Grab your worms or dough bait and head to your favorite trout lake

LAKES

Black: The lake was stocked again this week with 7,200 catchable-size rainbows. In addition, 40 trout weighing 3 pounds each were put in the lake.

Chelan: The lower basin of the lake is fishing very well for kokanee, with people frequently catching their limits. Look for schools of fish 50-65 feet down. For bait, pink and orange artificial squid have been working best.

Crescent: The lake was stocked with 2,350 rainbow trout weighing a half pound each and 82 1 pound fish were planted this past April 17.

Hicks: The lake was stocked this week with 2,500 catchable-size trout and 2,500 1-pound trout.

Potholes: Jordan Doucet and Chad Eidson took first place in the 38th annual Potholes Open bass tournament last weekend, catching a two-day total of 12 largemouth bass that weighed 46.32 total pounds. The biggest bass of the tournament, caught by Aaron Echterncamp, weighed 7.15 pounds. The best action is in the sand dunes, where the bass are in prespawn mode.

Silver: The staff at Henley’s Silver Lake Resort has the lake ready for Saturday’s season opener. In the past two weeks, resort employees have released 20,000 rainbows raised in net pens.

Sequalitchew: Bass fishing has been fair to good. People have been hooking largemouth bass 5-10 feet deep near weed lines.

Spanaway: Trout fishing has been very good. Anglers fishing from watercraft have been having success casting with a green Wedding Ring tipped with a worm.

Stevens: Kokanee fishing is heating up at this North Sound lake. People are finding fish holding from the surface down to about 15 feet. A chartreuse spoon baited with shoepeg corn has been a good setup.

RIVERS

Yakima: After dropping to near normal levels early this week, the river’s flow is again almost double what is typical for this time of year. Look for trout holding close to the bank or in pockets of slow water. Right now, the stretch above the confluence with the Cle Elum River is the best section to fish.

SALTWATER

Fly fishing: The chum fry outmigration is well underway and the sea-run cutthroat trout are keying on them. Clouser minnows in olive over white or light blue over white are good flies, as are specific fly patterns, such as the Chum Baby.

Razor clams: The next dig is tentatively set to begin Wednesday and run through May 1. If tests show that clams are safe to eat, digging will take place at Long Beach on all six days at Twin Harbors from Wednesday-April 30, at Mocrocks on Thursday and April 29, and at Copalis on April 28 and 30. Low-tide times are: Wednesday, 7:09 a.m., minus 1.1 feet; Thursday, 7:55 a.m., minus 1.8 feet; April 28, 8:42 a.m., minus 1.5 feet; April 29, 9:32 a.m., minus 1.7 feet; April 30, 10:24 a.m., minus 1.3 feet; and May 1, 11:20 a.m., minus 0.8 feet.

South Sound: A few more blackmouth have been caught this week, compared with recent weeks. The best area is from the slag pile to Owen Beach. Troll your gear about 10 feet from the bottom in water 120-150 feet deep. Point Dalco on the incoming tide and the clay banks on the outgoing tide are good spots for mooching or jigging.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Grab your worms or dough bait and head to your favorite trout lake."