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Trout fishing springs to life with warmth Ah, spring. With finally a dose of warm weather, everything is busting out, including fishing prospects for trout, salmon and even smallmouth bass. From the Tucannon Lakes near Dayton to the Basin seep lakes, trout fishing is in overdrive. Almost all waters open to fishing are producing good catches of pan-size rainbow trout. Some are booting out trophy-size catches. The Tucannon lakes, a series of manmade lakes along the Tucannon River northeast of Dayton, have been well stocked this season. However, because of poor weather in March, most of the lakes have only been lightly fished. As a result, the lakes are offering first-rate fishing for spring break anglers, said Jim Kirkpatrick, owner of the Last Resort on the Tucannon River. "It's crowded up here, but the fish and the weather are cooperating, so everybody is happy," he said. Kirkpatrick said all the lakes have been restocked for spring break - even Big Four Lake has been stocked and the fish are biting. The Tucannon lakes are planted with a mix of pan-size hatchery-reared rainbows averaging 11 to 12 inches and larger "jumbo" trout averaging 1 to 2 pounds. Curl Lake, one of the Tucannon River impoundments, opens April 27, and fishing should be excellent. Kirkpatrick said just about anything anglers throw at trout is getting a response, including spinners, Power Bait and flies. I fished Rainbow Lake last week and had fish smacking an olive and black woolly bugger fly on just about every cast, until I broke my fly rod. And no, it wasn't a fish that did in my 5-weight but a size 10 boot. However, I switched to an ultra-light spinning outfit and began tossing a 1/16-ounce chartreuse Rooster Tail with the same results. In no time I had a stringer ready for a spring barbecue. The Family Fishing Pond in Kennewick's Columbia Park is only open to fishing by juveniles (under 15 years of age) and disabled fishing license holders, with a five-fish limit. According to state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials, the lake has been stocked with catchable rainbows and jumbos and will receive a planting of about 400 larger trophy triploid (sterile) trout about mid-April. Lots of pan-size rainbows are on the loose at Mar Don Resort on Potholes Reservoir near Othello after about 60,000 trout were released Thursday from one of the resort's trout-rearing net pens. Mike Meseberg at Mar Don Resort said about another 100,000 rainbows from two remaining net pens will be released about April 26, just in time for the statewide lake fishing season opener April 27. For more information on fishing at Potholes Reservoir, call 509-346-2651. Elsewhere in the Basin, many of the March 1 opening waters are producing trout, including the Hamptons, the Caliches, Martha, Burke and the Pillar-Wigeon chain. Also, rainbows and browns are coming to hand at Dry Falls Lake, which opened April 1. Dry Falls is a selective gear rule water (single barbless hooks and no bait) and there is a one-fish daily limit. A trio of selective gear waters south of Vantage also are heating up with a shot of spring weather. Nunnally, Merry and Lenice lakes have seen heavy pressure during spring break, but the trout are still hitting. I fished Lenice on Wednesday, and although the fishing was slow, the fish turned on late in the day as waves of hatching mosquitoes put the rainbows on a feeding binge. In less than two hours, I caught and released four rainbows, the smallest was 18 inches and the largest reached 23. All three lakes should offer excellent spring fishing. They are rebounding from a rehabilitation in the spring of 2000 to reduce sunfish populations and were restocked with hundreds of larger trout and a couple of batches of fingerlings, including the new sterile tiger trout. Lenice and Nunnally are full of yearling trout running 12 to 15 inches and carryovers to more than 20 inches. And beginning this year, the lakes will stay open until Nov. 30 instead of Oct. 31. All three are designated selective gear rule waters. The warmth also is improving prospects for smallmouth bass, said Frank Sergeant at Critter's Outdoor World in Pasco. Bass anglers should seek out warmer water areas, such as the mouth of the Yakima, the Snake River below Ice Harbor Dam and backwaters and sloughs such as Casey Pond and the Burbank Sloughs. Lizards, grubs and shallow-diving crankbaits in perch, crawdad and silver belly with blue back are enticing prespawning bass. "The fish are starting to move into the shallows for the spring spawning cycle. I'd look in water ranging from 3 to 12 feet," he said. With the approach of the mid- to late April surge of spring chinook salmon, anglers have been out on the lower Columbia River in force, said Joe Hymer, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in Vancouver. Hymer said about 1,500 boats were counted March 30 between Bonneville Dam and the Columbia's mouth. Those numbers, he said, are expected to climb with the recent surge in catches. Last week, boat anglers averaged about one chinook for every 4.8 rods. Some spring chinook were sampled in the Dalles Pool last week and catches should continue to improve there and in the John Day Pool. Although there hasn't been much effort in lower Columbia tributaries, such as the Wind River and Drano Lake, Hymer said those popular spots should turn on any day. The lower Klickitat River opened April 1 for fishing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturday, with a one-fish limit for any chinook or hatchery steelhead. |
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