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Basin anglers can soon hunt for tiger trout When Columbia Basin anglers wet a line this spring, they just might end up with a tiger on the other end. A tiger trout - that is. The newest entry among recreational fish species available to anglers is a cross between a brook trout and a German brown trout, said Jeff Korth, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in Ephrata. "The tiger trout is not exactly a new designer trout, but it's one that hasn't been stocked in regional waters since 1984," he said. The trout are bred at the state's Ford Hatchery near Springdale. The last tiger trout stocking was in the Basin's Sage Lakes. Korth said the trout, which sport dark vertical bars - definitely will have trout anglers wondering what the heck they've just caught. "One of the reasons we decided to plant them is to attract new anglers. And I'm sure I'll be getting a few calls over tiger trout," he added. Perhaps a more important reason for stocking the new hybrid trout is that tiger trout are sterile. In the last few years the state has aggressively stocked triploid (sterile) rainbow trout in selective gear rule waters where anglers are required to use single, barbless hooks and no bait. "If these trout, like the triploid rainbows, do not have to waste time attempting to spawn in their third year, they're likely to live longer and grow quite large," he said. Triploid trout that live four or five years can reach trophy-size dimensions of 25 or more inches in length. Tiger trout were planted as fingerlings last spring in several Basin waters including Lenice, Merry, Nunnally, Beda, Dry Falls, Harris, Homestead, Sage and Quail lakes. Each lake received 500 to 1,000 tiger trout. By March 1, when several of these lakes open to fishing, anglers should catch 12- to 14-inch tiger trout. Beside the new tiger trout, many Basin waters continue to be stocked with 50/50 split of diploid (nonsterile) and triploid rainbow trout. Lenice, Nunnally and Merry lakes, which are entering their second full year since being rehabilitated, received about 17,000 fingerling rainbows last spring. They also will be stocked with a similar number of trout this spring. The first spring stocking of fingerlings followed a chance planting immediately after rehabilitation of several thousand catchable-size trout and a good number of larger, trophy-size trout. "But this will be our first real chance to evaluate how the fingerling fishery is proceeding," Korth said. Anglers at Lenice and Nunnally are likely to be netting fish this spring ranging in size from 12 inches to more than 20 inches. "Overall, Lenice and Nunnally should offer some excellent fishing this year," he added. Elsewhere in the Basin, Lake Lenore, which lost many of its prized Lahontan cutthroat trout a couple of years ago to extreme water temperatures and algae bloom, is on the rebound. "It's looking much better, and there's some indication from anglers of larger fish being caught," Korth said. Lenore opens March 1 for catch-and-release fishing through the end of May. After that, anglers can keep one fish. Lenore also is a selective gear rule water. Korth said the majority of the trout in Lenore are 2 years old, with some older age class fish available. Lenore's cutthroat should average 3 to 5 pounds. On the down side, Korth added that many popular Basin trout waters are heavily infested with speckled dace, a trash fish species which competes for food and oxygen with the prized rainbow trout. Korth said the Hampton and the Pillar-Wigeon chain of lakes below Potholes Reservoir haven't been chemically treated with rotenone in years, and the quality of fishing continues to decline. And Dusty Lake, a popular walk-in seep lake, is shot and has not been stocked with trout for two seasons, he added. The state Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider adoption today of an updated policy for the use of rotenone to rehabilitate lakes statewide when it meets in Olympia. Rotenone, a natural pesticide, has been used for years by biologists to rid lakes of unwanted fish species. Last year, the Fish and Wildlife Department placed a moratorium on the use of rotenone until a policy governing its use could be reviewed and updated. For anglers looking for some late winter trout fishing, Potholes Reservoir and Moses Lake often are overlooked as prime trout fisheries, Korth said. Both lakes have had rainbow trout net-pen rearing programs in place for several years, which has provided of bounty of trout in several age classes. "Both of these waters offer excellent trout fishing from the bank, in the back waters with a float tube and by trolling by boat," he said. At Potholes recent mild weather has brought out a flurry of fishing in the Medicare Beach area where bank anglers and trollers are picking up trout up to 4 pounds. Moreover, both waters are open year-round and have a five-fish trout limit. |
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