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Sammamish Lake Report
King County, WA

Details

11/19/2018
Downriggers
Cutthroat Trout
Other
Mostly Sunny
Flasher/Lure
Morning
11/19/2018
2
1998

After experiencing a recent unsuccessful fishing trip to the north half of Lake Washington within the past week for Cutthroat, my fishing partner and I thought we would give the Lake Sammamish Cutthroat a try since we had read a recent report here the fishing there was on fire. We launched our boat this morning from the state park boat launch at 8:30 AM. We fished 4 areas of the lake north of the weather buoy that have produced well for us in past years using down riggers with various lures often mentioned here at depths from 20 feet to 45 feet. We found the fishing to be slow. We caught and released a couple of Cutthroat in the 10 to 13 inch class and had a couple of missed strikes and that was it for our 4 hours on the lake. We talked to a couple of other fishermen on the lake at the boat launch as we came out of the lake and they too said fishing was slow. This should be the start of some good fishing on the lake going into the fall and winter period so perhaps it was just one of those bad days when the fish just did not want to cooperate. We will be back to give it another try next week.


Comments

flyfisherguy
11/20/2018 7:08:45 AM
I was there on Saturday and limited on nice cutts to 18 inches in about 4 hours. Surprised to hear things slowed down so bad. Next time try a green wedding ring with a worm, it was the ticket for me on Saturday. Tight lines!
rmrauscher
11/20/2018 10:06:10 AM
Sharphooks I think you are jinxed on Sammamish! We have had good luck the last couple times out there but another buddy was out a couple days ago and said it was slow. Luck and timing. The north end of Washington is really dead near as I can tell. Finally found fish down south a week or so ago.
Sharphooks
11/22/2018 9:16:43 PM
Randy, you need to get out there again and show us how its done. The guys that I know that have fished the lake the last few days and again today tell me the fishing continues to be slow with the fish being highly scattered. Hopefully that will change once the bugs begin to emerge from the lake which I would think should happen soon. I've always found once that happens, the Cutthroat revert from being scattered all over the lake to more highly localized concentrations which makes for much better fishing.
stevertd2010
11/20/2018 6:03:49 PM
I went out today and had decent action. Used red and white Dick nite with a slingblade at 46 ft. Even got a hit when just letting out. Only one on a lead line out 4 colors with a silver and red Dick nite and sling blade. Was marking fish at about 52 ft, so just over their heads. Even caught a nice one drop shotting. They're out there. Good luck.
Cozmo4196
11/24/2018 4:42:27 PM
What length of leader are you guys typically running? I’m heading out to try my luck tomorrow morning.
Sharphooks
11/24/2018 6:47:01 PM
Cozmo4196, when fishing with downriggers, I myself generally use between 12 to 18 inches of 6# flourocarbon leader behind a 4 1/2 inch sling blade depending on the lure which could be the OG1/2.13, #2 or #3 Needlefish or the God's Tooth. I stopped by the boat launch today at Sammmamish at around noon today not to fish but to see what was happening. There were about 2 dozen vehicles with boat trailers in the trailer parking area. I spoke with 3 groups of fishermen who had come off the lake and they all said the fishing had been slow for them this morning. A couple of them commented that floating weed growth in the lake was a problem today with more than the normal amount of gear hang-ups. Perhaps your luck tomorrow will be better than what they were experiencing. Good luck.
rmrauscher
11/25/2018 11:12:40 AM
I generally run leaders 2.5x dodger/flasher length when using a lure with no side to side action like a hoochie, spinner, wedding ring. (4" dodger = 10 inch leader) Couple inches longer for something that has its own action spoons, Old Goats etc.. Cutties are very aggressive and seem to like the twitch in the lure cause by flasher or dodger action. A little extra bend in the tail of the flasher also. Drag your setup over the side and make sure the dodger action is relayed to the lure. If it isnt your leader is too long. Everybody has their own setup but thats what works for me.
herefishy
11/25/2018 2:29:09 PM
Was out on Sammamish yesterday and today. Fish were pretty lock jawed both days. The few my husband and I did catch were caught between 52 - 60 ft with 80' setback in 80-85 ft water using downriggers. Arrow flash 50/50 dodger with 50/50 diamond flash spinner. Leader length at 12". Caught 6 Saturday and 2 today. Missed 3 light bites.
herefishy
11/25/2018 2:29:11 PM
Was out on Sammamish yesterday and today. Fish were pretty lock jawed both days. The few my husband and I did catch were caught between 52 - 60 ft with 80' setback in 80-85 ft water using downriggers. Arrow flash 50/50 dodger with 50/50 diamond flash spinner. Leader length at 12". Caught 6 Saturday and 2 today. Missed 3 light bites.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709