Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey, I'm looking for some tips fishing on the north end of lake Washington. Let me first say I'm the worst fisherman in king county. I read everything I can find and go out a lot but to this farther only thing I can successfully catch are perch with a dropshot.

My buddy and I are trying really hard to catch so lake Washington trout. We would really like to stay at the north end of the lake because we carry an inflatable down to the beach with a little electric trolling motor. We get in the water at Matthews beach then usually fight a weird current north along the drop off trying to find fish. I'm not sure if it's our best strategy, or if we should trying crossing the lake to Juanita bay or heading south to magnasun. It's all experimenting. That said we've done this a lot and I would expect to catch something!

I'll just tell you guys what my set up looked like yesterday for example. We trolled with a 2 oz weight on a three way swivel out to a dodge and lure. My dodger and lure were a green dodger and green wiggle hoochie. My buddy a red hologram dodger and double whammy wedding ring. We've tried an assortment of bait. Fire corn, meal worms, Berkeley worms, salmon eggs, and Berkeley minnows, along with trout dip. Nothing. We were Trolling at speed 1 on a min kota and at 20-40 pulls depth. We have a fish finder, a Deeper Bluetooth model. All the fish it tells us are there at at around 110 ft by the bottom or 5 ft off the top. I think those a prob false readings. Please help!

I used to fish the Cutts in Lake WA. quite a bit, but its been awhile for sure. Where you are putting in at was never much of a target spot for me, but somebody else may feel differently.

Don't know if you can be flexible in where you fish, but if keeping with the N. end, i would head over to Moss Bay, Juanita, kirkland. Read carefully DJ Butler's reports. He has been very successful over there, and gives very detailed reports.
I would match his gear and speeds, etc. concern yourself more with the hardware/lure at the business end of your line. Don't get caught up in all the various "baits" you mentioned. (Yeah, a little scent is one thing, but a lot of people think of "Fishing" as----- you must have some kind of "bait" not so, when you are trolling.

Also, obviously you don't have downriggers on the raft, look for anything to control a targetted depth. This hot weather/bright sun will drive the fish deeper. Consider a dypsey diver, or leaded line, etc. different amounts of bananna weight, what ever it takes to adjust the depth of your gear.
Don't forget about trolling "S" patterns, or speed changes. Mix it up.

The are you are fishing is actually productive as long as you are getting your gear down to where the fish are. This time of year you need to be, at the absolute minimum 30' down, better would be 45'. To get down that far with 2oz of lead you'll need to have well over a hundred feet of line out.

The "fish" you are seeing on your sonar is probably the second thermocline. The first thermocline is presently right around 35' and will steadily drop to almost 60' before the lake turns over. You'll want to stay at or below the first thermocline in the summer. If you really want to catch cutts right now, either find a way to get downriggers on your boat or change tactics to mooch or jig/dropshot for them in 45 - 60 feet of water. If the wind cooperates, you can slowly drift over the "bar" formed by Thorton Creek and work a cutplug or jig along the bottom. Use your electric motor to keep your speed down enough so that you can maintain contact with the bottom without a really shallow line angle.

In the winter and spring months, the fish can be caught close to the surface and the shoreline. Every so often I'll use my inflatable pontoon to troll for cutts and bows in the east channel.

These are fantastic tips! I really appreciate the feedback guys. I live right on Thornton Creek, so I have a big incentive to learn how to fish it. I think my motor will take me across to Juanita. I'll try there as well

I would not recommend using your electric motor to cross the lake, unless you know someone who could pick you up from the other side. It's further than it looks and if the wind picks up you'll end up either against the 520 bridge or in Kenmoore.

Appreciate that insight, I'm haven't tried to cross the lake yet for exactly that concern. Good to know I had been making a good decision.