Recap of trout fishing opening day reveals plenty of fun anddecent action | Reel Time Fishing Northwest

Here is a recap with notes and tidbits from the statewide lowlandlakes opening day from this past weekend:

In the Spokane region, John Whalen, a state Fish and Wildlife regional fish program manager reportsthe opener was a successful event.

"Nine lakes were surveyed in District 1 and 6 lakes were surveyed in District 2 (and) no significantmishaps or accidents were reports by staff and the weather held on to provide for good fishingconditions," Whalen said. "Weather wise - it was definitely early spring like, with 7 a.m. airtemperatures in the low 40s. Skies were partly sunny / partly overcast throughout the day, withsome light scattered rain and wind at times. Anglers took it all in stride, and showed up in goodnumbers across both District 1 and 2."

Top producers for fish kept per angler included: Fishtrap Lake (Lincoln County), 4.4 fish per rod;Williams Lake (Spokane) - somewhat surprising at 3.6; West Medical (Spokane), 3.1; Rocky Lake(Stevens), 4.2; Starvation Lake (Stevens), 4.0; and Ellen Lake (Ferry), 4.2.

Stevens County - Cedar, 11 with 35 for 3.2: Good fishing! Fry plant rainbows are fat and healthy.Engine Maintenance

� Don�t permit oil as well as debris build-up

in the actual bilges.

� Inspect the actual lagging of motor

and heater exhausts with regard to

damage as well as deterioration and also

nearby objects pertaining to heat damage

or charring.

� Verify exhaust techniques regarding

inboard engines pertaining to leaks.

� check for loose gasoline joints,

damaged gas tanks or perhaps

deteriorating hoses.Largest fish was a 15? rainbow. Average size was 12?; Deep, three with 15 for5.0: Rainbow, cutthroat, and eastern brook trout in the angler catch. Largest fish was a 14? rainbow.Average size was 11?; Mudgett, 57 with 129 for 2.3: Largest fish was a 19? rainbow. Average sizewas 14?. Really nice fish; Rocky, 21 with 88 for 4.2: Largest fish was a 17? rainbow. Average sizewas 13?. Lots of happy anglers; Starvation, 21 with 84 for 4.0: Largest fish was a 15? rainbow.Average size was 11?; Waitts, 56 with 158 for 2.8: Largest fish were an 18? brown trout and a 22.5?rainbow trout. High catch rates and lots of happy anglers.

Pend Oreille County - Big Meadow, seven with 18 for 2.6: Largest fish was a 14.5? rainbow. Averagesize was 12?. Nice fish, but cold water temperature made fishing a little slow; Diamond, 10 with 56for 5.0; Anglers were happy with the fishing. Largest fish were 16? rainbow and brown trout.

Ferry County - Ellen, 12 anglers with 50 trout for 4.2 fish kept per rod: Good fishing despite toughweather conditions (rain and hail). A good time was had by all! Largest fish. The 859ci HD Combocomes with a super bright LED backlit 7" display. This wide screen 800H x 480V, 16: 9 Colorprovides bright, crystal-clear images for simple viewing in harsh sunlight. The DualBeam PLUSsonar with SwitchFire has 4000 watts PTP power output, GPS Chartplotting with built inHumminbird fishfinder ContourXD map and Ethnernet Networking capabilities. Incorporates a unitcover, dual card reader and Instant Access preset buttons.was a 14.5? rainbow. Average size was11?.

Spokane County - Badger, 42 with 51 for 1.2: Only one boat had a successful outing (limits); Clear,29 with 49 for 1.7: Largest fish a 21.5 inch rainbow was caught by a 4 year old little girl; Fish, 52with 137 for 2.6: Catch and release fishing is common here, which tends to skew numberskept/angler; Williams, 48 with 172 for 3.6; 21? RBT, lots of boat problems which may have skewedcatch rates, taking the boat problem folks out of the # kept / angler increased this category to 4.9;West Medical, 58 with 182 for 3.1: A few carryover and lots of bank anglers.

Lincoln County - Fishtrap, 21 with 92 for 4.4: Mix of catchables 10-11?, triploids 16?, brood 20-22?plus 1 bullhead.

Jefferson County - Anderson, 47 with 132 for 2.8: One group released 40 fish on lures. All anglersvery happy with fish and weather; Horseshoe, five with three (plus 17 released) total kept notavailable: Selective Gear catch and release, most boats kick boats or kayaks-fly fishers; Silent, eightwith 28 for 3.5: Kept average fish per angler 3 fish, lots of catch and release, lures, etc.

Kitsap County - Buck, 17 with 60 for 3.5: One group released 30 fish on lures. Anglers very happy

fish size. Ave size 13?; Horseshoe, 29 with 74 for 2.6: Good weather, happy fishermen, catch andrelease with lures; Mission, 36 with 126 for 3.5: Average size plus-13?, most anglers made limits.Happy anglers good weather in AM; Wildcat, 24 with 87 for 3.6: Good weather in AM, happy anglers.

Mason County - Aldrich, 12 with 53 for 4.4: Great weather, good fishing. Quality fish with good sizecatchables- 11-12?; Benson, 79 with 142 for 1.8: One CT, very happy anglers, poor weather windy;Clara (Don), 13 with 58 for 4.5: Good fishing, windy in late morning; Devereaux, 41 with 118 for 2.9:Cold start, bite turned on with sunlight. Happy anglers; Haven, 16 with 53 for 3.3: Happy anglers;Howell, 10 with 44 for 4.4: Highest angler count ever seen; Panther, 33 with 73 for 2.2: Many fishreleased (>100). Most anglers limited.Foggy in AM; Phillips: Culvert out-road blocked. No fishersbut planted lots of opportunity for fish; Tiger, 43 with 117 for 2.7: Unfishable fog in AM, anglers didwell after sun came out. Happy anglers; Wooten, 58 with 139 for 2.4: 3 holdovers (alla bout 17? hvyspots, beautiful fins. Happy anglers. Ave size kept 14?.

Grays Harbor County - Aberdeen, 53 with 144 for 2.6: No derby this year, many anglers left early forbaseball games, biggest fish was 23 inches; Failor, 87 with 205 for 2.4: Many fish over 20?, largest25.5? and 9 pounds; Sylvia, 20 with 44 for 2.2: 18? biggest, cool periods of rain, Happy anglers.Year-round lake; Vance 1, 89 with 105 for 1.2: Kids Derby, derby winner was 11.8 lb 27?, happyanglers; Vance 2, 50 with 88 for 1.8: Cold morning, 22? was the largest, happy with the bigger sizeof fish.

Pacific County - Black, 36 with 107 for 3.0: Kids Derby, 4.6 lb 20? largest fish, sunny morning.

Island County - Deer, 24 anglers with 79 trout for 3.2 fish kept per rod: Chilly and windy; Goss, 56with 17 for 3.2: Overcast some rain, partly cloudy.

King County - Cottage, 56 anglers with 141 trout for 2.5 fish kept per rod; Geneva, 37 with 122 for3.2; Langlois, 51 with 211 for 4.1; Margaret, 13 with 53 for 4.0; North, 60 with 251 for 4.1: Sunnybut windy; Pine, 82 with 276 for 3.3: Sunny and lovely, fisherman http://www.oregon.com/fishinghappy; Steel, 53 with 225 for 4.2: Most people able to catch limits; Walker, 50 with 94 for 1.8:Mostly sunny, fisherman happy; and Wilderness, 58 with 60 for 1.03: Effort slightly down fromprecious years.

Skagit County - Erie, 46 with 121 for 2.6: Fisherman like bigger fish, lots of rain; Heart, 68 with 178for 2.6: rainy, cold, folks started early; and McMurray, 47 with 108 for 2.2: Rain to clear.

Snohomish County - Armstrong, 31 with 26 for 0.8; Crabapple, 10 with 19 for 1.9: Sunny happyfisherman; Echo, 37 with 110 for 2.9; Howard, 64 with 78 for 1.2: Weather cold, two people fell into

the water but were OK, lots of big fish caught, 13 carryovers; Ki, 51 with 152 for 2.9; Martha(Alderwood Manor), 52 with 169 for 3.2: All kids were happy with size of fish; Riley, 30 with 93 for3.1; Serene, 24 with 44 for 1.8; Sixteen, 68 with 220 for 3.2: Hard rain drove people off the lake;Stickney, 14 with 26 for 1.8: fishers happy; 1 bass released; cool light-heavy wind; Storm, 20 with 87for 4.3: Most folks limited; intermittant rain; and Wagner, 11 with 29 for 2.6: fishers happy, wet andcold, warmer later.

Whatcom County - Cain, 41 with 175 for 4.2: lighter participation, mixed sun/rain; fishers happy;Padden, 43 with 174 for 4.0; Silver, 162 with 527 for 3.2; and Toad, 47 with 136 for 2.8: Goodweather and fisherman were happy.

Lewis County - Plummer, 18 with 21 for 1.2: Breezy, cloudy, low turnout, 2 bass caught; Carlisle, 52with 48 for 0.9: Anglers were happy, having fun. Weather mixed. 1 broodstock & many triploidschecked. Coho not a problem; Fort Borst, 39 with 61 for 1.6: Calm & sunny until noon; and Mineral,123 with 317 for 2.6: Largest trout checked = 20.3?. Lots of fish 14-15? range. Weather mixed.

Klickitat County: Spearfish, 36 with 86 for 2.4: Sunny but very windy, one broodfish, eight triploidschecked, lures worked best, anglers happy; Rowland, 71 with 200 for 2.8: 20 percent broodfish ortriploid. Sunny and windy. Lures were best. Happy anglers; Horsethief, 51 with 200 for 2.0: 2broodfish, 10 bass and one walleye checked, very windy, sunny and cold but happy anglers; andKidney, 40 with 88 for 2.1: Light rain and sun. Five broodstock checked. Anglers happy.

Grant County - Warden, 91 anglers with 383 trout for 4.2 fish kept per rod: Sunny weather, pleasantair temperature, and light winds (less-10mph), anglers were very happy with the catch rates (nearlimits per angler), but they were displeased with averaged size size (9-11?). Also, very few carryoverfish recorded in the creel. The largest fish recorded was a 18.5? rainbow trout; Blue, 74 with 234 for3.2: Sunny weather, pleasant air temperature, and light winds (<10mph). Blue Lake rebounded fromlast year's fair angler success. Trout size was nice with yearlings averaging a robust 11.5-12.5?. Agood number of carryovers 16.5-17.5? were also recorded in the creel survey. The majority ofanglers were very happy with their outing. Not uncommon though, boat anglers had higher catchrates than shoreline anglers did. The largest size trout recorded in the creel was a 19.25? rainbowtrout; Park, 108 with 285 for 2.6: Sunny weather, pleasant air temperature, and light winds(<10mph). Angler success at Park Lake improved slightly from last year. Trout size was nice withyearlings averaging a robust 11.5-12.5?. A good number of carryovers 16.5-17.5? were also recordedin the creel survey. The majority of anglers were very happy with their outing. Not uncommonthough, boat anglers had higher catch rates than shoreline anglers did. The largest size troutrecorded in the creel was a ~22? brown trout; and Deep, 62 with 200 for 3.2: Trout were nice size(11-13? yearlings and 16-19? carryovers). The largest fish recorded was a ~19? rainbow. Sunnyweather, pleasant air temperature, and light winds (less 10mph).

Okanogan County - Alta, 99 anglers with 214 trout for 2.1 fish kept per rod: yearling RB 10-12?Largest 17? Kokanee 11-13?; Pearrygin, 36 with 107 for 2.9: yearling RB 10?-12?, largest 18?;Conconully Lake, 59 with 201 for 3.4: yearling RB 9?-11?, largest 16? No Kokanee; ConconullyReservoir, 36 with 109 for 3.0: yearling RB 9?-11?, largest RB 18? No Kokanee; ; and Fish, 49 with90 for 1.8: yearling rainbows 10?-11?, largest fish 15?.

Pierce County - Bay, 71 anglers with 216 trout for 3.0 fish kept per rod: Everyone was very satisfiedbut want triploids planted next year. Weather was great; Carney, 23 with 79 for 3.4: Nice weather,fish were in good conditions. Happy anglers; Clear, 78 with 255 for 3.3: Fishing was good. 25kokanee kept; Crescent, 34 with 89 for 2.6: Good fishing, happy anglers. 90% catchables 10%carryover (~13? long); Rapjohn, 47 with 168 for 3.6: Everyone caught a fish. Having good luck usingwedding rings and worms. Weather was awesome.; Ohop, 60 with 102 for 1.7: Fishing was slow butbig fish were caught. Avg size was ~13? with large fish at 20?; Silver, 48 with 131 for 2.7: Nice fish,everyone was happy. A few large mouth bass were caught along with Yellow perch and crappie; andTanwax, 56 with 159 for 2.8: Good fishing, happy anglers. Most were plunking using power bait.

Thurston County - Clear, 111 anglers with 344 trout for 3.1 fish kept per rod: Nice day, largestturnout in the last 5 yrs. Few carryovers caught ~19?; Deep, 55 with 179 for 3.3: Very happyanglers. Avg size 11-12?, 14 fish caught over 14?, one 18? fatty; Hicks, 44 with 141 for 3.2: One bassreleased. Biggest fish kept 17? with average 9-12?. Nice fish and satisfied anglers; Long, 50 with106 for 2.1: Effort peaked at 9:30am. Few carryovers. Nice fish.; McIntosh, 64 with 143 for 2.2:Happy anglers, nice fish with a few over 15?. One Cutthroat released. Most anglers were having luckwith wedding rigs; Pattison, 42 with 143 for 3.4: Nice day and lots of big fish; Summit, 52 with 129for 2.5: Great fishing. Bigger fish than the past; and Ward, 55 with 181 for 3.3: Weather was great,happy anglers and nice fish kept.