Lowland lakes open for fishing on Saturday

LAKES

Anglers are preparing for Saturday’s start of the six-month lowland lake fishing season. State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say they’ve stocked lakes with millions of fish. For its 2017 Trout Fishing Derby, the state tagged more than 900 trout, and those licensed anglers who catch them before Oct. 31 win a prize. The prizes are valued at a combined $25,000. For more information on the statewide derby, visit wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/derby.

American: David Anderson of Bill’s Boathouse says action is slow, but seems to be picking up. Fishing with Power Bait off the dock has produced the most fish.

Bay: On Monday, the lake was stocked with 1,620 rainbow trout.

Bradley: The tiny South Hill lake was stocked last week with 107 rainbow trout.

Clear (Thurston): Stocked Monday with 3,435 fish.

Florence: This Anderson Island lake was stocked Tuesday morning with 3,600 rainbow trout.

Jackson: Stocked last week with 792 rainbows.

Long: Last week, 4,300 trout were added to the lake.

McIntosh: Stocked last week with 6,785 rainbow trout.

Pattison: On Monday, 2,850 fish were added to the lake.

Rapjohn: Stocked on Monday with 2,890 rainbows.

St. Clair: The Thurston County lake was stocked last week with 2,496 rainbows.

Scanewa: Tacoma Power released 144 fish here last week.

Silver: Stocked last week with 2,839 rainbow trout.

Spanaway: Last week, the lake was stocked with 2,736 fish.

Summit: More than 4,000 fish were added last week.

Twin: This Mason County fishing hole received 760 new rainbow trout last week.

SALT WATER

South Sound: The Point Defiance Boathouse Marina staff reports salmon fishing is slow. The best bet seems to be near the clay banks. Trolling with flasher and spoons or artificial squid is the recommendation.

North Sound: State creel reports show anglers departing from Everett, Port Townsend, Anacortes and Cornet Bay all did well landing chinook over the weekend. The state will close salmon fishing in Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands) at the end of the day Thursday.

Strait of Juan de Fuca: On Saturday, 40 anglers leaving from Port Angeles combined to catch 19 chinook, according to state counts.

Razor clams: The next coastal digs are scheduled to start April 26, pending the results of marine toxin level tests. Digs are planned on the morning tides at Twin Harbors April 26-30, Long Beach April 26-May 1, Mocrocks April 27 and 29 and Copalis April 28 and 30. Because of rising marine toxin levels, the state already canceled digging April 24 and 25.

RIVERS

Cispus: Tacoma Power released 84 spring chinook adults, one spring chinook jack, 49 winter-run steelhead adults and one steelhead jack last week. Eighty-one chinook were released near Packwood’s Franklin Bridge.

Cowlitz: Last week, state reports show that eight bank anglers kept one steelhead and 20 boat anglers kept three adult chinook. Tacoma Power recovered 300 winter-run steelhead adults, five winter-run steelhead jack, 347 spring chinook adults, seven spring chinook jacks and a summer-run steelhead adult at the hatchery.

Kalama: Bank anglers outperformed boat anglers last week but the action was slow for both.

Tilton: Last week, Tacoma Power released 13 winter-run steelhead adults at Morton’s Gust Backstrom Park.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Lowland lakes open for fishing on Saturday."