The trout, which is extremely popular in the state among people who enjoy fishing, was designated as the state fish back in 1969. Hot pink and orange tend to be top-producing colors. Angler success has been good, with most fish in the 8-14 inch range and an occasional large brook trout of 2-3 pounds. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Fish Lake is one of the regions most popular fishing spots, catch your quota of brook trout, rainbow trout and tiger trout. The following lakes that we cover in some depth elsewhere on our website also have kokanee, and they at times can provide anywhere from fair to very good fishing for these pan-sized salmon (as well as excellent angling for other game fish). Your best bet is to visit on a weekday. In a year of good returns, over 1 million Chinook, coho and sockeye salmon, and summer steelhead travel up the river to spawn in its tributaries. Need a fishing license? They tend to run a little smaller in Yake Lake, but dont write off your chances of catching bigger fish. If youre looking to hook into huge trout without the crowds, then keep reading to find your next trout fishing hot spot. Additional east-side lakes with some mackinaw reported are Bonaparte Lake in Okanogan County and Horseshoe Lake in Pend Oreille County. Conventional wisdom suggests that late spring is the best time to catch trout, especially if youre looking for larger fish. Check out our complete guide to the best fly fishing rivers in Washington. What follows are our carefully curated selection of the very best kokanee lakes in Washington. I-82 Pond 4 stocked a total of 30 10lb rainbow, last on December 2nd, 2022. See the latest stocking information for lakes around Washington. What Are 5 Items That You Use To Fill Up Your Tackle Box? These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Shockingly deep, in fact. Jigging can also be very productive for putting kokanee into the boat quickly, if you know what youre doing, and a few anglers tempt them still-fishing with bait. All prices, extra fishing line. Stocking: May 13, 2022 Rainbow 2500 @ 0.54lbs. Kokanee Its actually a subspecies of the rainbow trout adapted for extreme mountain conditions. For a list of lakes with prize fish and information on how to claim a prize, visit wdfw.wa . Loon Lake is arguably the best. There are three subspecies of rainbow trout that occur in Washington, but only two are native; the coastal rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss irideus) and the Columbia Basin redband trout (O. mykiss gairdneri) The coastal rainbow trout occurs in western Washington and in the lower Columbia River. If chasing rainbows, as they say, youll especially want to take a look at the Yakima River and Rocky Ford Creek in Central Washington are superb rainbow trout fisheries. This lake produced the state record 18-pound Lahontan. Kokanee at Lake Roosevelt tend to hold a little shallower than in many lakes, often within 10 to 20 feet of the surface, especially in spring. The current world record tiger trout, weighing 20 pounds and 13 ounces , was caught by Pete Friedland out of Lake Michigan back in 1978. Brent Pollock is a passionate angler and the founder of the popular fishing blog "Safe Harbor Fishing". Searun cutthroat are silvery when the first come back into rivers but take on more coloration after-acclimating to freshwater. This year-round lake 15 minutes south of Olympia has good spring trout fishing once WDFW stocks it around April and May with thousands of fish. Thats what opening day is about, its about having fun going fishing, Spinelli said. Or try our advanced Washington fishing lake finder - search for any species of fish, filter by stocked lakes only, lake amenities and more. If they follow the recommendations, its perfectly safe The highest levels of polychlorinated biphenyls were found in larger fish, which tend to concentrate more of the suspected carcinogen. By the way, if you have sea-run rainbows in mind, weve covered the best steelhead fishing rivers in Washington in a separate article. The Thanksgiving weekend is one of the best times of year to go fishing in Washington, and its also a great time to introduce visiting friends or relatives to the joy of fishing, said Steve Caromile, inland fish program manager with WDFW. Three-wheeled wonder PEBL lands on the streets of Everett, Snow disrupts schools in Snohomish County; slushy weather to persist, Major Crimes Unit investigates fatal shooting on Highway 99, Smile Check offers free dental care for hundreds of kids who need it, Plan begins to replace failing street trees in Everett, Divisive bills on pursuits, gun purchases edge closer to House votes, You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing, If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to. Within Washington state a number of lakes in the Olympic and Cascade Mountains have been stocked since the early 20th century. Multiple local lakes have been stocked within the last 30 days, with officials saying that over 2,500 Rainbow Trout were recently stocked into Pacific County waters. After earning a degree in biology, he spent several years working as a fishing guide, leading trips and teaching others how to catch everything from trout to salmon. The department stocked 24 lakes this past week, including a number of local lakes. These arent just the lakes and reservoirs with the most and the largest kokanee in a state thats simply loaded with land-locked sockeye salmon, this is literally your bucket list if you fish for kokanee in Washington. Coinciding with the opening will be the kick off of the 2022 statewide trout derby. These fisheries rely on continued stocking, but still offer some fun fishing opportunities. In 2021, WDFW says that over 33,000 fish have been stocked within Grays Harbor and nearly 30,000 in Pacific County. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) stocks lakes throughout the year, and while many lakes are open for fishing year . Oftentimes the best bite is right around sunset. In addition, the lake has developed a fairly good . At 1,486 feet, lake Chelan is the third-deepest lake in America, even deeper than the great lakes. Gavin Boggs of Davenport, Washington, was fishing Lake Roosevelt with a buddy on Feb. 11 when he hooked something heavy in deep water. Soap Lake is a meromictic soda lake in the town of Soap Lake, Washington formed by the Missoula Floods at the foot of the Grand Coulee. Best Trout Fishing in Washington(Complete Anglers Guide), Lake Trout (Mackinaw) Fishing in Washington, complete guide to the best fly fishing rivers in Washington, the best steelhead fishing rivers in Washington in a separate article, free guide to easy trout fishing techniques and tips, FioRito Lake and Mattoon Lake in Kittitas County, Dalton Lake in Franklin County (Tri-Cities), Mountain Lake in San Juan County (on Orcas Island), Campbell Lake and Cavanaugh Lake in Skagit County, Davis Lake, Marshall Lake and several smaller lakes in Pend Oreille County, Badger Lake in Spokane County (plus a few others with modest plants), Merrill Lake (fly fishing) in Cowlitz County, Antillon (Lower and Upper) and Fish Lake in Chelan County, Martha Lake (Warm Beach) in Snohomish County, Aeneas Lake and Blue Lake (Sinlahekin) in Okanogan County. The prime fishing season at these mountain reservoirs is a little later here than in many lakes, and Kachess and Keechelus are better known for numbers of kokanee than size of fish. These days, the lake is better known for kokanee. Omak Lake is twelve miles long with sandy beaches located on the southwest, northwest and northeast shores. The WDFW stocks these fish abundantly every spring, but they are also self-sustaining, spawning in the lake's tributaries in fall. Armed with this advice choose wisely which waters you intend to fish. Hoochies on dodger setups are the go-to for local anglers, and its common to see lures tipped with shoepeg corn dyed in various colors and soaked in a wide range of scents. Residents and non-residents alike must have a license to fish or shellfish in Washington waters. The stocking is comprised of "catchables", "jumbos", "put, grow and take" and "fry/fingerling" plants. Other years, youre lucky to catch one over 12 inches. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. How do you catch big brown trout at night? Where is the best salmon fishing in Washington State? . About 45 minutes from Spokane, Loon Lake offers 1,086 acres of water, and is a mixed warm and cold-water fishery that once gave up Washingtons state record lake trout (Mackinaw). Merrill Lake (fly fishing) in Cowlitz County. View Fishing Details, For March: We will never share your email with third parties or spam you. Look for any structure in the lake and try various depths. Brannian, Olson, Fir and Anderson Creeks are some of the best spawning grounds, and you may be able to stroll along the banks and see them headed upstream in the fall, when the viewing is better than the fishing. The state-owned forest near Gold Bar was cut last year after a decade of debate. With their luminous silver coloration and pan-sized dimensions, kokanee salmon are sometimes referred to as silver trout, but they are indeed a salmon. Speaking of protected, cutthroat trout also are protected from harvest in Lake Whatcom near Bellingham, a historically strong cutthroat fishery harmed by human activity. The average size kokanee in Lake Merwin is around 13 to 15 inches. Lake Stevens is just 40 minutes from Downtown Seattle, making it arguably the best option for kokanee fanatics in the city and also a reliably good smallmouth bass lake. As is often the case when pursuing kokanee, a good fish finder is often the key to locating a school of these fish, and down-riggers are essential for getting your bait down to where they are. Banks Lake is perhaps best known for walleye fishing, and for its abundant population of lake whitefish, among other game fish. Chelan County. Know when, how many, and how big fish are stocked. To make it easier to pinpoint a kokanee fishing spot near you or your next vacation destination, weve divided the fisheries up into three broad regions across the state. Depths vary, so be prepared to change it up. In Eastern Washington, Westslope cutthroat trout also are found in both native and stocked populations, especially on the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains and across the mountains of northeastern Washington. See the latest stocking information for lakes around Washington. Rather, Lahontans come from the Great Basin area that stretches from western Nevada into northwestern California and southeastern Oregon, where they have adapted to high-alkaline waters that most other trout cant tolerate. Many anglers also add a flasher or dodger to their line to add some extra attraction while trolling. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Eastern Washington offers fewer kokanee waters than the western and central parts of the state, but anglers in the Spokane area have a few options. In 2013, Brent decided to turn his passion into a full-time career and launched "Safe Harbor Fishing". We also collected the largest fish stocked in lakes in Washington state in recent months. Most folks just call them kokanee, or kokes for short. If the trout arent biting, Spinelli said it may be worthwhile to cast a line for bass or perch. Using jigs or minnows is a good choice. June is the prime month here, and kokanee tend to be 30 or 40 feet down, sometimes shallower early in the day. At 1,486 feet, lake Chelan is the third-deepest lake in America, even deeper than the great lakes. Lake trout like cold, deep lakes with abundant sources of food. Fishing straight down with jigging spoons like a -ounce Gibbs Minnow or Bomber Slab can be one of the most enjoyable ways to fish because you really get to feel the bites. Officials insist pollution from derailment not harming animals in Pa. Trout are not bottom feeders like carp or catfish. Here are some regular brown trout stocking sites across Washington: Some of the streams that at times can fish well for brown trout, and might be worth exploring, include Crab Creek (Lincoln, Grant and Adams counties), Colville River (Stevens County), Rock Creek (Adams and Whitman counties), and Spokane River (Spokane County). Fortunately, that window easily includes the best kokanee fishing months. Cold season bites often come at around 40 to 50 feet over 200 feet of water. How Deep do Rainbow trout live. https://www.fishingduo.com/5-overlooked-lakes-for-big-trout-in-washington-state/ Crowds, then keep reading to find your next trout fishing hot spot anonymously! Some fun fishing opportunities catch big brown what lakes have been stocked in washington at night is around to... Having fun going fishing, and kokanee tend to run a little smaller in lake. In lake Merwin is around 13 to 15 inches last on December 2nd, 2022 are used to how. 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