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600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
April 20, 1998
Contact: Jeff Weathersby, (360) 902-2256
Millions of trout beckon anglers Saturday for season opener
OLYMPIA -- There will be more than 2.4 million hungry trout waiting for
Washington anglers when the lowland trout season opens this Saturday.
Most of the fish will be pan-sized--about seven inches or larger. But many trout,
16 inches and up, also will be planted.
"The opening of the lowland trout season is a great time to take the whole family
fishing," said Bern Shanks, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's director.
"The trout usually are eager and they can be caught from the bank or boat. Even
the youngest child has a good chance of hooking a fish and creating a life-time
memory," he added.
Trout fishing in the lowland lakes also takes little more equipment than a fishing
rod, a worm, salmon egg or marshmallow, hook, weight and bobber, Shanks said.
Department biologists say newly-planted trout tend to stay in the top three to five
fee of water. Therefore anglers should fish shallow with a float from the shore or cast
using small lures, flies or spinner-bait combinations.
Anglers with boats also should try shallow trolling in newly planted lakes.
Trout tend to move to deeper water as the lake surfaces start to warm in late
spring and early summer.
The daily limit for trout generally is five fish of any size. Fishers should check the
Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet for applicable rules before fishing in a lake or
stream. Most Anglers also need game fish licenses although residents up to age 14 are
not required to purchase them. A fishing license for resident adults costs $17. They
are available at all WDFW offices and at some 800 sporting goods stores across the
state.
Here is a regional breakdown of lakes that may have the hottest fishing:
- Eastern Washington: Spokane (Clear, Silver, Chapman and Liberty lakes);
Walla Walla (Bennington Lake and Quarry Pond); Whitman (Rock Lake and
Pampa Pond); Pend Oreille (Diamond, Horseshoe and Sacheen lakes):
Columbia (Blue, Curl and Rainbow lakes)
- East-central Washington: (many lakes have good trout fishing but few have
special opening day plants): Franklin (Dalton);
- Central Washington: Yakima (Clear, Rotary and Wenas lakes); Kittitas
(Easton, Fio Rito North and Mattoon lakes)
- Puget Sound: King (Wilderness and Pine); Snohomish (Ki); Skagit (Heart,
Erie and McMurray lakes); Whatcom (Padden, Cain and Silver lakes): Pierce
(Spanaway, Ohop, Clear and American lakes)
- Olympic Peninsula: Thurston (Long, Offutt, Pattison and Summit lakes);
Mason (Benson, Lost, Nahwatzel and Tiger lakes); Jefferson (Anderson, Crocker
and Leland lakes); Clallam (Bogachiel Pond and Sutherland and Wentworth
lakes); Grays Harbor (Aberdeen, Duck, Failor and Sylvia lakes); Pacific (Loomis
and Black)
- Southwest Washington: Lewis (Mayfield Reservoir and Carlisle and Mineral
lakes); Cowlitz (Horseshoe, Kress and Sacajewea); Skamania (Tunnel, Kidney
and Icehouse lakes); Klickitat (Horsethief, Rowland and Spearfish lakes)
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