By Wayne Kruse
For the Herald
It’s a rite of spring, a day for sleepy dads and moms, hyper kids, wet dogs, cold coffee and powdered sugar doughnuts from the 7-Eleven. It pulls young people away from the video console long enough for the family to enjoy some quality time together, which is almost always a good thing, and despite the fact that it’s been trimmed down over the years, it still brings tens of thousands of fisher-folk to our great outdoors on the fourth Saturday of April.
Besides that, it beats dancing around the Maypole.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery trucks are finishing up the planting schedule before Saturday’s opening of the general lowland lake trout fishing season. Most of the fish will be rainbows and, according to Steve Thiesfeld, the department’s inland fish program manager, a little larger than last year’s batch — closer to 10 or 11 inches than the 8- or 9-inchers planted for the 2016 opener.
The larger triploid rainbows will be in shorter supply this season, for a variety of reasons, but the department still has about 150,000 larger trout to add spice to the fishery around the state. Thiesfeld said the triploids (a word for a specific artificial spawning procedure that produces larger trout) are “coming in at about a pound, and we have several thousand that are three pounds or more.”
Anglers who catch one of a 1,000 tagged fish can claim prizes provided by license dealers and other sponsors across the state. The tags are yellow and located near the dorsal fin. Catch a tagged fish, call the phone number on the tag for instructions on how to claim your prize, and go get your goodie. The prizes include gift cards for $25 and up, tackle, fishing trips, resort stayovers and other good things. Visit http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/derby for a list of lakes with tagged trout and details on how to claim prizes.
Kids’ fishing events will keep the youngsters busy for at least four weekends after opening day. A few of the events are as follows:
- A free fishing day for those 12 and under runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at Lake Tye on the west side of Monroe. The fish will be in a net pen on the south end of the lake, and experts from the Sky Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be on hand to help. Bring your own tackle, or there will be gear available to borrow. From 2-5 p.m., adults can fish a derby with a cash prize of $250 for the biggest fish and a bonus of $500 for anyone catching a special tagged fish. The derby entry fee is $10. For more information, contact Gary Bee at 206-818-2991, nshore@nwlink.com, or Jeff Shirley at 425-359-7756.
- A kids’ free fishing event from 8-11 a.m. May 6 at Jennings Park pond in Marysville (6915 Armar Road). The event is for youngsters ages 5-12. Food donations will be accepted for a local food bank. For more information, call 360-363-8400.
- The Silver Lake Kids’ Fish-In is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m May 13 at Silver Lake in Everett (11405 W. Silver Lake Road). The event is for anglers ages 4-14. Call the Everett Parks Department (425-257-8300, extension 2) for a reservation. Expert help will be on hand. Bring your own gear, or some may be available to borrow. Donations of fishing gear would be greatly appreciated.
- Jim Brauch Memorial Kids’ Fishing Event, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 20 at north Gissberg Pond (juveniles only), located at Twin Lakes County Park in Smokey Point. The event is for anglers 5-14.
Last year’s opening day and the following summer trout fishery were both very good. Decent weather and relatively warm water temperatures undoubtedly contributed to anglers’ success. With the long, cold winter and spring, we may not have those factors in our favor this time around.
Plants this year are almost identical to those of 2016, except for the absence of a percentage of larger — triploid and/or “jumbo” trout. Following is a thumbnail sketch of the lakes in our area that, year after year, prove to be top producers on the opener and afterward. The thumbnails include the average number of trout caught and either kept or released during the 2016 opener, and the size of the plant for this Saturday:
SNOHOMISH COUNTY: Lake Armstrong, 4.3 per person, a plant of 4,000 catchable rainbows; Bosworth, 5.1, 10,000; Echo (Maltby), 2.5, two tagged fish caught, 2,000; Howard, 6.4, 3,500; Ki, 5.9, one tagged fish caught, 12,000; Martha (Alderwood Manor), 8.8, including one 18-incher, 7,250; Riley, 3.6, one tagged fish caught, 3,500; Serene, 6.5, 4,200; Storm, 5.8, about 15 percent were in the 16- to 18-inch range, 9,000; Wagner, 4.2, most larger than 12 inches, 2,700
SKAGIT COUNTY: Lake Erie, 4.9, 14,000; Heart, 5.0, 8,000; McMurray, 4.4, 13,000; Sixteen, 11.4, 6,000.
BIG PLANTS: Keep an eye on these lakes, which got large plants for their size: Ballinger, 9,000; Bosworth 10,000; Erie, 14,000; Heart, 8,000; McMurray, 13,000; Shoecraft, 7,000; and Martha (Alderwood Manor), 7,250.
TRIPS: Where triploids are scheduled to be planted over the next several weeks: Lake Campbell, 620 trips; Clear Lake, 350; Heart Lake, 450; and south Gissberg Pond, 180.
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