Trout Opener: Just A Few More Days

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    The 2010 general lowland trout season is only ten days away. If you’re not an avid angler you might not have noticed, but if you look closely you will see those who are expressively involved with fishing pausing to carefully scrutinize even small bodies of water.

    They are looking for the telltale rings that may prove the fish are there and have begun biting. The inveterate fisherperson doesn’t really expect a feeding frenzy on Opening Day, but is nonetheless dedicated to finding a place where the fish are willing to strike at a well-placed wet fly or a bait presented with finesse.

    There should be no shortage of finny victims; this week Washington Fish and Wildlife hatchery crews are putting the finishing touches on a total plant of more than 20.5 million trout in lakes, ponds, and a few streams everywhere. Yes, I said twenty MILLION!   

    That count includes more than 58,100 sterile triploid trout averaging about 1.5 pounds apiece stocked in 105 lakes, and just over 203,000 two-year-old “jumbo” trout and hatchery broodstock heading for another 178 lakes.

    Add to that some 3.4 million “catchable” trout in the 8-12 inch range and you have the makings of a pretty decent early season. Remember, the mild winter just passed means that tens of thousands of last year’s bounty are still alive and well — and some of those rascals are 18-20 inch range or larger “carryovers” in lakes with good natural food resources.

    Meanwhile, something in the neighborhood of ten million Kokanee fry were planted a year ago and are expected to show up in a lot of angler’s creels as the best-tasting tidbits the early trout season has to offer. There aren’t any Kokanee in Lewis County that I know of, but it isn’t far to drive to find a good source of those fine landlocked sockeye.

    By the way, the landlocked salmon in Riffe Lake (which is still quite low) are not Kokanee. They are coho salmon, often informally known as “silvers,” but they aren’t Kokanee — which are sockeye salmon only.



    Remember, too, that another 7.4 million trout were planted as fingerlings or fry into scattered lakes and net-pen operations all over the state. Most of those fish are now of quite respectable size and are maybe more apt than most to bite, as they are just now starting to put on girth.

    There are about 4,5000 lakes, ponds, and reservoirs ready for the traditional Opening Day circus, and most won’t disappoint. Remember, you will need the WDFW vehicle use permit that comes with an annual fishing license or may be purchased separately by those who simply come to watch wildlife and experience the otherwise unbelievable antics of a horde of giddy trout anglers suddenly released from a winter cocoon into the fresh air of a lakefront!

    We “Opening Day Regulars” tend to act a lot like 10-year-olds sent out for recess on a particularly warm and sunny spring day. Except the 10-year-olds have a slight edge in logic and decorum — unless they are out fishing with their dad!

    The planting numbers locally are about the same as last year, but we will be back with the specifics next Tuesday. If you haven’t chosen your Opening Day destination by then, perhaps some of the plant figures will cause you to make a snap decision and gear up for an outing to Mineral Lake (traditionally slow on the opener) or McIntosh Lake out by Tenino (weedy and aggravating but productive). Kids will probably choose Fort Borst because of the big plant and the kid’s derby, and even lowly little Plummer Lake in Centralia or Carlisle Lake at Onalaska are good bets for a first-of-the-season five-fish limits to kick things off right.

    Oh, and the little pond at Toledo’s South County Park has received 4,000 browns and 3,000 rainbows already this month. It’s open year-round!