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SEATTLE–Lake Sammamish will open to sport fishing for hatchery salmon today (Aug. 18), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.
The daily bag limit is two salmon. All sockeye and kokanee must be released.
While hatchery chinook are not marked so anglers can tell them from wild salmon, WDFW biologists said wild chinook bound for the Cedar River and Bear Creek will have turned into their native waterways before reaching the lake.
Only Issaquah Hatchery chinook will enter Lake Sammamish so wild chinook will be protected.
WDFW also asks anglers to check the stomachs of the chinook they catch to determine if they contain a special tag that emit radio signals. The tags, which are about three inches long, can be reused so anglers who find them are asked to bring them to the Issaquah Hatchery. The tags also may be taken to WDFW^s north Puget Sound regional office at 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., Mill Creek. Anglers also may call the Mill Creek office at (425) 775-1311 and leave their names, phone numbers and addresses and WDFW personnel will pick them up at their homes.
WDFW biologists believe more than 5,300 hatchery chinook are available for harvest in the lake.
Lake Sammamish is scheduled to close to salmon fishing on Nov. 30.
Uploaded: 8/18/1999
Uploaded: 8/18/1999