In a move sure to bring smiles to the faces of trout fishermen in the area, the same coalition that provided last season’s hugely popular triploid rainbow stocking program has decided on a repeat – only better.
“We’ll be making our first plant March 1,” said the group’s coordinator, Mark Spada. “And thanks to the generosity of the people involved in this, we should end up with just about double the number of fish we stocked last year.”
Spada said the commercially raised trout will be planted in two lakes this year, instead of the three stocked last season.
“We’ll be making about six plants, 10 days to two weeks apart, in Blackman’s Lake and Flowing Lake,” he said. “Storm Lake won’t be part of the program this year.”
Blackman’s Lake is on the north edge of the city of Snohomish. Flowing Lake is north of Highway 2, between Snohomish and Monroe. Both are open to fishing year-around.
The coalition paying to purchase the trout includes the Snohomish Sportsmen’s Club, the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club, The Reel News and the Dick Nite Company. The smallest rainbow scheduled for the program will be 14 to 16 inches, Spada said, while the largest will push 8 to 10 pounds.
“We may end up with a few really trophy trout in the low teens,” Spada said.
Part of the reason for selecting Blackman’s and Flowing, Spada said, was because of the ease of public access at the two lakes. Blackman’s has three fishing piers, one at the boat launch on the south side of the lake and two (including one that’s wheelchair accessible) on the east side. Flowing has a launch at each end and a fishing pier.
Spada said this particular strain of rainbows provides a very aggressive fish that acclimates quickly to the water in which it’s planted and goes “on the bite.” Even so, water temperatures will be low in both lakes for several weeks, and Spada said anglers should plan to stay shallow.
“I wouldn’t look for the fish in deeper water,” he said. “The surface will be warmer, and that’s where they’ll be – maybe in the top eight feet or so.”
Trolling is the best way to find the fish, Spada said, pulling flies or small, thin-bladed spoons. Dick Nites are always a good choice, in silver, 50/50, silver with red head, or white with red head. Other small trolling lures such as Triple Teazers or Roostertails also will work.
Fishing bait, rig with a slip sinker and three or four feet of light leader, then use a mini-marshmallow or piece of Power Bait with your choice of egg or worm, to float the hook above the bottom. Don’t go any deeper than about eight feet, Spada advises. If you’re over deeper water, hang your bait under a bobber to keep it shallow.
More trout: March 1 also marks the opener for a number of lakes in the Columbia Basin that have been planted with “catchable” rainbows in the quarter-pound range. Quincy and Burke lakes should be the best of the bunch, according to state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Jeff Korth in the Ephrata office. Growing populations of perch and sunfish have impacted earlier plants of rainbow fingerlings, Korth said, but the survivors should be 12 inches or better. Each lake also has received plants of 5,000 catchables. The two lakes are in the Quincy Wildlife Area, between Quincy and George.
The Caliche lakes should also be good, especially Upper Caliche, where catchables have been added for the opener. Fingerling plants in the system last year totaled 10,000 in Upper Caliche, 6,000 in Lower Caliche, and 1,000 in West Caliche.
Popular Martha Lake was rehabilitated last year and should offer excellent fishing this season. Dusty will not be stocked until later in the spring.
Lenice and Nunnally, both under selective gear rules (no bait, single barbless hooks, one-fish limit), also open March 1, and both, according to Korth, are in good shape. Yearling trout in the two lakes should be running 14 inches, and numerous carryovers should be available in the 16- to 24-inch range.
“The larger fish from stocking four years ago were mostly triploids,” he said, “so the possibility for some true monsters is very real.”
Both lakes were stocked with rainbow fingerlings last spring (Lenice, 7,000; Nunnally, 9,000), half of which were sterile triploids. There are also brown and tiger trout (brown/brook cross) that were stocked in small numbers.
Lake Lenore, with its population of big Lahontan cutthroat, opens March 1 under catch-and-release rules through May. Most Lenore anglers don’t get serious about fishing the lake, however, until April or so, when the fish become more active.
“The good news from Lenore,” Korth said, “is that the lake appears to have recovered last year from the serious fish kills of 1998. We increased stocking rates from 40,000 to 70,000 fish annually the last few years to replace the lost trout, and it has apparently worked. Cutts in the 3- to 5-pound range should be numerous this year.”
Local blackmouth: Tom Nelson, guide and Marysville resident (tom@fishskagit.com), said the best spot for winter salmon in Marine Area 8-1 is probably Baby Island, which came on after a slow opener. His choice in Area 8-2 would be the “racetrack,” between Hat Island and Camano Head.
“While the tide is ebbing to the north, try the east side of Camano Head,” Nelson said, “switching to west Hat on the flood. Herring is still the predominant bait in this area, so be prepared to ‘match the hatch.’”
All Star Charters owner/skipper Gary Krein (425-252-4188) also has been having good luck on the southeast corner of Hat Island, but only on the early-morning bite. Krein said Possession Bar was poor Saturday but good Sunday, and pretty much exemplifies the spotty nature of this late-season blackmouth fishery.
Krein, by the way, will be presenting free seminars on fishing and crabbing opportunities in local saltwater areas at the upcoming Everett Boat Show in the Everett Events Center. He’s scheduled to be on stage at 3 p.m. Friday, March 5, and at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 6.
Jeff Barcott walked away with first place in the Stanwood Hotel Tavern Salmon Derby and Chili Feed over the weekend. He collected a check of $2,781 with a chinook that weighed slightly over 20 pounds. Second place, at 14 pounds, 8 ounces, went to David Helton, and third, at 13 pounds, 15 ounces, to Denny Knutson. The second- and third-place blackmouth were taken in the Elger Bay/Camano Head area.
Columbia River: Smelt dipping on the lower Cowlitz River has been dead recently, but a spokesman for Carnival Market in Kelso (360-425-6622) said commercial fishermen are telling him about a big school of smelt still holding in the Columbia, around Skamokawa. “It’s just a matter of time before we get some of those fish,” he said.
The first spring chinook over Bonneville Dam was logged Feb. 10. The run is expected by state biologists to be the second largest since at least 1938. Joe Hymer, at the agency’s Vancouver office (360-696-6211), said 360,700 adult kings are expected above Bonneville, a run that would be exceeded only by the record run of 400,000 in 2002 and would be much stronger than last year’s 209,000 fish. The prediction for the Cowlitz is 15,900 springers, compared to 13,400 last year; for the Kalama, 6,000 fish, compared to 5,100 last year; and for the Lewis, 5,400, compared to 4,200 last year.
The Columbia fall chinook forecast (upriver fisheries at Hanford Reach and above Chelan) calls for the fifth-largest run since 1948 at 621,800 fish.
In a move designed to minimize recreational fishing impacts on wild-stock chinook in the Columbia River fishery, a new regulation has been put into effect prohibiting anglers from taking unclipped chinook completely from the water while releasing them, upstream to McNary Dam.
Walleye anglers on the John Day Pool have been scoring at a clip of about three-quarters of a fish per rod recently.
Smelt: Recreational smelt dipping at the Oak Harbor Marina continues strong, according to spokesman Wes George. There’s lots of pressure, but many limits leaving the docks, he said.
“When I got to work Saturday morning,” he said, there were already 35 people there, and we had over 100, I would guess, throughout the day.”
Jigs are available at Ace Hardware in Oak Harbor, he said.
Sportsmen’s show: Don’t forget the Evergreen Sportsmen’s Show, currently under way at the Monroe fairgrounds through Sunday. Hours are 1-9 p.m. today and Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $9 for adults, $5 for juniors 6-16 and free for kids 5 and under. Parking is free.
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