Local lakes are producing limits for anglers chasing rainbow trout

LAKES

American: The trout fishing has improved. A few kokanee are being caught as well. Some anglers have been trolling pink spoons, down 10-25 feet, or are running a Rapala lure in the rainbow trout pattern near the surface. Others are using Sling Blades with a hoochie tipped with corn.

Black: People are catching limits of rainbow trout. A good setup is a worm and marshmallow fished on a Carolina rig.

Chelan: Fishing for lake trout has been fair to good. The action has been a little better off Lake Chelan State Park. Look for this fish in water 120-160 feet deep, and keep your gear about 5 feet from the bottom. Drift rigs baited with pikeminnow have been producing strikes.

Mineral: Butch Carvahalo of Des Moines won the opening weekend derby with a trout weighing 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Green Power Eggs with marshmallows have produced trout weighing up to 7 pounds. People also are trolling the north end of the lake with pop gear.

Pattison: People are hooking trout trolling with a red Wedding Ring tipped with a nightcrawler. The key has been finding the right speed to have your lure at the correct depth.

Riffe: Limits of landlocked salmon are being caught at the north end of the lake. Try trolling a pink Wedding Ring tipped with a worm.

Silver: Another fish tagged as part of the statewide trout derby was caught this week. All three have been caught by people fishing off the dock with Power Bait. There are five more tagged fish out there. Overall, people are catching limits of trout. Bronze spoons have been effective.

Spanaway: The trout fishing has been good to very good. A few anglers have been catching their limit within an hour. Some people are having luck fishing orange Power Bait off the bottom, while others are slowly trolling with black woolly buggers.

RIVERS

Yakima: River flows continue a roller-coaster rise and fall on a weekly basis. After peaking above 6,000 cubic feet per second on Thursday, flows are holding steady. The upper river and Farmlands sections might be the best options right now, because they offer some wade access because of the channels and islands. March brown dry flies have been drawing strikes, as have Pat’s stonefly nymphs or pheasant tails.

SALTWATER

Fly fishing: People are catching sea-run cutthroat trout and resident coho salmon on rocky beaches in the South Sound. Any kind of pattern that imitates chum fry is a good choice.

North Sound: Cory Myron won last weekend’s Stanwood Eagles Blackmouth Fishing Derby, landing a 15.4-pound blackmouth and a check for $2,900. There were 133 anglers who took part, checking in 35 salmon.

Razor clams: The current dig will run through Monday. Long Beach is open Saturday through Monday, Twin Harbors is open Saturday and Sunday, Mocrocks is open Saturday, and Copalis is open Sunday. Low tides will be at: Saturday, 9:32 a.m., -1.7 feet; Sunday. 10:24 a.m., -1.3 feet; and Monday, 11:20 a.m., -0.8 feet. Digging is best an hour or two before low tide. For this dig, the daily limit at Long Beach is 25 clams (15 clams elsewhere).

South Sound: There has been improvement in salmon fishing, but it is fair at best. People are having success trolling flashers, followed by a spoon or artificial squid, about 10 feet off the bottom in water 120-150 feet deep. Try from the slag pile to Owen Beach. People jigging with bait are having luck off Point Evans. Ling cod fishing will open Monday.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Local lakes are producing limits for anglers chasing rainbow trout."