Fishing | Area lakes planted with trout

The statewide lowland lakes opener is a month away, but anglers can get a head start on some year-round lakes recently planted with trout.

"We've already started planting some lakes with trout in King and Snohomish counties," said Chad Jackson, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "We are going to hit it heavy with plants on more lakes starting this week and right through April."

Local lakes planted last week include Beaver, 7,056 trout; Bitter, 2,520; Doloff, 2,070; Fivemile, 3,000 and Roesiger, 998.

Other lakes planted earlier this month include Green, 5,000 trout; Angle, 4,800; Meridian, 6,174; Star, 1,998; Gissburg, 2,000; Chain, 2,516; and Twelve, 3,090.

In Pierce County, Bonney Lake was planted with 1,530 trout. In Thurston County, Black Lake got 5,023; Lake St. Clair, 5,031; Lawrence Lake, 5,003; and Offut, 5003. In Clallam County, Lake Sutherland was planted with 10,200.

"A lot of the year round lakes like Blackman's and Flowing lakes got stocked with fish, but some of the best trout fishing is coming from Lone Lake on Whidbey Island and Pass Lake [near Deception Pass]," said Mike Chamberlain at Ted's Sports Center in Lynnwood.

"East of the [Cascade] mountains we've been getting fairly decent reports at the Seeps Lakes like Lenice and Nunnally," Chamberlain said. "Rufus Woods [Reservoir] has been doing good for trout as well as Roosevelt Lake."

The statewide lowland lakes opening day is April 26-27.

Fishing reports

• Spring chinook in the Columbia River: "We are seeing a pretty decent start to the spring chinook fishery," said Joe Hymer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "There was quite a few fish caught off Vancouver, and a pretty good bite [on Monday's opener] just below Hayden Island."

State Fish and Wildlife reported fairly high effort and decent catches for boat anglers last week from Hayden Island to Bonneville Dam. Boat anglers averaged a chinook kept or released per every 6.9 rods while bank anglers averaged one per every 16.6 rods.

The Wind River and Drano Lake are open daily for hatchery-marked chinook, but fishing has been slow. The Klickitat River opens April 2 for Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays only.

• Lingcod off La Push, Westport and Ilwaco: "Lingcod fishing has been good, and most anglers are getting a minimum of one fish per trip with some catching [two-fish daily] limits," said Larry Giese, owner of Deep Sea Charter in Westport. "We're seeing some pretty nice fish, and the derby winner weighed 32 pounds, and the runner-up was 30 pounds."

The lingcod minimum size limit is 22 inches, with a two-fish daily limit. For charter boats at Ilwaco, call 800-451-2542; at Westport, call 800-345-6223; and La Push, call 800-443-6757.

• Salmon in open marine areas: "It was pretty slow for us over the weekend at Point No Point, but we managed to get one keeper at Midchannel Bank," said Pete Seergeef, a state Fish and Wildlife checker who fished on the state's test fishery boat. "I know of some people who got a few off Langley, and others who did pretty well at Onamac Point and Baby Island."

Other places worth checking out are Camano Head to Elger Bay and Sandy Point to Baby Island; Lip Lip Point off Marrowstone Island; Double Bluff off Whidbey Island; Port Angeles at Winter Hole and the Humps; and Sekiu.

The Anacortes Salmon Derby is this weekend, and its sponsor, the Fidalgo Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers, sold out of its 800 tickets more than three weeks ago. The Northwest Marine Trade Derby Series is gaining in popularity, and there was a huge turnout for the Roche Harbor and Discovery Bay derbies last month.

The Anacortes Derby provides scholarships to aspiring youth, and a $10,000 prize for the largest fish should have anglers out scouting the waters today and tomorrow.

Those lucky enough to have scored a ticket should look at places like Rocky Bay, Presidents Channel, Point Thompson, Eagle Bluff, Tide Point, Spring Pass, Lopez Flats, Coyote Bank, Parker Reef, Fidalgo Head, Point Lawrence and Obstruction Pass.

Fishing in south-central Sound was slow again this week off the Clay Banks at Point Defiance Park, Point Dalco and Quartermaster Harbor.

• Steelhead in Western Washington rivers: "The rivers are all in pretty good shape, but they are getting some fairly nice fish, just not a bunch of them," said Bob Gooding, owner of Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks.

Best north coastal rivers are Bogachiel, Sol Duc and Hoh, and the Calawah was on the slow side.

The Skagit and Sauk catch-and-release fishery was producing a few fish each day this week, and closes at the end of the month.

• Sturgeon, spring chinook and steelhead in the Columbia River and its tributaries: Fair in the Cowlitz for steelhead from barrier dam to Olequa, and a few spring chinook caught in the mainstem Lewis. The sturgeon catch has been slow in the Lower Columbia, and fair in Bonneville Pool.

Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com