Tons of Power Bait, thousands of jars of Pautzke’s red eggs, and enough nightcrawlers to feed a regiment of robins will hit the water Saturday for the opener of Washington’s lowland lake trout fishing season.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife expects a crowd of more than 250,000 fisherfolk to participate in this rite of spring, and the crowd should find an excellent crop of hatchery rainbows available at a wide range of area lakes. Last year produced a top fishery, and this year’s plants are similar to those in 2014. Additionally, sunny weather has warmed most of the popular lakes to temperatures optimal for trout feeding. Things are looking good, anglers.
Haven’t decided where to be Saturday morning? If you don’t already have a favorite lake, one way to compare prospects is to look at last year’s opening-day results. The better lakes in Snohomish County included Bosworth, where anglers averaged better than three trout per rod; Lake Ki, where 51 anglers were checked with 152 trout kept and 128 released; Martha Lake in Alderwood Manor, where 52 had 224 rainbow kept and/or released; Lake Riley, where 30 had 109 kept and/or released; and Storm Lake, where 20 had 122 kept and/or released and limits were the rule.
In Skagit County, Heart Lake was the better of the always productive Heart/Erie duo south of Anacortes. At Heart, 68 rods had 349 rainbows kept and/or released, and Erie fishers checked in at 226 kept and/or released for 46 anglers. Lake Sixteen was a good bet, at 290 kept and/or released for 68 anglers. Usually hot Lake McMurray slid a little, at 126 kept and/or released for 47 anglers checked.
The largest plants in the two counties this year went to Lake Ki (12,000 rainbow “catchables,” running 10 to 12 inches), Lake McMurray (16,000), Lake Erie (10,500), Lake Bosworth (10,000) and Storm Lake (9,000).
Some folks like to try for larger trout, and they head for those lakes that have received plants of “jumbo” rainbows — triploid trout averaging 1 to 2 pounds. Making these jumbo plants even more interesting, however, is a scattering of real rod-breakers up to 11 pounds.
State biologist Justin Spinelli, at the La Conner office, said seven area lakes have been planted with jumbo rainbows, including Erie, Heart, Bosworth, Howard, Martha (Alderwood Manor), Storm and Stickney. He said about 3,000 of these fish were divided among the seven lakes, and the numbers in Snohomish County are as follows: Lake Howard (200 fish), Lake Bosworth (500), Martha Lake in Alderwood Manor (550), Storm Lake (550), and Lake Stickney (150).
When pressed, Spinelli offered his picks for the best prospects on opening day.
“I’m excited about these four, particularly: Bosworth, Martha at Alderwood Manor, and the two Skagit County lakes, Heart and Erie,” he said.
Remember, if you’re fishing bait and you bring five trout to the boat or bank, you’re done for the day whether you keep or release the fish. If you’re fishing artificial lures, you can catch and release as long as you wish.
If you’re a rank beginner and haven’t a clue about where to start, go online to www.wdfw.wa.gov/fishing and click on “Fish Washington.” It’s a cool program with how-to videos showing methods, knots, tackle, cleaning and preparing your catch, and other basics of Trout Fishing 101. More experienced anglers also can benefit from the sections on marine areas, high lakes, and other venues and species throughout the state. Good stuff here.
There is always a handful of kids’ derbies and fish-ins in the area, and this year is no exception. Following is a fairly comprehensive list:
— Saturday, Fortson Pond, Darrington, 6-11 a.m., 14 and under, call 425-343-4241 for info.
— Saturday and Sunday, kids’ trout pond at Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Monroe. Times are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
— Sunday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lake Tye, Monroe, 12 and under, call 206-818-2991.
— May 2, 8-11 a.m., Jennings Park Pond, Marysville, ages 5-12
— May 9, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sullivan Park, Silver Lake, Everett, ages 4-14, preregistration required. Call Everett Parks and Recreation.
— May 16, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Gissberg Ponds, Twin Lakes Park, Smokey Point, ages 5-14
— May 23, 10 a.m. to noon, Boucher’s Pond, Sultan,14 and under, call 425-870-4020
— May 30-31, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Willow Creek Hatchery, Lynnwood, 14 and under, 425-771-5970
— June 6, register 8 a.m., fish 9-11 a.m., Bowman’s Pond, Monroe, 12 and under, 360-794-6317.
— June 13, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Cabela’s Tulalip, 14 and under, 360-474-4880.
Eagles derby
Fine weather and a record turnout made for a great Stanwood Eagles Blackmouth Derby over the weekend, event coordinator Ed Keller said. The event drew 136 entries compared to 103 last year, Keller said, and they weighed 17 fish. First place and $3,060 went to Tina Taylor of Lake Stevens with a chinook of 18 pounds, 4 ounces, a little lighter than the 20-plus pounder that won the derby last year. Second place and $1,360 went to Ron Lampert at 17 pounds, 5 ounces, and Oren Erickson took third and $1,020 with a chinook of 15 pounds, 11 ounces.
Keller said the winning fish was caught off Widow Isle on a Coho Killer spoon.
There’s an interesting story here, Keller said. Seems that “T-Bone” and Tina Taylor were at their Camano Island cabin the previous weekend, with their boat tied to a buoy. They woke up to find the boat apparently had taken a wave over the stern and sank.
Panic time. What do you do if you have tickets for a blackmouth derby in five days and no boat?
You go buy another boat, of course, and then cobble together some borrowed gear and some of your own old stuff, fish the derby, and win it.
That’s a dedicated fisherman, folks.
For more outdoor news, read Wayne Kruse’s blog at www.heraldnet.com/huntingandfishing.
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