wind kicked up from the South around 8:00am and made for some rough conditions next to the bridge. We finished fishing at 10:30 am with 5 fish in the boat, the largest being a cutt at 21" and weighing in at 3.5lbs. Saw a "baitball" of stickleback being assaulted by a hungry trout, I'll have to remember to bring a dip net the next time. We did hook into a good sized rainbow that measured just under 20" which prompted the question, does a rainbow over 20" long need to be marked as a hatchery fish to be a keeper in Lake Washington from July 1 to Nov 30? I know what we caught was not a Steelhead, too chunky and very small head probably a Donaldson strain. Used a new rod that seems to be perfect for this fishery, if you are looking for a light trolling rod check out the Daiwa Heartland Kokanee Downrigger rod model HL-D 862LS. 8'6" long, proper number of guides, good back bone and won't put an huge dent in your wallet.

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