State continues to stock local lakes with trout, this round includes 5 pounders

LAKES

American: Despite a recent plant of rainbow trout, fishing has been very slow.

Kapowsin: The lake was stocked Wednesday with 14,000 rainbows, each weighing about 0.4 pounds. Angling has been slow as fish acclimate to their new home.

Hicks: The state put 100 5-pound rainbows in the lake Tuesday.

Lawrence: This lake was planted with 350 5-pound rainbows.

Munn: The lake was planted Tuesday with 10 trout weighing around 5 pounds each. The fishing has been fair to good, according to online reports.

Offut: The lake was stocked Wednesday with just 200 rainbows, but they weighed about 5 pounds each.

Potholes: Water temperatures have warmed enough that walleye are starting to bite. Fish with a blade bait in the Lind Coulee arm or at the mouth of Frenchman’s Wasteway.

Saint Clair: On Tuesday, the lake was stocked with 2,222 rainbow trout, each weighing about .45 pounds.

Spanaway: After stocking the lake Monday with 4,600 rainbows, the state returned Tuesday with another 4,500 rainbows in the 0.4-pound size.

Whitman: The lake was planted Wednesday with 1,800 rainbows weighing about 0.4 pounds each.

RIVERS

Chehalis: The state announced Friday the river will not open for spring chinook April 16 as planned. The forecast for returning chinook is below the spawning escapement goal.

Columbia: Spring chinook counts at Bonneville Dam remain low, with 12 fish counted March 17-Thursday. There were 1,256 steelhead and 468 wild steelhead counted.

Olympic Coast: According to creel surveys done Monday-Thursday, the Calawah and Sol Duc were hot spots for steelhead. There were 30 anglers checked on the Calawah, and they hooked and released 22 wild steelhead. On the Sol Duc, there were 77 anglers who caught and released 64 wild and one hatchery steelhead.

Skookumchuck: Anglers are catching some steelhead, although some fish are dark.

Yakima: Flows remain high for this time of year, but trout fishing has improved some. A pink beadhead San Juan worm has been effective, especially when drifted through the slow water. There have been some skwala adults seen, but the trout are keyed in on sub-surface food.

SALT WATER

Clams: Copalis opened to digging for razor clams Saturday, and Mocrocks opened Sunday. Low-tide times are Sunday, 6:24 p.m., 0 feet; and Monday, 7:04 p.m., 0 feet.

Fly fishing: The coastal cutthroat are focusing on chum fry migrating out of area streams. Fishing for resident coho has been good, with fish found in the Tacoma Narrows, around Fox Island, and in Hale Passage and Henderson Bay. Euphausiid, shrimp and small baitfish patterns have been effective.

North Sound: Salmon fishing in the San Juan Islands reopened Saturday (March 25). The daily limit is two salmon overall, but one hatchery chinook. All coho and wild chinook must be released. The fishery is scheduled to be open through April 30. With fewer juvenile chinook in those waters, the state felt the fishery could reopen without significantly impacting the allowable number of chinook encounters. In the Port Townsend area, people are catching a good number of salmon in the Mid-Channel Bank.

South Sound: The salmon fishing has been fair, with people trolling a spoon or artificial squid behind a flasher. Try the waters from the slag pile to Owen Beach in water 120-160 feet deep, with your gear close to the bottom. Another likely spot is the flats between Point Defiance and Point Dalco.

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 10:57 AM with the headline "State continues to stock local lakes with trout, this round includes 5 pounders."