Just want to let everyone know that a sockeye rig will also work for trout in Lake Sammamish. Was fishing with Mike C. and Busy and caught a kokanee/sockeye (did not measure it to determine which one it was and the fish was quickly released) and a 18" cutt out of Big Samm with a "0" dodger with two single pink Gammi's behind at 18".

Busy caught a nice 'bow with a Wiggle Wart off the 'rigger too.

I must say I was pretty surprised by those fish. Makes me have to re-think some basic trout trolling tactics. I'm wondering if those cutts would go after the bare hook with a small 00 or 000 dodger in front? I wouldn't want to loss all the sport catching those 18" cutts with my light rods.

Here's what worked for me in Roosevelt when I used to fish that lake. We would take a small dodger (000 and 0000 from Wordens) and then use the smallest Spin N Glo in front of red hooks. Often we'd tip the hook with a maggot or corn. Caught a bunch of big rainbows on that rig as well as some of the huge kokanee in Roosevelt as well. I even hooked what might have been a blackmouth on it-- Roy Houle the field research guy from Worden's, estimated the fish at 10 pounds.

I haven't tried this rig on this side of the state, but my father and I used to use small Spin N Glos to catch kokanee in Cushman-- but that's a long time ago.

I keep thinking if fishermen could locate sockeye schools in saltwater that this rig could be deadly. Have to try it one of these years.

Keith

I am going to give the ol' sockeye set up some more testing in the winter time on Lake WA. I will also have a chance to test the sockeye set up out on Banks Lake this weekend coming up.

Carl,

Please use caution with the sockeye set up on Lake
Washington. WDFW has issued lots of tickets to folks that use this set up and say they are fishing for troat. Anytime after Jan. 1st should be ok. Lakes that don't have salmon runs should be ok too. By the way, it works in the salt too, only problem I had with it, every thing eats it...
Herring,Sole,smolt, Hake, Cod,Dogfish,everything.
Try it sometime, you will get lots of excerise on the riggers like I did.

Cigar

Thanks for the word of caution Cigar. Like I said before, I will be testing the ol' sockeye rig out in winter so I will not have to worry about catching fish that are not supposed to be caught.

Using the sockeye rig in the salt could not be any worse than using my favorite white/glow hoochie. Every thing that has gills attacks that white/glow hoochie. Even monster starfish! See pix below.

Thats a wall-mount!

Ummmmm
Starfish on the B-B-Q
A little chewy but tastes like chicken.

I'm thinking about hitting Riffe this Wednesday and using some of the above mentioned setups. Carl, what color bead was that on your rig again? I'm going to downsize the dodger to match my trout rods. I guess I should downsize the hooks, or maybe not? What would you suggest?

Mike, I would stick with size 4 Gammi's in florescent pink. I put a red bead between the hooks. Don't forget to lather those hooks in shrimp oil.

Hey Easy, Mike - been busy with the relatives ...they loved the sockeye Easy. Did not get to this post until today. I am going to head back to Lake Samm and see if I can not get myself some of those fish again. I am going to play with some other gear that I have, maybe go with the smaller dodger and see what comes of it. Also I have a feeling that with today's overcast weather and the little bit of rain some more salmon might have come into the lake. Do you think a fster troll would work out there or does it have to be dead slow?

What ever speed your boat trolls at should be fine. The trick will be getting your gear down.