WDFW Actual results from the fish survey

[The Quadfather]

(FYI---- Something to remember is that this survey was done on the outer shelf edge of the lake from Shoreline out to a depth of 15 ft. Of course you aren't going to get the best reprentation from certain species of size, such as the bigger cutthroats, salmon, etc. that are out in the open water of the lake,,,,, but never the less, it's fun reading.)



Sorry for the delay in getting those results, but here they are:


Species: Number:
________________________________________________________________________________________

Threespine Stickleback 28,631
Yellow Perch 6,228
Sculpin 1,296
Pumpkinseed 1,247
Brown Bullhed 897
Large Sucker 733
Northern Pikeminnow 649
Peamouth 365
Smallmouth Bass 284
Bluegill 145
Cutthroat Trout 136
Chinook 65
Largemouth BAss 53
Sockeye 31
Black Crappie 29
Tench (yuck) 26
Rainbow Trout 25
Common Carp 19
Coho 11
Green Sunfish 10
Oriental Weatherfish (see attached photo) This is a common aquarium fish also known as a Loach------- Amount found was 10

Longnose sucker 2
Unidentified salmonid 2
__________________________________________________________________________________________



Here I will just give the Max. length of the fish surveyed: (This is in millimetes, and remember it's 25 mm's make 1 inch.

Threespine stickleback 148mm (2 mm shy of 6 inches) get the idea?
Yellow Perch 353 mm
Sculpin 202 mm
Pumpkinseed 334 mm
Brown Bullhead 338 mm
Largescale sucka 1237 mm (that's about 24 inches!)
Northern Pikeminnow 647 mm
Peamouth 347 mm
Smallmouth bass 521 mm (thats about 22 inches,...pretty sweet)
Bluegill 143 mm
Cutthroat trout 546 mm
Chinook 227 mm
Largemouth Bass 393 mm
Sockeye 665 mm
Black Crappie 210 mm
Tench, (yuck) 525 mm
Rainbow Trout 318 mm
Common Carp 785 mm
Coho 193 mm
Green Sunfish 65 mm
Oriental Weatherfish (see attach. photo) 190 mm (7 inches)
Longnose sucka 226 mm
Unidentified salmonid 107 mm
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Age was determined by some measurement of the scales, sorta like the rings on a tree.

A couple of factoids:
Average length at age.... Smallmouth bass Age 2 years is 179 mm (7 inches) SMB at 10 years is 496 mm or 22 inches. Think about that next time you catch a hawg, and wonder about catch/release. :-)

Yellow Perch: Age 2 is 165 mm ( 5 inches) Age 6, 349 mm (14 inches)

________________________________________________________________________________________________


Average weight for most species was above the national average.
Only rainbow trout, cutthroat, and yellow perch were below the national average.

Sorry, I can't seem to find any weights here.


That's about it.

[bpm2000]

wow... loach in lake wa. thats weird - hope they dont become some crazy invasive.

[kuttkilla]

Threespine Stickleback 28,631

That's what the cutthroats inhale. I'm glad to see their numbers up. They "only" got some 130 cutts, which is good, sounds like they were hiding...

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

Well... there were kings in that survey which means to me it was around July-August. Also tons of perch shallow.

Did the report say which month it was done?

[shawn]

Thanks quadradomus that was cool to see it in numbers.Very interesting consider that it's only to a depth of 15 feet.Makes wonder what else is out there.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

I see the kings (actually princes) and coho caught in the nets were juvies. My guess which month may be off.

[kuttkilla]

Did the report say which month it was done?

Same question, what month? The cutts eat the sticklebacks big time...the little sticklebacks are one of their main prey. I did very well in August and September for big cutts in shallow water (20') and this would explain why they were there. Now I'm fishing down about 55'.

[Anonymous]

Well... there were kings in that survey which means to me it was around July-August. Also tons of perch shallow.

Did the report say which month it was done?

+



June 27 through July 1st, 2005
It took 3 years to coordinate and implement due to all the federal permitting and Co-manager approval through
Muckleshoot, Suquamish tribes, NOAA, USFWS,............. and a hole bunch of others I won't mention.
The last survey by the WDFW was in 1982, of course the UW has done a few too. The state had one put together some years ago, and after all the work went into the prep, someone forgot to turn in the permits and it didn't get off the ground.

[bpm2000]

yea i have found stickleback in many a perch stomach as well. im sure the bass eat em too.

[kuttkilla]

June 27 through July 1st, 2005

This would explain why so few cutts were caught. They are in much deeper water by June 27th. You can find them on the downrigger in 60 feet of water suspended on/within the thermocline. They are primarily February and March spawners, with some spawning in April. By May the fishing is red hot, and then it cools in June and July only to heat up again in August, September, October, November and Decemeber. Esp. October when the sea-runs hit their peak numbers in LW. Look for LW's water temp to increase to 50F right now it's around 41-44F...certainly VERY COLD.

[A9]

They were netting at a depth of 15 feet? And caught Sockeye and King AND Coho at that shallow?

I don't get it...

[Anonymous]

They were netting at a depth of 15 feet? And caught Sockeye and King AND Coho at that shallow?

I don't get it...

Sam,

I'm not a salmon guy, but I think I realize what you are saying... ( mouth of the cedar maybe?) all I can say is that they must have been catching mostly smolt or whatever you call juvenile salmon.
the Fyke net is a net that looks like a large letter V the open end of the V is near the shore.... the letter V acts as a guide toward the narrow end of the V,,, at the narrow end there is a tunnel which goes into the actual net.

There was talk about how the gill nets were set, to do with the angle of the net or something. The electro shock stuff is mostly effective to a depth of 4 ft. The larger fish... salmon/trout etc. aren't as suseptible to the shock. but they do respond but the numbers just get a little grey I think for these fish. (notice that you didn't see any cat fish in the survey. (depth)

There was a very in depth talk about the upcoming seasons of the various salmon, i.e. the numbers that have been seen of the sockeye, chinook? and others. They wanted a lot of feedback from people as to what how they target these fish, and about all I remember was the sockeye numbers sucked. They want to see 350K, and they are seeing 100K so I think that fishery is not coming around whenever the next time was supposed to be.

Now I am getting completly vague, but for more accurate info. on the upcoming salmon fisheries, mayby someone could email Chad Jackson who was the lead biologist for the WDFW. He could spell out what they are thinking.
It was kind of cool that he said it was his dream to see Tiger Muskies in Lk WA. at some point, but he said it was probably not likely from an insiders view.

[fishnislife]

That's cool to see. Thanks Quad for putting all that info together. Did you actually take notes or did you pick up some information flyers?




fishnislife

[The Quadfather]

That's cool to see. Thanks Quad for putting all that info together. Did you actually take notes or did you pick up some information flyers?




fishnislife

I took home some flyers.

[kuttkilla]

Link for people to check out and join PSALW (Puget Sound Anglers of Lake Washington: http://www.psalakewashington.org/

[Hal]

13" Pumpkinseed? Thats huge!

[JT26]

Were there any photos taken during this survey?

[Jake Dogfish]

The salmonoids were mostly smolts, which is what one should expect. Interesting survey.

[Fish Antics]

I'm with HAL . . . 13 inch Pumkinseeds are whoppers! Usually 5-6", occasionally approaching 10", and rarely (with a capital R) reaching a maximum of 16"

Regardless, if the ID was correct . . nice fish!

[gpc]

I'm with HAL . . . 13 inch Pumkinseeds are whoppers! Usually 5-6", occasionally approaching 10", and rarely (with a capital R) reaching a maximum of 16"

Regardless, if the ID was correct . . nice fish!

Yeah a 13" pumpkinseed is HUGE. That thing has to be 1.5 lb+. HUGE for a bluegill let alone a pumpkinseed