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Octoberfest in store for area anglers
Under a brilliant October sun, the rainbow trout casts a long shadow over the lake's weedy shallows as it glides along, pausing briefly to rise and nab an emerging mayfly off the water's mirrorlike surface.
A well-placed cast puts the angler's imitation on a collision course with the hungry trout, which inhales the fake, then instantly realizes its mistake and rockets for deep water.
And after a short, but intense, battle, the glittering rainbow slides into the landing net to be admired, unhooked and released.
Across Eastern Washington, these scenes are played out daily as October's fall fishing opportunities provide a lure for anglers.
And Lenice and Nunnally lakes near Beverly are perhaps the quintessential fall fishing lakes - gin-clear water, pristine surroundings and large rainbow trout.
After being rehabilitated last spring, then restocked with about 19,000 trout ranging from 14 to 24 inches, Lenice and Nunnally offer outstanding fishing.
And it should get better in the next year or so, said Jeff Korth, a state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in Ephrata.
"We were lucky to get the lakes stocked in May after rehabilitation because we only had a small window of opportunity before the water would have been too warm. But we got a good number of large fish planted, so the fishing should be good through the end of the season," he said.
The trio of selective-gear waters (smaller Merry Lake lies between Nunnally and Lenice) usually are restocked with rainbow fry in the fall for fishing the following spring.
This year, however, because of the abundance of healthy trout, the state will delay stocking until spring.
Next year, Nunnally will get 13,000 rainbow fry and Lenice 10,000. Each lake also will be stocked with a couple of thousand German brown trout.
The rainbow will be a mix of standard hatchery trout and sterile, or triploid, rainbows. Biologists plan to clip the adipose fins of the regular trout, then compare their growth rates and survival rates with the unmarked triploids.
The longer trout live, the larger they're likely to grow. Trout that reach 18 to 20 inches in length or larger likely are 3 to 4 years old, Korth said.
However, until then anglers will have to be content to fish for the trout the state planted in May, which are now about 12 to 14 inches long.
Moreover, another 1,000 trout - averaging nearly 3 pounds apiece from Trout Lodge Hatchery near Soap Lake - were planted in Nunnally, while Lenice received 1,000 rainbows averaging about a pound each, 800 in the 2- to 3-pound range and 200 whoppers at 5 to 6 pounds. Lenice, Nunnally and Merry lakes close Oct. 31.
Another top prospect for fall trout is Dry Falls Lake north of Soap Lake.
Korth said as temperatures drop, trout move out of the deeper, cooler water and begin chowing down before winter.
Dry Falls, a selective gear water, offers excellent fishing for rainbows and browns. "Dry Falls was great last year. It's open through the end of November, and the fishing was good right up until the last day," Korth said.
Jameson Lake in Douglas County also is open during October and should be good for chunky rainbow trout.
For stream anglers, flows on the upper Yakima River have decreased significantly since the annual water "flip-flop," which decreases water releases from upper Yakima reservoirs. The result is much lower flows on the upper Yakima and greater flows on the Naches River from Rimrock Reservoir into the Tieton River.
If big-game fish species are in your fall forecast, you're in luck. Steelhead fishing on the Snake and Grande Ronde rivers is picking up following early September rains, which brought flows up and helped lower water temperatures.
Also, anglers are beginning to net migrating steelhead above McNary Dam, and salmon fishing on the Columbia north of Richland is peaking.
In the Hanford Reach, early morning seems to be best, trolling plugs from Ringold to Priest Rapids Dam, mostly by boats launched at White Bluffs, Vernita Bridge or Ringold.
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