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Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

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Washington Lake Report
King County, WA

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Details

09/28/2014
56° - 60°
Trolling
Salmon
Shrimp
Silver
Cloudy
Dodger
Morning
61° - 65°
09/29/2014
3
2355

Decided to hit Washington for some possible coho after reading a few reports. I ended up being the guide for the day taking my dad and my uncle out in my boat. My uncle hadn't caught a fish in two years because of work and health issues. We started at 0700 hrs on the northend near Juanita trolling at 40-60 ft with chrome dodgers and spinners tipped with shrimp. I got the guys set up on the downriggers and just manned the kicker and BAAMM!! Rod was bouncing like crazy. My Uncles rod of course, and he has his back to the rod enjoying his cigarette taking in the cool morning air. Long story short he ended up successfully bringing in an 18" coho jack. The look on his face was priceless, he was pumped! That little coho could have been fifteen pounds and it would have gotten the same reaction.
Action slowed down and after an hour wait my dad picked up a 13" cut which was bleeding so it made it in the cooler. Hopefully it picks up! Tight Lines!!!


Comments

G-Man
9/29/2014 11:13:00 AM
Looks like we are slowly zeroing in on this fishery. Thanks for the report!
ARK
9/29/2014 2:34:00 PM
Motley, where do you launch when fishing the north end of Lake Washington? I'm only familiar with the south end of the lake. I would like to try the coho fishing in that area, esp. with the strong run now entering the lake. Thanks
motley
9/29/2014 3:01:00 PM
Ark, I live on the east side so I use the I-90 launch so it takes me about a ten minute run to get up to Juanita bay. I believe the Kirkland ramp would be fastest. I did graph a good number of fish on the north side of 520 on the Seattle side as well on the way back to the launch. Good luck. If you see a chrome Duckworth with a tower on it that's me...Good luck!!
G-Man
9/29/2014 3:42:00 PM
Kirkland launch is a bit of a pain. No place to park and you need an access card until November 1st rolls around. If you live north of the lake, launch out of Bothell/Kenmore using the WDFW launch. Magnuson is probably the best bet if you live on the west side or south of Seattle as it is pretty much a straight shot across to Kirkland. If you don't mind motoring at idle speed for a while, you can launch at the Sunnyside launch next to Gas Works Park for free.
ARK
9/29/2014 3:55:00 PM
Thanks...I may just motor up from the Atlantic Launch....flat water I can travel between 25 and 30mph. I'll be in a 16ft. Alumiweld Stryker.
rseas
9/29/2014 5:03:00 PM
Sounds like a great day on the water. In viewing your fish via a 1" x 2" photo on my phone it looks like you have a kokanee there.
downriggeral
9/29/2014 8:54:00 PM
Hmmmm....looks like a kokanee to me too. Nice fish motley and crew!
muleneck
9/30/2014 8:49:00 AM
What kind of license do you need to fish Lake Washington for Coho?
iwnt2retire
9/30/2014 12:16:00 PM
I live in Renton so I use Coulon it takes about 20 minutes to run to Kirkland. less to the 520 bridge. You can cut a few minutes by going to the Newport boat launch of the Coal Creek parkway exit off 405. Going north take a left under freeway stay on that road and you will come to the launch.
RUNNOFT
9/30/2014 5:18:00 PM
Curious of what speed you are trolling. I usually fish the south end of Mercer Island and went and tried north of 520 both Sat and Sun and couldn't buy a bite. Metered a crap ton of bait between 60-90 ft and dragged hoochies in pink, white, green etc and brad's cut plugs at all speeds from 1 up to 2.5 mpg and everywhere in between. Super frustrating. Any tips? Usually on the south lake those would all get bit.
motley
10/1/2014 2:46:00 PM
Well after looking at the most recent coho and kokanee post pics it looks like or fish was a coho jack. We were trolling between 1.2 and 1.7 mph. The spinner we were using had a minnow reflective blade and a chrome body with pink beads at top and bottom tipped with cured shrimp. 8 inch reflective dodger with about 3 ft of leader.
G-Man
10/1/2014 3:10:00 PM
First off it is a coho, the fin has been clipped and sockeye are left intact. Technically it is a jack as the regs define them as coho under 20" long. How was the color of the meat? I ask as there are some resident fish in the lake and their flesh is rather pale in comparison to ocean going fish.
motley
10/1/2014 3:29:00 PM
G-Man thx for the response cause I was starting to doubt myself for awhile. I grew up catching kokanee on Ketchuless. I know I spelled it wrong sorry...My uncle ate it that night and said the flesh was bright red!!! I can't wait to get back out there.
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Available Guide

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

Phone: (509) 687-0709