Fishing report for March 18

LAKES

American: A few rainbow trout are being caught, but most are about 10 inches long. People have had luck trolling a pink Wedding Ring tipped with a maggot. Most of the fish seem to be holding in the top 20 feet of water.

Angle: The trout fishing has been a bit on the slow side. Some fish are being caught by people trolling a red Wedding Ring tipped with a worm.

Lenice: The lake has been fishing well for trout, many measuring 12-16 inches. Try olive-colored nymphs on an intermediate sink link.

Spanaway: Fly anglers are fishing about 20 feet deep near the island and catching brown trout weighing 4-6 pounds. When the fish are rising, people are trolling east of the bridge with a rooster tail without weight or bait. Some 17-inch rainbow are being caught off the dock by anglers using a worm.

RIVERS

Olympic Coast: Conditions should be much better this weekend for fishing in the rivers around Forks. A week ago, there were few anglers out and they didn’t catch many fish. There were 103 anglers checked by the state last weekend, and they caught 25 steelhead. River levels have been dropping all week after spiking on March 10.

Yakima: The river flow is high, but conditions are much improved throughout the system. Fly anglers are using skwala, midge, blue wing olive and San Juan worm patterns. Fish the slow inside seam lines and close to the bank.

SALTWATER

Clams: A razor clam dig will take place Friday (March 18) through Sunday at Mocrocks and Copalis. Digging is best an hour or two before low tide, and no digging is allowed before noon. The low tide times are: Friday, 4:15 p.m., 0.7 feet; Saturday, 5:07 p.m., 0.5 feet; and Sunday, 5:50 p.m., 0.4 feet.

Fly fishing: More chum fry are outmigrating from creeks, and the sea-run cutthroat trout are starting to key on them. One angler reported having success using a Neil Creek Slider. Resident coho in the area are feeding on euphausiids.

North Sound: Salmon fishing has been slowed by bad weather and high winds this week. Some blackmouth are being caught in Marine Area 8-1 off Onamac Point. The popular Edmonds Pier is closed for repairs through June 30.

Oysters: The state announced the oyster season will be open April 1-July 15 at Potlatch State Park and Potlatch DNR Tidelands, and April 1-June 30 at Sequim Bay State Park.

South Sound: There has been some slight improvement in the blackmouth fishing in the Tacoma area. Some fish up to 7.5 pounds have been caught about 10 feet off the bottom in water 120-150 feet deep. Trolling a flasher and hoochie has been the most effective method.

Westport/Ilwaco: When ocean conditions allow, people are catching their limits of lingcod and rockfish.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 2:53 AM with the headline "Fishing report for March 18."