For example, in a river with salmon and steelhead in its lower reaches, try fishing for cutthroat upstream from waterfalls and dams. This fish stocking information is from the year 2000 to present. See our privacy policy. . Merrill Lake (fly fishing) in Cowlitz County. There are numerous species of aquatic birds that live on its shores and a rare small shrimp lives in the waters. This wide, big river is easily fished from the shore and has plenty of places to do so. Skagit River The Skagit River is Washington's biggest steelhead and salmon fishery. What Rod Does Andy Montgomery Use For Skipping? Users of the data should be aware that it takes aminimum of 2 yearsfor fish to grow to harvestable size post stocking. Winter and summer steelhead smolt stocking Hoochies on dodger setups are the go-to for local anglers, and its common to see lures tipped with shoepeg corn dyed in various colors and soaked in a wide range of scents. The state-owned forest near Gold Bar was cut last year after a decade of debate. The 12-pound state record coastal cutthroat was caught more than a half century ago in Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. Lake Chelan is a very long, fairly narrow lake that measures over 50 miles end-to-end. Hitting your local lake offers a great alternative to the chaos of Black Friday.. Kokanee often suspend anywhere from 10 to 100 feet below the surface, often in parts of a lake that are several hundred feet deep. Get notified by email right after a lake near you has been stocked! Look for any structure in the lake and try various depths. (Merwin also is one of the select number of lakes in Washington planted with tiger muskies.). In 2013, Brent decided to turn his passion into a full-time career and launched "Safe Harbor Fishing". Less known are the rivers excellent smallmouth bass and walleye fisheries. https://www.fishingduo.com/5-overlooked-lakes-for-big-trout-in-washington-state/ Search and find your perfect fishing lake in washington by stocking, fish species, lake amenities, location and more. In the past, Tims Ponds stocked tens of thousands of rainbow averaging 0.5 lbs. Where can I fish for bull trout in Washington? Golden trout have been planted in select high-elevation lakes on both the west and east sides of the Cascades. The Department of Fish and Wildlife stocked more than 16 million trout in state waterways this year. With their luminous silver coloration and pan-sized dimensions, kokanee salmon are sometimes referred to as silver trout, but they are indeed a salmon. The best time to be on the water is in the morning. She settled with the city this month. The fish hatchery on Lake Whatcom actually raises kokanee salmon for release in lakes all over the state, and theyve planted fingerlings in Lake Whatcom numbering in the millions. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/wdfw-to-stock-more-than-147000-trout-in-washington-lakes/ If they follow the recommendations, its perfectly safe The highest levels of polychlorinated biphenyls were found in larger fish, which tend to concentrate more of the suspected carcinogen. Do you need a fishing license for catch and release in Washington? Sinkers. In winter, try the area between the Narrows and Twenty-Five Mile Creek, and work your way downlake as the weather turns toward spring. This is one gauge of how likely you are to catch a rainbow on average, if you're trolling on the lake for a couple hours. Rufus Woods Lake has been jointly managed by Colville Tribes Fish and Wildlife and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. All fish stocking is done in a manner that is conducive to protecting native aquatic fauna. Antillon (Lower and Upper) and Fish Lake in Chelan County. Or try our advanced Washington fishing lake finder - search for any species of fish, filter by stocked lakes only, lake amenities and more. The lake is 32.8 acres in size, with a maximum depth of 45 feet and an average depth of 22 feet. Are Trout Bottom Feeders? Yes, it is legal to use sport caught trout for bait for halibut Use salmon, herring, or halibut for anything other than human consumption or fishing bait.. How do you catch big brown trout at night? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Kokanee Using jigs or minnows is a good choice. Expect a boatload of fish in the 10 to 12 inch range, with a few in the 16 to 18 inch class. Lake Roosevelt stretching from central to northern Washington is the granddaddy of triploid rainbows, which are often both big and numerous in this massive Columbia River impoundment. Its common to find kokanee bunching up around creek mouths as summer turns to fall. If chasing rainbows, as they say, youll especially want to take a look at the Yakima River and Rocky Ford Creek in Central Washington are superb rainbow trout fisheries. Night fishing is allowed on Loon Lake, and fishing for kokanee after dark is popular among local anglers, many of whom jig with glow-in-the-dark jigs tipped with maggots. (6) It is unlawful to possess or use live aquatic animals as bait in fresh water except: (a) Live aquatic animals (other than fish) collected from the water being fished may be possessed or used as bait. Rufus Woods represents about half of the southern boundary of the Colville Indian Reservation and separates the Reservation from Douglas County to the south. American Lake. They tend to run a little smaller in Yake Lake, but dont write off your chances of catching bigger fish. Start at about 0.6 mph and slowly speed up your trolling until you start getting bites. Fishing straight down with jigging spoons like a -ounce Gibbs Minnow or Bomber Slab can be one of the most enjoyable ways to fish because you really get to feel the bites. Kachess Lake and Keechelus lake are both located within Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. I-82 Pond 4 stocked a total of 30 10lb rainbow, last on December 2nd, 2022. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Trolling deep drop-offs, especially around the islands, tends to be the way to go. Like any kokanee lake, the fishing can vary drastically from one year to the next. Table of Contentsshow 1. The state record comes from Lake Chelan, which meets all of the lake trout requirements with its cold, impressive depths and abundance of kokanee, cutthroat trout and other forage. Rock Lake. When the bite is really on, the best action is early in the day. Most anglers employ trolling to find them, using downriggers or weight to get their baits and lures down to the appropriate depth. For June: Kokanee Lake trout Westslope cutthroat trout. Rowland Lake stocked a total of 60 10lb rainbow, last on December 13th, 2022. Fiorito North stocked a total of 55 10lb rainbow, last on January 25th, 2023. Eastern Washington offers fewer kokanee waters than the western and central parts of the state, but anglers in the Spokane area have a few options. The official world record for a sport-caught lake trout is 72 pounds, but even larger lakers have been recorded. Soon, new trees will sprout in its place. Bait your hook with floating bait so your offering rises up close to the thermocline. Even though they have the teeth for it, they do not prey upon humans, and they reside at about 5,000-6,000 feet below sea level. The Columbia River is renowned for its salmon and steelhead runs. Lake Chelan. Prior to the existence of a state wildlife management agency, the U.S. Forest Service stocked mountain lakes with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) , cutthroat trout (Oncohynchus clarki) and eastern brook trout . Depths from 15 to 40 feet are productive early in the season, but you may need to set your sites as deep as 60 feet in summer. Their preferred habitat is deep, cold water lakes and reservoirs. The best kokanee fishing on Lake Chelan is typically from mid-April through the end of June, but some of the biggest fish tend to be caught a bit later in the summer. The states heaviest gator on record was taken in 1989, weighing 1,043 pounds. The next reservoir downstream from Roosevelt is Rufus Woods Lake, which has produced the Washington state record rainbow trout, a triploid tipping the scales at nearly 30 pounds. Visit WDFWs lowland lakes page for more information on these and hundreds of other lakes throughout the state. Jigging can also be very productive for putting kokanee into the boat quickly, if you know what youre doing, and a few anglers tempt them still-fishing with bait. Search for stocked lakes near you by entering your zip code or address. Crappie fishing at Lake Washington usually picks up fast as opposed to other lakes in the area Anglers are having some success fishing in 5-6 feet of water while fishing about 4 feet deep. The stocking is comprised of "catchables", "jumbos", "put, grow and take" and "fry/fingerling" plants. Bull trout are also present in both lakes, but must be released immediately if caught. Bigger isnt always better, but for Washingtons longest river, it is. Several species of bullhead catfish also inhabit lakes, ponds and rivers across the state. April 20, 2022. Depending on data and requests, that could change. Some years, 16-inch kokes are par for the course. The biggest specimens can outweigh steelhead. Fingerling brook trout have been stocked since 1976, and fishing has been permitted since 1979. If youd like to dive deeper into these deep-running freshwater salmon, read Kokanee Fishing: Simple How-To Tips and Techniques. These fish also attempt to spawn naturally, taking on a reddish tint much like ocean-run sockeye salmon, and migrating up its many tributaries in fall. At first he thought the fish was a big walleye. Lake Roosevelt has earned a reputation for kicking out big kokes. With a sticker price of $10,000 to $13,000, its a thrifty persons Tesla or a big spenders electric bike. Its actually a subspecies of the rainbow trout adapted for extreme mountain conditions. (It still offers lots of other types of fishing though.). See the latest stocking information for lakes around Washington. Lake Tapps. Lakes scheduled to be stocked this year include: Additionally, the following lakes on the eastside have been stocked with fry plants in recent years and promise great fishing for Black Friday: Hatch and Williams lakes in Stevens County; Fourth of July Lake in Lincoln and Adams counties; and Hog Canyon Lake in Spokane County. Try tolling at about 1.4 to 1.6 mph, and dial it down if the fish seem to prefer a slower presentation. They also are present in a small number of Olympic Peninsula high mountain lakes. Your best bet is along the lakes western shore, where the bottom drops steeply from 20 to well over 100 feet. But both are deep and cold, and reward anglers who troll for kokanee. A lot of those fish end up in the bellies of Lake Whatcoms largemouth and smallmouth bassits also an excellent bass fishing lakebut plenty grow up to reach catchable size. Golden trout havent appeared on stocking schedules recently, and numbers may have dwindled in some waters. Some waters, such as the Cowlitz River, also are stocked with searun cutthroat trout. With "spring break" fast approaching, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is stocking dozens of lakes in Western Washington with more than 250,000 . This article briefly highlights some of Washingtons very best trout fishing for a variety of trout species found across the state. Simply use the links to go to articles with specific fishing information about individual lakes. Find a list of potential fishing holes atWDFWs species page for golden trout. Know when, how many, and how big fish are stocked. Theres a solid late winter/early spring koke season here too. Generally, Ive organized this overview by trout species, including those that are easily caught across wide stretches of Washington, plus some that will take some more doing to find and catch. ( lower and Upper ) and fish lake in Washington by stocking, fish species, lake amenities, and. 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