Head to eastside lakes for trout, Puget Sound for blackmouth
Monday, February 26, 2007 (03:12:36)

Posted by glock

As spring approaches, winter has loosened its grip on much of the state. With calmer conditions in Puget Sound and thawing lakes east of the Cascades, Washingtonians have good reason to head outside and enjoy the outdoors.

In eastern Washington, the arrival of warmer weather is welcome news for most trout anglers. Dozens of lakes stocked with catchable-size hatchery trout will open for fishing March 1. Lakes included in the early opener - most in the Columbia Basin - are those that traditionally thaw first.

"Ice shouldn't be an issue for anglers, since the weather is warming up quickly here in the southeast part of the state," said Glen Mendel, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) fish biologist stationed in Dayton. "However, soft roads may affect where and when the tanker trucks can move fish."

West of the Cascades, blackmouth fishing in Puget Sound is heating up along with the weather. Anglers have their pick of a several marine areas currently open for hatchery chinook salmon, with another - Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound) - opening March 1.

Meanwhile, fishery managers have tentatively scheduled a razor clam dig March 16-18 on evening tides at several ocean beaches. For details on the proposed dig, see the South Sound/Olympic Peninsula regional summary below.

Recent rains, followed by heavy flows have made steelhead fishing hit-and-miss in a number of rivers on the Olympic Peninsula and along the Columbia River. An increasing proportion of steelhead now entering western Washington rivers are wild fish, so anglers should make sure they know the rules for handling them before they cast a lure. Rules for retaining wild steelhead are noted on page 29 of the Fishing in Washington pamphlet (http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm).