This is my first report at this website. First, I would like to say that although my username is "Sharphooks", I always fish Lake Sammamish with a "barbless" type of hook because I have a complete respect for the "native" Cutthroat fishery which at times can offer some wonderful times on the lake - - - especially during the late fall and early winter months. Secondly, given my absolute respect for this fishery, I'm strictly a "catch and release" fisherman. For me, its not a numbers game to see how quickly I can kill a limit of " native" Cutthroat or how many fish I can land and toss back to the lake but rather the enjoyment of the total experience of fishing on the lake which is so close to where I live and is within a very large population center. I usually fish Lake Sammamish as a retiree a couple times each month during the late fall and early winter period. Now that I've put those matters aside and you know a little about me, thirdly, I'll comment on my experience on the lake today. I fished from the south end boat launch where the water clarity was found to be somewhere around 3 1/2 feet with a very murky tone to it. There were 3 vehicles with boat trailers at the boat launch site when I dumped into the lake this morning. The lake appeared to be badly swollen with rainwater as the water level at the boat launch ramp was about as high as I'eve seen it this year. I fished a number of areas on the lake today, around the weather buoy, north from there and along the east side and over on the west side in what is called Bass Cove. As I went north bound on the lake, I noticed the water clarity improved to some extent. Those areas have typically produced well at times for me in past months given an array of offerings that are only too well known at this website. I fished with 12# leaded line, 5 to 8 colors, and came up with a complete skunking - - - not even a strike after being out on the lake for 3 1/2 hours. I think the fact the lake has taken on a tremendous amount of rainwater from the surrounding creeks and the fact the "native" Cutthroat are just beginning to enter their spawning stage has something to do with the very slow fishing. I noticed the midge hatch on the lake is still somewhat active and that too may be a contributor to the slow fishing. In any event, given what I experienced today and heard from other fishermen who were on the lake today, I'm going to give the "native" Cutthroat of Lake Sammamish a rest at least until the lake level returns to a more normal level.