Well the weather man is right once in a while and today was the day. Partly sunny with minimal wind, perfect for a day out on the water. I was tempted to give the Sound a go but thought better of it as it seems to be really slow. Started fishing around 10:00 am on the South end of the lake between Mercer Island and the Boeing plant. It wasn’t long before I had a good take down and a short 10 second fight, man I hate it when they shake the hook. I re-baited the mini B2 squid I had rigged with a wiggle fin action disk and put it back down at 40 feet, and had no more takers for the next hour. I switched to a green UV mini-squid behind a small Abe and Al flasher and worked the water column between 30 and 50 feet for the next hour with no luck. Decided to go a bit deeper and lowered the gear down to 65 feet and worked the South end of Mercer. It wasn’t too long before I got myself into a good fight with a resident Chinook. Twice it ran straight to the bottom in 100’ of water directly under the boat. I could see it on the sounder and wished I would have recorded the action. Now with the current water temps being about the same in the lake as they are in the Sound (46), this fish was really able to give it to me. Eventually I coaxed it to the surface and released it to terrorize the residents of the lake again. I really don’t see the logic in why the Lake isn’t open to keep winter blackmouth. I wonder how many sockeye smolts this fish ate to reach its current size? Well, if the weather holds I may give it a go again on Sunday. Good luck out there.

The Quadfather

1/22/2010 5:12:00 PM

Nice fish G-man.. I was out there today also. Fished 520 and Hunt's point. Lots of bait balls at the bridge, but very few fish riding the bait balls......... Oops sorry, this is your report. Sweet bonus fish!

The Quadfather

1/22/2010 5:16:00 PM

I meant to ask you.... I realize that this time of year the cutts. are in generally shallower water than the summer. However, at 520 the majority of bait balls seem to be in either 80-90' or even 120' of water. Are you ignoring these deep bait balls and still fishing between 30-50'? Do you not chase the bait so to speak?

snake7676

1/22/2010 5:57:00 PM

Nice fish ! once again killer report thanks G-man ill be out this weekend if the weather holds

G-Man

1/22/2010 6:07:00 PM

I'm still learning the Winter Lake Washington cutthroat fishery. I do know that the fish don't feed nearly as often in the Winter and early Spring as they do in the sumer and fall months, the cold water slows down their metabolism. I also know that they spawn during some time between late Fall and Early Spring in the various creeks rivers and stream that flow into the lake. I'm sure that some spawn in the lake as well, but have no way of verifying my assumption. So where does that get us? I think that once a fish has fed for the day they are pretty much done. It's not like the early Summer where you pull in a fish and it's puking bait all over your boat. I guess you go to where the fish are staging to spawn and hope they haven't already had their daily snack. I have not had much luck fishing the bridges in the Winter. My success has come more near the mouth of creeks and streams and South of Mercer island. I encountered a huge bait ball today myself, but it did not yield a single strike. It appeared that only the grebes were working it over. As I continue to experiment with areas, depths and gear, I'm getting together a long lost of what doesn't work this time of year.

fishnislife

1/22/2010 6:27:00 PM

great catch and even better report. right on g-man

Jake Dogfish

1/23/2010 7:24:00 AM

Thanks for the report G-Man. That fish has been porking out on something!

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