State sets dates for halibut fishing, while the lowland lake trout season opener nears

A reminder to trout fishermen: The state’s lowland lake season will open April 22.

Be sure you have a valid fishing license before you head out to your favorite lake.

The state on Friday announced the halibut fishing seasons. Ocean marine areas 2-4 and Puget Sound areas 5-10 will be open May 4, 6, 11, 21, 25 and June 1 and 4, unless the catch quota is reached. Marine Area 1 will be open Thursdays-Sundays, starting May 4, and close once the quota is met. Areas 11-13 will be closed.

LAKES

American: People are hooking some rainbow trout and kokanee. The fish seem to be schooling about 30 feet down. Sling blades, trailed by artificial squid tipped with corn, have been producing strikes.

Chelan: The kokanee action has been fair to good. Look for schools of fish near Wapato Point 40-100 feet down.

Long (Thurston County): A white spinnerbait, with a large blade and cast close to retaining walls, has been producing aggressive strikes from largemouth bass.

Potholes: The largemouth bass are concentrating in shallow water under wood and in heavy cover in the sand dunes area. Flipping or pitching jigs into the cover has been effective. Bank anglers have found rainbow trout moving into water 6-15 feet deep. Walleye fishing is improving, with Perch Point and the mouth of Crab Creek producing good catches.

Spanaway: The lake continues to produce easily caught limits of trout. Some anglers are reporting having success by trolling with black woolly buggers, or green-and-black Wedding Rings.

Tapps: Online reports indicate the bass fishing has been slow.

Washington: Overall, the action has been on the slow side. Some cutthroat trout and kokanee are being hooked on the southwest side of Mercer Island.

RIVERS

Columbia: The spring chinook season has been extended through Tuesday and will be open again from Thursday to April 23. Mainly because of high river flows, anglers have caught only about 10 percent of the upriver spring chinook available for harvest. Spring chinook counts have increased in the last week, but the daily average from April 7 through Wednesday has been 42.5 chinook a day.

Yakima: The river has seen some large spikes in its flow in the last week. A week ago, flows topped 6,500 cubic feet per second. After falling, the flows jumped back up to more than 5,500 cfs Thursday. The river is expected to be fishable by Sunday or Monday.

SALTWATER

Clams: The latest dig will run through Sunday. Digging will be allowed on Saturday at Twin Harbors, Copalis and Long Beach. On Sunday, digging will be allowed at Twin Harbors, Mocrocks and Long Beach. The low tide Saturday is at 9:55 a.m. (0.3 feet), and on Sunday it will be at 10:36 a.m. (0.5 feet). The next dig is tentatively scheduled for April 24-May 1.

Fly fishing: Anglers are catching a mix of coastal cutthroat trout, resident coho and some small blackmouth. Clouser minnows and sparse baitfish patterns have been working well.

Oysters: The state has ordered the recall of oysters harvested at Hammersley Inlet since March 15. The affected area is a three-mile stretch of commercial shellfish beds, harvested by 31 companies. Go to tinyurl.com/mlbjwhl for details.

South Sound: Salmon fishing has been slow because of the lousy weather. Anglers are landing some blackmouth weighing up to 15 pounds. Trolling with a flasher and spoon has worked best.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 11:07 AM with the headline "State sets dates for halibut fishing, while the lowland lake trout season opener nears."