Lake Sammamish

[Jaksonbrown]

Has anyone had any experience fishing Lake Sammamish? I hear it is a pretty good troll for Kings in late summer. I also read that most of them are pretty dark though. Is it possible to get any bright fish in this lake or is it all boot fishing?

[Bodofish]

If you're going for kings it's pretty much boots. The place to fish for them would be lake WA but since the cedar river flows into lake wa that is not going to happen. Since the state has an agreement with the tribe that says there can be no fishery unless all parties are in agreement. They pretty much hold all the cards. As long as they refuse to discuss it there can be no agreement. I guess they're worried that one of the cedar kings will stray north on it's way to the river.

[Matt]

There are some "decent" fish that get pulled out of there, but I don't know that I would really go as far as to say "bright". Aside from those guys the Cutthroat fishing can be supremely good, and Sammamish is one of Washington's premier Smallmouth lakes.

PM me if you want more info on cutthroat fishing in there, I have done my share of it this last season.

Also, you probably would get better replies to this post if you posted it in the general Freshwater section.

[Amx]

Done moved.

[wolverine]

Mushy, soft, black boot kings. That said, a local guide stayed booked up for several years by hooking up tourists and boot kings. Of course some people will eat anything! Sam used to be a premier kokanee fishery but rampant development in the Issaquah creek watershed ruined their spawning grounds. Like Matt said: It's good for cutts. Particularly the south end.

[BARCHASER10]

In the winter I'm mostly a Blackmouth guy in 8-2 and plunk Douglas Bar some for Steelies. But since Blackmouth in the salt looks slim this winter, is Lake Sam better than Lake Wa for cutts? I trolled the south end of Lake Wa for cutts last winter and did OK. But I'm still learning about cutts.

[Anonymous]

The Sammamish boot kings are a spotty fishery at best. I prefer to fish Lake Washington for a few reasons. #1 - It is a 5 minute jaunt to the Newport launch from my house. #2 - The cutts in Lake Washington tend to have a bit more girth to them and fight a bit better. #3 - If one happens to catch a kokanee while fishing in Lake Washington, and it falls within the slot limits, you can keep it if you so chose. #4 - In my opinion Lake Washington has more areas to fish, better launch options and much better scenery.

One last reason would be that you can dock your boat at Coulon and hit Ivar's or Kidd Valley for some hot grub.