WDFW is opening Lake Washington Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for Sockey. Below is the press release:

July 22, 2002
Contact: Jim Ames, (360) 902-2725
Strong, late sockeye run allows July 26-28, 2002
fishery in Lake Washington

OLYMPIA – A late, robust return of sockeye salmon to Lake Washington this summer is strong enough to support a recreational fishery in the lake that will be open Friday, July 26 through Sunday, July 28, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.

Fishing will be allowed from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset each day. There will be a two-sockeye daily limit, with sockeye retention limited to those fish measuring at least 15 inches. All other salmon must be safely released. No fishing will be allowed within 100 yards of the floating bridges. Additionally, there will be a 1,000-foot closure from the mouth of the Cedar River in Renton.

Announcement of the fishery comes after several days of higher-than-anticipated sockeye counts at the Ballard Locks fish ladder, where WDFW and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe collect daily run-size data.

State and tribal fisheries managers concluded in a conference call on Monday, July 22 that the updated strength of the Lake Washington sockeye return this year would be at least 400,000 fish, well above the escapement threshold of 350,000 salmon.

"We will continue to assess the run strength and catch rates to see if there are additional fishing opportunities that can be provided later this summer," said Fishery Manager Dick Geist.
WDFW enforcement officers will observe the fishery to ensure regulations are being followed and salmon are properly recorded on a salmon catch record card. Anglers must have a freshwater fishing license and a salmon catch record card.
Under freshwater fishing rules, individual anglers may only fish with one rod and must stop fishing once their personal daily limit has been retained.

Boat-launch access is limited in the fishery, and fisheries managers advise anglers to scout out boat-launch areas in advance of the fishery opening Friday morning.

More than 77,000 recreational anglers participated in the last Lake Washington sockeye fishery, July 4-16, 2000. Anglers took an estimated 62,237 sockeye during the 13-day fishery.

Lake Washington sockeye fishing tips and other sockeye-related information can be found on the WDFW website on Internet.

WOOHOO!

Yippie yahoo!!!!!!Who says there is no fish god

If only I had a boat... can you shore fish for sockeye?

On this fishery, how critical is it to be out there in the morning? What about downriggers?

You can fish Sockeye all day long on Lake Washington IMO. In the three times I have fished LW Sockeye the fish were caught at various times of day. In 2000 we hit the water @ 5:30ish and didnt start catching fish until 10:00. By 2:00 we had three people with limits and plenty of shakers to talk about.

Downrigging gear is a must-have. There isn't really any better way to effectively troll at 50-75ft. Set the kicker at 3-4mph and crack open a cold one!

Hey Busy,

To learn how to catch these sockeye, check out the new Salmon University article by Tom Nelson here:
http://www.salmonuniversity.com/psn_lake_washington.html

Good luck.

-N.

Time does not matter, we go after work and still limit in 30 minutes. Bare Red hooks, bare red hooks, or bare red hooks is what you should use for tackle. This is like a sockeye rodeo!!!, Just watch out for the high liners on jet skis!

for those who don't have a downrigger I have used a 6 or 7 oz sinker and a dodger with a a red hook to fish for these babies and it does work, not as effective as a downrigger but its OK. I have also trolled very slow (not 3 or 4 mph) for these fish. any other imput on speed?

This isn't a 'barbless' hook affair........is it? Been looking forward to this event and it will be my first time on the Lake. Should be fun.

i know for a fact dead slow doesn;t matter, have a 80 hp that i had to use after the electric went dead, trolled faster than the electric and started nailing fish, the speed was about doubble what everyone else was doing but didn't seem to have any problem putting fish in the boat, doug

I was reading today's Times' article and it said barbed hooks are allowed.

Just wondering if anyone can give me some input in to Rod,Reel and Line to use for the sockeye. I have the dodger, banana, red hooks and leader, but I am not sure if I need a new rig for this particular fishery. I have a 7' medium action with a 10lb. reel. Will this cut it or do I need to outfit myself better? Thanks.

Another quick question. Has anyone ever tried using a short piece of red yarn with the red hooks or is it just the bare red hooks that get them?

T.B.
When I fished a few years ago we used a few hairs of red yarn on the hook. Our thinking was to help hold the smelly jelly scent a little longer, and we limited out with no problems. But as long as you were trolling slow enough, everybody else limited also, so I really don't think it is nescassary, but it obviously didn't hurt either.

Sockeye season oh yea me and my red hooks
and downriggers all three days on the lake!!!!

I might have a spot on the boat Sat or Sun If anyone needs a place? Email me at k9jj@yahoo
we can work something out...

I am going to fish Elliott Bay in the wee hours of the morning then hop over to Lake WA later in the morning for some sockeye.

I hope you guys realize ho0w lucky you are.
Jeez I hope to be out there on Sunday. How slow do you Troll? Can you catch them from shore???

Another technique for Sockeye is to put a little egg size ball of fire engine red power bait at the eye of the hook, I think it helps them see the hook a little better.

I hate Powerbait because, well just because it is powerbait. Sticks to your finger and smells like shiot. But the Sockeye seem to locate the hook and target it a little better with something on your line other than just a hook.