Salmon smolt??

Yes stickleback or sockeye smolt- I am sure G-man knows!! Good to see they are feeding in this cold weather!!

That happened to me ONCE with my wife- admitted I had a problem and would join FA (fisherman's anonymous) a group for other fellow fin-addicts!!!

I would say the fish on the right is a smelt, not too sure about the others but I don't think they are sticklebacks. With stickleback the spines and "body armor" remain long after the rest of the fish is digested. The adult smelt are in the south end of the lake to spawn in the the Cedar if they haven't already done so. For some reason the odd year spawners noramlly hit the river en masse in February while the even year fish tend to go into March. I'm guessing with the full moon coming up, any that haven't spawned will do shortly.

Thanks G-man for the info. Any idea whats working down in that end of the lake? We were out chasing blackmouth today and got pounded into submission. Pretty freakin rough out there. Prob going to hit Lk Wash again in the next week. Any pointers much appreciated.

These are the dog days of fishing for cutts in lake Washington. Fish that have any size to them are either spawning or have spawned and made their way back into the lake to recover. Even the perch are staging for the spawn and aren't the best table fare when caught in this condition. What I will be doing when I go out next is motor mooching a Brad's mini cutplug in the 40' to 70' depth range. I just simply attach a 3oz snap weight 50' to 100' from the lure, let out another 100' and take the motor out of gear to let the weigh hit bottom then kick it back in to bring it up again. I catch cutts, smallies, perch, squawfish and the occasional resident chinook with this method. You can use a needlefish or small spoon in place of the cutplug and add scent, you'll need all the help you can get this time of year. Once the smolts out migrate from the river, the searun fish will show up and you can catch them surface fishing.

Well, you know the old saying... "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin his marriage, his job, and his bank account." (Or something like that.)