i need a little help with the cutthroats in lake Washington

[ziegler]

i hear a lot of people talking about catching cuts in lake washing but I'm not having any luck i tried trolling with both led line and a down rigger in any where from 40-80 feet of water and setting my lure about half the distance from bottom i tried along 520 bridge and just off mercer island but only one bite in two days so i don't no if I'm fishing the right water level or if i need to go to a deeper part of the lake ......any help would be appreciated thanks..... zig

[G-Man]

Ziegler,

There is a bunch of information on this topic located in the reports and comments under lake Washington. Have a run through them and target the time of year you plan to fish. It is interesting to see the history of what has been used over the many years, the reports go back to 1996! I suggest picking a lure/system your are confident in using and tailoring it to work in Lake Washington. The common denominators when fishing for these cutts is 100' behind the release clip at a minimum and light line or fluorocarbon leaders. Systems that have produce fish regularly are plain needlefish/spoons, pop gear and spinners, plugs, flashers and small herring. I also catch them still fishing off the docks in the dead of winter using bait and marshmellows. Right now is a difficult time to fish as they are moving about in the water column, but the water is getting colder so they are moving upwards. The shallower you fish the further back your lure should be these fish get real spooky as the days get shorter. Keep getting out there and experimenting, its usually something obscure that eventually puts you on to these fish.

[ziegler]

thanks for the help g-man it sounds like I'm on the right track I'm just gonna keep going back till i make it happen .....is it better to fish close to shore or in deep water

[G-Man]

Actually both. It changes throughout the year. I like to fish close to shore in deep water and look for underwater structures that hold bait fish. When you find that combo, you'll have found the predators as well. Check out the following articles, they are very informative.

http://www.sportsmanshow.net/Articles/article20.htm

and for you aspiring biologists,

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13658974