Anglers Enjoy Big Trout, Nice Weather on Opening Day of Lowland Lakes Season

Olympia, WA - Good weather and big trout helped to boost catch rates on opening day of this year’s lowland lakes fishing season.

Based on creel checks conducted at 112 lakes around the state, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) estimates that anglers caught an average of 3.99 trout on opening day Saturday, April 28.

For most lakes, the daily limit is five fish. Donley said the 5,129 anglers contacted by WDFW on opening day retained an average of 2.6 trout - up from 2.3 fish in recent years. The rest were released.

One reason for the higher retention rate may be that three million of the "catchable-size" trout WDFW planted before the opener averaged 11-13 inches, about a third larger than before. Many lakes were also stocked with thousands of triploids, broodstock and other large trout weighing up to 11 pounds apiece.

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The 10 lakes with the top catch-and-keep rates were:

• Ellen Lake, Ferry County (5)
• Warden Lake, Grant County (5)
• Panther Lake, Kitsap County (4.6)
• Clara Lake, Mason County (4.4)
• Crabapple Lake, Snohomish County (4.3)
• Mudgett Lake, Stevens County (4.1)
• Steel Lake, King County (4.1)
• Devereaux Lake, Mason County (4.1)
• Mission Lake, Kitsap County (4)
• Sixteen Lake, Skagit County (4)

"It’s important to remember that we stock lakes with trout for the whole season, not just opening day," Donley said. "Trout fishing should be highly productive in lowland lakes through June, and then again in September."

Anglers looking for information about where to fish can find it on WDFW’s new Fish Washington! Online look-up tool at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/washington/ .

The following is the entire opening day creel report. (The column showing "average number of fish caught" includes fish released.)