It’s A Cutthroat Commute Across Seattle’s Lake Washington

© by John L. Beath

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Most anglers think they must travel to some faraway locale where trout and trees grow as large as the cost to pursue them, but they don’t. In the Seattle area thousands of hurried commuters daily cross Lake Washington, within a few hundred yards of one of America’s best kept secret fisheries for trophy-sized, multi-pound monster cutthroat trout – many of which outweigh the current 6 pound state record fish.

Both floating bridges, I-90 and Highway 520 connect coffee’d commuters to their jobs while unknowingly revealing where to catch these 2 to 8 pound, heavy-bodied brutes. But few of the region’s residents know what silently prowls beneath and to the side of these massive, snake-like concrete floating bridges. And fewer yet know the secrets of how to connect their line with Mr. Cutthroat Trout. If they did know Seattle’s sea-run secrets, commuters might "cutt" their work schedule to take advantage of the fun, alongside the bridge in the slow lane, trolling the east west span of the bridges. And when the slow lane fails to produce it’s only a matter of trying the placid waters of the East Channel between Mercer Island and Newport or in front of Microsoft Billionaire Bill Gates’ mansion.

Anywhere on the east side of the lake where the water is at least 40 feet deep could produce a trophy says Curt Welsh, from Special Moments Guide Service. Welsh says each year he’s surprised at the interest in this fishery but he still doesn’t see many boats pursuing these fish.

"My clients and I caught over 500 cutts’ in Lake Washington last year. The biggest cutthroat I caught and released measured 31 inches and weighed 8 pounds," Welsh proudly said.

The fishery is so addictive Welsh fishes the lake year round, with or without clients aboard, and still can’t believe the lack of fishing pressure considering how many big trout he catches. Most of Welsh’s guests are locals trying to learn the fishery, but more anglers are coming from all over America because they heard through word of mouth how big the cutthroat grow. Welsh does encourage anglers to keep some fish, but emphasizes catch and release and the importance of sustaining the fishery. Of the 500 fish caught last year 300 were released. The average sized fish measured an unbelievable 23 to 27 inches and weighed 4 ½ to 5 pounds.

Local biologists and University of Washington, School of Fisheries Masters Program student Gretchen Nowak, openly admits not much is known about Lake Washington cutthroat. Last summer Nowak began studying the lake’s cutt’ population because of concerns for the lake’s dwindling sockeye salmon.

"Anecdotal evidence indicates that the Lake Washington cutthroat population is increasing," Nowak said. "People are concerned because cutthroat trout are a main predator on sockeye fry."

The experts still aren’t sure if these fish are anadromous like salmon or adfluvial, which means they leave the stream and stay in the lake instead of going to sea before migrating back to their natal waters. Anglers don’t seem to care where they’re going to or coming from, as long as they continue traveling the lake’s underwater highway the year ‘round.

Last summer Nowak enlisted Welsh’s help to catch several cutthroat for her ongoing cutthroat study. "The methods Curt used were great, they worked for us during our study all summer long."

Some of the fish caught were fitted with tracking transmitters to enable Nowak to track the fish’s telemetry to determine where they spend most of their time and why. Nowak says it appears that the cutthroat are mirroring the lake’s temperature thermocline and staying just below the fish’s preferred 50 degree water. Summertime surface temperatures rise to 68 - 73 degrees which pushes the fish to average depths ranging from 45 to 60 feet deep. One fish, however, did take the transmitter all the way to 197 feet deep.

"The biggest thing to watch for is on your fishfinder," advises Welsh. "As the water temp rises the fish go down. I keep my gear 10 feet under the thermocline."

If the cutthroat aren’t biting there’s a chance to hook into rainbow trout ranging in size from 12 to 20 inches. Bank anglers rarely, if ever catch cutthroat but they catch the bulk of the lake’s rainbow trout. For years the lake was planted with 250 to 300,000 sub-legal rainbow. Budget cuts within the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ended these large plants last year, but the lake still has catchable numbers of 12 to 18 inch rainbows. Welsh says when Lake Washington quits producing respectable catches of cutthroat trout anglers need only trailer their boats a few miles away to Lake Sammamish State Park, where the same techniques used on Lake Washington work just as well directly in front of the park.

With trophy fishing like this it makes it super easy to talk the entire family into heading to Seattle, where everyone will enjoy the Space Needle, waterfront, Public Market and of course, commuting in the slow – always wet lane – waiting for an appointment with Mr. Cutthroat – one of Seattle’s finest fishing appointments.

Technique

During winter and early spring Welsh uses 12 pound lead core, color-coded line spooled on level wind reels attached to medium action steelhead rods. Each color on the line is 30 feet, making it easy to keep track of line payed out. Since these fish have a taste for the lake’s abundant longfin smelt and not-so-many sockeye smelt, Welsh uses a selection of spoons that mimic the small, darting fish or gang troll blades in front of a Wedding Ring rig tipped with a nightcrawler. Welsh says not all spoons are created equal. For instance, his favorite Luhr Jensen Needlefish spoon comes in two frog finishes – one that catches lots of fish and one that has never caught any. The winner has yellow dots with black centers while the loser has a red center dot.

In addition to Needlefish spoons, Coyote spoons, in either the 3.5 inch or 4 inch also work well. While he’s tried using flasher and dodgers of all sizes in front of the spoons, his best luck is achieved by attaching 40 feet of 10 pound Fireline directly to the leadcore line. Prior to the thermocline descending, which could be anytime from May to June, Welsh plays out 4 to 7 colors of leadcore line and trolls anywhere from dead slow to 4 miles per hour. He says varying the speed is important because you never know what mood or depth they will bite at.

"I’ve caught everything using this method, even sockeye," admitted Welsh.

As soon as the thermocline sends the fish in search of the cool depths, Welsh abandons the leadcore in favor of downriggers. He still varies speeds and uses the same rods and reels as well as his favorite spoons or gang troll gear but defines his trolling depth to just below the thermocline, which usually stays between the 40 to 65 mark. Instead of leadcore on his reels he uses straight 10 or 12 pound mono and sends out 100 feet of line before attaching his line to the downrigger.

Best Spoon Colors

Frog, perch and a brass body with a red head.

Best Hot Spots

"The fish could be anywhere on the east side of the lake," Welsh says. "But the two bridges are great places to try. But remember to stay at least 100 yards away from the bridge. It’s the law and you’ll loose your downrigger balls on the cable if you don’t."

If you ask the cutthroat regulars which side or the bridges to fish, the majority agree the rough side is best, which changes with the wind. When the rough side gets to uncomfortable anglers can try the East Channel near Kelsey Creek, Mercer Slough or fish in front of Juanita Bay, depending again on wind direction.

Boat Launches

Newport Shores offers the closest access to both bridges and East Channel. At 20 miles long and 22,138 surface acres, several launches around the lake provide access for anglers to fish the hotspots or go exploring. Anglers can also launch at Kenmore, Kirkland, Gene Coulon Park, Stan Sayers Park, Sweyolocken Park, Cedar River Trail and Magnuson Park to name just a few.

Who To Contact

(Note, all of these links are on the author’s web page, www.PacificLure.com)

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Region Four, (425) 775-1311

Washington State Parks, 1-800-233-0321

Special Moments Guide Service, Curt Welsh. (425) 226-6327

Auburn Sports & Marine, 1-800-303-1400

King County Parks & Recreation, 1-800-325-6165

Seattle Visitor’s Information, (206) 461-5840