Northwest Fishing Reports

Linc's Bait and Tackle shop on 501 Rainier Ave. S. takes pride in always having fresh bait as well as lively worms and maggots. Their number is 206-324-7600. Also you may try a search by "bait" in the online yellow pages, I just ran it got a bunch of hits.

Sickbayer, It's pretty hit or miss when you get them later in the season, the above 2 fish were caught mid September last year. Some were soft and had lost their flavor and color to their meat and others looked and tasted fine. I suspect it all depends on how long they had been hanging around in fro...

fisherdane, All the Chinook we caught were with bare hooks behind a dodger. Exact same setup/method you use when fishing for Lk. Washington Sockeye. Keep your gear near the bottom and troll slow, just enough to make your dodger sway from side to side. Good luck to all, and if you do catch any let th...

I forgot to mention to Rollin with Rolland, do not under estimate these fish! 2 of mine went over 20lbs last year. And if you try to use a banana sinker and troll with the rest of the crowd, your going to lose your gear to down rigger cables and other irrate fisherpeople.

The opener was a snoozer, so don't bother until the fish start to school up in front of the creek. Once they do you can catch them much like you do Sockeye. My folks took a boat through the locks on Saturday and reported kings jumping everywhere! So, I'm guessing that the majority of the run hasn't ...

Anglinarcher, I wasn't looking to place blame on anyone or say that my conclusions were rock solid but just putting out some info on an unusual catch. I have also in my 30+ years of fishing found other odd objects in a fish’s stomach including rocks, cigarette butts and even pieces of cattail stalks...

Thinking about it more and looking at the non-swivel end of the line, gives me the impression that a hook was not present at the time the fish took this bait. The end is straight and looks like it was cleanly cut. Had there been a hook that rusted away I think the end would be curled/twisted and may...

I’ve seen a few topics on the weather or not power bait and other man-made baits are digestible or detrimental to a fish if ingested. I recently caught a Cutthroat trout that may provide a bit more insight to the debate. The fish was caught in Lake Washington, put up a good fight for its size and lo...

Good info from gpc and I'll add my 2 cents. I normally fish Blue Lake in the spring and this year most of the fish we caught were between 12" and 13" long. As it is now the middle of summer, you can expect that most of the trout in the eastern part of the state have taken on a muddy taste, so if you...

FYI, I just picked up a couple of knotless replacement nets last weekend from Sportco to replace the nylon knotted netting I have in my two salmon nets. For a 36" net the price was about $5.00 and for my extra large Chinook size 48" net it was about $10.00. The netting is very soft/supple but isn't ...

Lake Washington rainbow trout retention regulations take two! #-o Having received a vague response from the state regarding the regulations for trout retention on Lake Washington, I restated my query and asked for a clearer answer. This is what I received: You are correct that there are no hatchery ...

Just a warning to those of you who have not previously been to Lake Wenatchee, the boat launch facilities for a lake of this size are absolute crap. Pictures posted for Wenatchee on this website do not accurately show just how bad the launch can be. Not much room to maneuver, hardly any place to par...

I don't think that we would have the same fishery if the State had been stocking bass as they do trout. As most of you have observed, our State fish and wildlife department doesn't get many things right on the first try. I can only imagine the mess we would have if bass had been regularly stocked by...

I recently requested an official interpretation of the "Rainbow" trout retention rules for Lake Washington from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. As some of you know Lake Washington is home to some very large rainbow trout and their various strains, most notably the Donaldson trout. A ...

There are 2 highways crossing Lake Washington, 520 and I-90. I-90 crosses the lake in 2 spots the main part of the lake between Seattle and Mercer Island and the East channel between Mercer Island and Bellevue. 520 has a nice "causeway" leading up to the floating bridge section that goes through Uni...

By definition a Steelhead is a Rainbow trout that migrates out to the ocean before returning to spawn in freshwater. They are generally narrower bodied than Rainbows that live in a lake year round and have a good, normal sized head. Our state has decided that a Rainbow over 20" long in a body of wat...

I do believe that the black box works but it depends on your boat if you really need one. If you have a volt meter and know how to use it, check out this link: http://www.protroll.com/books/?id=5&p_id=4 especially if you have an aluminum boat! My father ran downriggers off of his aluminum sled for s...

Lk Sammamish is where I usually take the family during the Seafair weekend. We target warm water fish, perch, bass, crappie and catfish. If you want to try something new, hit Lake Kachess for Kokanee. It is less than an hour drive from Sammamish and makes for a good change of pace. Right now the wat...

I have a 6 gallon plastic tank that I received with my 8HP Johnson kicker that I am willing to part with for $10.00 I haven't used it in several years as my kicker is connected directly to my main tank. I'm located in South Bellevue. If your interested let me know.