WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
NEWS RELEASE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
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April 30, 2007
Contact: Jon Anderson, (360) 902-2711

Average trout catch up on statewide fishing opener

OLYMPIA – Thousands of Washington anglers averaged nearly three fish apiece while fishing on opening day of the lowland lake trout season Saturday.

That’s slightly higher than the average catch on opening day last year, said Jon Anderson, a fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

“Anglers caught lots of nice trout, with several real lunkers,” Anderson said.

WDFW staff and volunteers checked 5,544 anglers with 14,770 trout from 103 lakes statewide. That’s an average of nearly 2.7 trout per angler.

However, that number is lower than the actual catch, said Anderson.

“Good weather kept many anglers out on the water longer than usual and they were not counted in the creel check,” he said. “And many anglers were practicing catch-and-release fishing.”

Because there were no other fishery openings competing for western Washington anglers’ time, boat ramps at trout-stocked lowland lakes across the state were busy, Anderson said.

Nine lakes checked averaged the daily catch limit of five trout:

  • Chelan County’s Beehive Reservoir and Clear Lake
  • Lincoln County’s Fishtrap Lake
  • Spokane County’s West Medical and Williams lakes
  • Snohomish County’s Wagner Lake
  • Stevens County’s Cedar and Deep lakes

Large fish were landed in several locations, Anderson said. For example, in Grays Harbor County, the largest fish caught during a kids’ fishing derby at Aberdeen Lake was a 28.5-inch, 12.3-pound rainbow, and the biggest caught at a Failor Lake fishing derby was an 11-pound rainbow.

Most of the trout-stocked lakes remain open through October, and WDFW will continue to stock numerous lakes through spring. Some rule changes go into effect May 1. More information about those changes is in the new 2007-08 “Fishing in Washington” rule pamphlet, which is available at WDFW offices, license dealers and at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations.

The complete creel report from April 28 is as follows:

County Water Anglers
Checked		 No.
Trout		 Average Trout
Kept/Angler
Chelan Beehive Reservoir 24 120 5.0
  Clear Lake 14 70 5.0
  Lilly Lake 10 32 3.2
Wapato Lake 57 248 4.4
Ferry Ellen Lake 25 39 1.6
Grant Blue Lake 180  353  2.0
Deep Lake 64  266  4.2
  Park Lake 269  564  2.1
  Perch Lake 19  82  4.3
  Vic Meyers (Rainbow) Lake 60 60  0.8
Warden Lake 48  118  2.5
Grays Harbor Aberdeen Lake 194 435 kept
233 rel. 		2.2
  Failor Lake 53 87 kept
29 rel. 		1.6
  Sylvia Lake 32 38 kept
8 rel. 		1.2
  Vance Creek Pond #1 36 73 kept
15 rel. 		2.0
Vance Creek Pond #2 52 55 kept
49 rel.		 1.1
Island Deer Lake 38 135 3.6
Goss Lake 4 18 4.5
Jefferson Anderson Lake 49 202 4.1
  Sandy Shore Lake 87 265 3.1
  Tarboo Lake 50 150 3.0
Teal Lake 36 102 2.8
King Cottage Lake 7 35 5.0
  Geneva Lake 42 88 2.1
Langlois Lake 64 182 2.8
  North Lake - - -
  Pine Lake 75 187 2.5
  Rattlesnake Lake 81 114 2.2
  Steel Lake 40 130 3.3
Wilderness Lake 152 328 2.2
Kitsap Wildcat Lake 40 80 2.0
Klickitat Horsethief Lake 53 177 3.3
  Rowland Lake 113 248 2.2
Spearfish Lake 41 14 0.3
Lewis Carlisle Lake 51 92 1.8 
  Fort Borst Park Pond 32 101 3.2 
Mineral Lake 78 64 0.8
Plummer Lake 16 31 1.9
Lincoln Fishtrap Lake 67 485 5.0
Mason Benson Lake 59 186 3.2
Devereux Lake - - -
  Haven Lake 35 38 1.0
  Phillips Lake 29 51 1.8
  Stump Lake 24 58 2.4
Tiger Lake 141 248 1.8
Wooton Lake 63 137 2.2
Okanogan Alta Lake 88 297 3.4
Blue (Sinlahekin) Lake 5 2 0.4
  Conconully Lake 16 66 4.1
  Conconully Reservoir 27 117 4.3
  Fish Lake (Sinlahekin) 24 54 2.3
  Leader Lake 65 184 2.8
Pearrygin Lake 24 87 3.6
  Spectacle Lake 16 62 3.9
Wannacut Lake 39 123 3.2
Pacific Snag Lake (Radar Ponds) 10 6 0.6
Western Lake (Radar Ponds) 21 21 1.0
Pend Oreille Diamond Lake 45 143 3.2
Marshall Lake 34 97 2.8
Yocum Lake 19 41 2.2
Pierce Bay Lake - - -
  Clear Lake 99 308 3.1
  Kapowsin Lake 16 5 0.3
  Ohop Lake 66 99 1.5
Rapjohn Lake 79 215 2.7
  Spanaway Lake 28 34 1.2
Tanwax Lake 88 228 2.6
San Juan Cascade Lake 52 242 4.7
Skagit Erie Lake 55 226 4.1
  Heart Lake 60 251 4.2
  McMurray Lake 61 254 4.2
Sixteen Lake 34 87 2.6
Skamania Kidney Lake 59 167 2.8
  Northwestern Reservoir 27 98 3.6
Swift Reservoir 58 155 2.7
Snohomish Armstrong Lake 53 262 4.3
Bosworth Lake 32 113 3.5
Crabapple Lake 7 11 1.6
  Echo (Maltby) Lake 19 18 0.9
  Howard Lake 20 79 4.0
  Ki Lake 71 221 3.1
  Martha Lake (AM) 53 165 3.1
Wagner Lake 2 10 5.0
Spokane Badger Lake 74 351 4.74
  Clear Lake 37 69 1.86
  Fish Lake 56 135 2.41
  West Medical Lake 90 469 5.0
Williams Lake 44 235 5.0
Stevens Cedar Lake 14 70 5.0
  Deep Lake 6 35 5.0
  Mudgett Lake 17 74 4.4
Rocky Lake 33 107 3.2
  Starvation Lake 35 131 3.7
Waitts Lake 31 48 1.5
Thurston Clear Lake 116 160 1.4
  Deep Lake 117 85 0.7
  Hicks Lake 52 87 1.7
  Long Lake 66 74 1.1
  McIntosh Lake 109 277 2.5
  Munn Lake 37 122 3.3
Pattison Lake 71 18 0.3
Summit Lake 93 162 1.7
Ward Lake 67 185 2.8
Whatcom Cain Lake 19 82 4.3
  Padden Lake 80 317 4.0
Toad Lake 33 144 4.4