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Green Lake Report
King County, WA

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11/12/2011
Brown Trout
Afternoon
11/12/2011
3
1464

Despite the nasty weather today, I had an uncontrollable desire to go fishing. Mainly because I wanted to test out my new gear that I bought. I bought the 7' and 7' 6'' Heavy Action Team Daiwa T Casting Rods, a Daiwa Tierra Casting Reel, and a Daiwa Megaforce THS Casting Reel. 400 bucks, my most expensive purchase yet. All I have to say is it was well worth it, they're amazing!

Anyways, I started off just testing out my new gear. Was throwing a jig on my new flipping and pitching combo and loved it. Then I was throwing a squarebill and t rigged plastics on my other set up and I loved it too.

I then tossed out a dropshot just to see if I could get one of those channel cats or anything to bite but had no luck. I then looked around and saw over 6 different seagulls, eating channel cats that were half alive. I then looked closer as saw a few more chanel cats just floating at the surface of the water, just twitching around while slowly dying. I know that they're tough fish but either something with the weather or in the weather doesn't agree with them. One of the seagulls lands a couple feet away from me trying to eat a channel cat that it just picked up and I scared it off to examine. I took a picture of it and tossed it back in the water to see if it would live. It just kinda swam off in a dying, limp fashion, but stayed on the surface.

The weather was miserable. It was very windy, rainy, and very cold. I decided to walk the bank in the direction that the wind was blowing and hit a few spots here and there. I was throwing a 1/4 oz inline spinner. I get to this spot and about 15 casts in, BAM!!! I get a MASSIVE HIT and I SET THE HOOK! BEAST ON! Immediately I see a monstrous Brown Trout shaking VIOLENTLy and TWISTING IN CIRCLES trying to spit the hooks about 20 feet away from shore. Then once it stops it's headshaking it just makes a huge run and is peeling out my drag for over 15 seconds straight! I fight the fish and try to play it well. It made several runs, peeling out a lot of drag with each run. As it starts to tire out, I start my attack and I'm bringing it in. I get a close look at it close to shore and I would say CONSERVATIVELY that this trout was in the mid 20" range. It made the 3 lb rainbow I caught at Desire look small. My guess is easily in the 5 lb range. So I get the fish about 5 feet from shore and it gives out last outburst of shaking and twisting and spits the hook. I never let a more disapointing "NOO!!!" since I lost that monster largemouth at log boom earlier this year.

Devastated, I check my line, and it's frayed a bit above where my line is tied. So I retie and start casting again. About half an hour later, I get another hit! FISH ON! This one is nowhere near as big as the fish I lost but it's a good size and it's putting up a great fight! It's taking our drag and making a few runs. As I get it close to shore, I see that this fish has all 3 of the trebles in it's mouth so I know that it's not going anywhere. I get it up on shore, snap a few pics and let it go. I didn't have a measuring tape with me but I lined it up with my rod and the fish was easily in the 16" range at least. I would guesstimate between 1.5 - 2 lbs at most.

For a Brown, this trout was very silvery in color. The one I lost was a rich golden brown. I wonder why there was such a difference in color contrast between the two fish?

Despite the nasty conditions, I braved it out and was happy that I didn't get skunked. I caught my very first Green Lake Brown Trout. But I also lost a giant. I will be back throughout the winter until spring :D


Comments

Elijah.Loves.Fishin
11/12/2011 5:39:00 PM
Typo Correction: I know that they're tough fish but either something with the weather or in the WATER doesn't agree with them.
dresscode5
11/12/2011 7:42:00 PM
Awesome dude!
islandbass
11/12/2011 11:35:00 PM
Well done, Elijah!!!! Let me know your next when and where. We have got to drop a line some time. I need some of your fish catchin' luck. Never caught a brown trout or cat. Congrats on the new gear too.
Elijah.Loves.Fishin
11/12/2011 11:41:00 PM
thanks guys! @ islandbass - definitely, i am planning to hit up green lake again next weekend :) and the catfish was taken from a seagull, i didn't catch it :P
islandbass
11/13/2011 10:06:00 AM
Just let me know what kind of gear I need to bring. Although it might be a little late for smallies, we could probably hit Union too.
Elijah.Loves.Fishin
11/13/2011 10:12:00 AM
as far as i know, union is done from shore. i tried a few times with nothing to show for it :(
SculpinKing
11/13/2011 2:52:00 PM
Might want to give WDFW a heads up on those Channel Cats. They just got planted a couple weeks ago and they would probably like to know they're having severe survival issues since they paid a pretty penny for them. That's too bad, I was hoping to catch some in a few years.
The Quadfather
11/14/2011 12:44:00 PM
Ha Ha... that's not a Channel cat!........................... Now, http://washingtonlakes.com/ReportList.aspx?id=446&t=1&page=21
Now that is a greenlake Channel cat!
Elijah.Loves.Fishin
11/14/2011 12:53:00 PM
O.O were there channel cats in green lake prior to this? o.O that thing is a monster. almost hard to believe whether it really came out of green lake or not..
N E 1 FISSION
11/17/2011 2:23:00 PM
Thank you very much for forwarding the washingtonlakes.com post on to us. On Oct. 5th of this year, we planted channel catfish into a few lakes in our region, including Green Lake. Although food scarcity may be an issue, since these fish were planted later in the year, the behavior of fish at the surface (slowly dying) suggests to me that these fish may be stressed by water quality conditions. I will have to check the dissolved oxygen levels in the lake to confirm this.

As you know, we have experienced some severe weather these past several weeks (high wind, heavy rain, hail) that may have caused a quick “turnover” where the bottom, denser layer of water is mixed with the surface waters. This can cause two things: low dissolved oxygen and release of hydrogen sulfide. These conditions are created by the breakdown of organic matter, such as dead vegetation, on the bottom. When the lake is stratified or when a lake turns over slowly, water quality indicators usually remain within a nonlethal range for fish. However, a quick turnover can be lethal. It does surprise me that the channel catfish were affected, and not other, more sensitive species like trout, but the stress of the transplant and subsequent lack of food may have played a role. My hope is you witnessed a partial kill, and the majority of our catfish plants are still alive and well.

I wish I had more answers for you, but I do appreciate the information. Please contact us again in the future, as we continue to rely on angler’s reports to inform management.


Best Wishes,

Danny



Danny Garrett, Ph.D.

Warmwater Fisheries Biologist - Region 4

16018 Mill Creek Blvd.

Mill Creek, WA 98012-1541

Phone: (425) 775-1311 Ext. 101

Email: [email protected]
Elijah.Loves.Fishin
11/17/2011 3:36:00 PM
interesting. makes sense. i figured it had to do with being transplanted in, adjusting to the water quality, and the nasty weather we've been having.
N E 1 FISSION
11/17/2011 3:42:00 PM
Hi Elijah, had to follow up with this, thanks SculpinKing for the foresight to forward this posting to WDFW, will try to go out more often, holdovers are nice, if you can get 'im
SculpinKing
11/18/2011 9:30:00 AM
Thanks for reporting back N E 1. I am certainly not a biologist, but I agree with Dan's confusion about why it would effect the channel catfish. It seems like catfish generally survive in the worst water around.

I believe there have been Channel Catfish plants in greenlake prior to this, but I don't have time to go dig up the info. There was a big one sitting on the shoreline last year that's back in the reports a bit. There were also, strangely enough, Tiger Muskie's planted in 2000 IIRC. They are mostly dead of old age by now, but I bet there's one or two still kicking in there.
Elijah.Loves.Fishin
11/18/2011 10:45:00 AM
i also heard about the tiger muskies that were planted. no one has seen or caught one in so long (at least not reported it if they did). i also wonder if there is still one or two lingering around. it would be amazing to catch one!
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