Steelhead in Lakes

Nice to have the opportunity to catch steelhead in local lakes. It was a little skinny but cut nice and white! I wonder what horseshoe shaped lake next to I5 this is.

Theres lots of lakes WDFW put steelhead in. Horseshoe Lake, Kress Lake, Lake Aberdeen and Vance Creek ponds. We caught a bunch of them trolling lures and flies. We got some good footage from the kayak cams. Check out my Instagram and YouTube channel for vidz and some dope footage!

04/11/2022

Wynoochee Lake, there were 856 hatchery steelhead and 61 Wild steelhead taken from the trap and put above the dam.

No way for the adults to get over, thru, the dam so when it opens could be a fun fishery???????

IMO--This lake should be open year around.

What a waste! Just put them in a river where they belong or quit raising them.

Imagine catching a blinding white fish like this on trout gear.



Look how this beauty cut. It will smoke up just fine.

Spawned out kelt. Pathetic.

It all smokes up good bro. I know the addicted guys have a good smoke recipe. They got a video tutorial posted on their channel.

I don't know how the cut or tasted but when when we were trapping some creeks we often jot female kelts that were gorging on the Carpenter Ant emergence. Not only were they stuffed but their body condition was rapidly improving. Plus, they were chrome bright. Except for the head shape, they looked like bright males (thinner than pre-spawn females). I suspect that any female kelts released into lakes would be eating a lot and rapidly recovering condition. Males, on the other hand, would still have other thoughts on their minds besides eating.

CM, maybe that fish had started eating but with the white flesh and low body fat I think that fish was pretty dry and tasteless. To each his own. Smoked cardboard.

Making no judgement on the quality of the meat just that, especially females, being to gorge post spawning and recover condition fast. It is also likely that the lakes do not contain foods that would make the flesh really red.

In my time in the PNW I have not seen an overwhelming consensus on the "best" salmon. I have heard each species praised. In college, Doc Donaldson told of an experiment he ran with his Rainbow. Fed them the identically same feed other than the presence of dyes. People of North American extraction felt the red-fleshed fish tasted better while northern Europeans praised the undyed white fish. They all tasted the same it was just appearance. So, to each his own as you said.

I thought you couldn't use gas motors on Horseshoe lake? Lol. When I was in highschool I ran out of battery in a little boat on the opposite side of the shoe with no oars and had to jump in and swim push it back. My fat friend was on his Nokia talking to his cheating gf. Good times.