The Lake WA cutthroat fishery "used to" be one of the best things going since the invention of the Flatfish, but.....it ain't no more! Fishless days more often than not? Never used to be the case. I was fortunate enough to have some excellent teachers (thanks, Cigar ) but that was 15ish years ago and the fishing was truly excellent. There used to be a close-knit circle of cutthroat fisherman in the North end of the lake who really knew their stuff. You could always tell who was a newcomer becuase they caught a few small ones and/or nothing. The pros released 90+% of what they caught rarely keeping the big ones and bonking rainbows for the table.

The lake may be a huge lake making it seem as though there is not much angling pressure, but like Budnate said, the fish are vulnerable in a few areas where they are concentrated before and after they spawn in the little tribs. Spring and early summer is a great time to catch hungry post-spawn fish such as the one pictured by Jeff. Notice the tail is all "chewed up" which is caused by digging reds. Rememer folks, that cutthroat are trout and just like steelhead they will spawn in late winter and all through the spring. They are feeding on anything and everything that they can catch when they get back to the lake so they can regenerate muscle and tissue that was lost from overwintering in the creeks before they spawn.

My buddy lives on a local Lake Wa tributary and there are some giant cutts spawning around the vicinity of his property. Neat to watch them in there, but remember that they are snakes when they get back to the lake and they need to regenerate. No different that targeting downstream steelhead which much like the post-spawn cutties will have pale white meat and are completely worthless as table fare (compared to a pre-spawn fish). Put 'em back, please folks, at least keep the rainbows which are stocked fairly heavily. If you do choose to keep the cutties, than that is your right, but don't come crying to me in 10 years when there ain't no fish left! Trust me, with all the hype it won't be long!