Sure, the weather outside is frightful at this time of the year, but that won’t stop thousands of anglers from skipping out on the shopping malls and opting to go trout fishing instead!
“The holidays are great to spend quality time outdoors with family and friends, avoid the mall shopping madness and maybe even catch a fish,” said Steve Caromile, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Inland Fish Program manager.
The fishing wish list just grew twofold as WDFW hatchery crews have been busy leading up to Black Friday by shuttling 64,350 jumbo-sized rainbow trout, averaging 1 to 2 pounds apiece, into 25 lakes around the Puget Sound region and southwest Washington, as well as several Eastern Washington lakes and ponds.
The Black Friday program, created more than a decade ago by WDFW, came up with a creative way to stock thousands of rainbow trout for a late-season fishery in year-round lakes. The post-Thanksgiving holiday fishing option has been a hit for anglers looking to wet a line at a time when the choices are sparse.
In October, a good number of other year-round lakes around Washington were also planted with trout for anglers who want to head before Thanksgiving. You can find trout stocking information that is usually updated weekly by going to the WDFW webpage at https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/reports/stocking.
Black Friday trout plants include:
- Chelan County: Roses, 20,000
- Clark County: Battleground, 2,000; and Klineline, 2,000.
- Cowlitz County: Kress, 2,000.
- Island County: x-Cranberry, 4,000.
- King County: x-Alice, 1,000; x-Beaver, 2,500; and x-Green, 5,000.
- Klickitat County: Rowland, 2,000.
- Lewis County: Fort Borst Park Pond, 2,000; and South Lewis County Park Pond, 2,000.
- Pacific County: Cases Pond, 300.
- Pierce County: American, 2,000; and Tanwax, 1,350.
- Snohomish County: x-Ballinger, 3,000; x-Blackmans, 1,500; x-Gissburg Ponds, 1,500; x-Silver, 3,000; and x-Tye, 2,000.
- Thurston County: Black, 3,000; Long, 1,000; and Offutt, 1,000.
- Yakima County: I-82 Pond #4, 2,000.
(x-Around 50% of the planned trout stocking occurred in October in the noted lakes, and the remainder will be stocked in time for Black Friday)
There are four Eastern Washington lakes opening on Black Friday that were stocked with trout fry this past spring that should be averaging 8 to 10 inches, plus some other larger fish were stocked of late.
Eastern Washington lakes trout plants include:
- Stevens County: Hatch Lake, 15,000 fry stocked in May, and 600 trout averaging 1 pound apiece stocked in October; and Williams Lake, 12,000 fry stocked in May, and 1,500 trout averaging a quarter pound apiece stocked in mid-April.
- Adams/Lincoln County: Fourth of July Lake, 60,000 fry stocked in May, and 18,000 trout averaging a quarter pound apiece stocked in mid-April.
Spokane County: Hog Canyon Lake, 20,000 fry stocked in May, 10,000 trout averaging a quarter pound apiece stocked in mid-April, and 1,600 trout averaging 1 pound apiece stocked in October.
Before you go
When fishing for trout, don’t overthink the necessary fishing gear.
A basic trout rod and reel averages $50 to $90, and a higher-end set is about $100 to $200. The rod should be light and limber in the 6 to 7 foot range with a 4- to 10-pound line weight range. A medium-sized spinning reel with a capacity to hold more than 100 yards of 6- to 8-pound test fishing line will do the job right.
From the mainline, attach one or two number 8 or 9 egg sinkers with a rubber bumper just above a small barrel swivel. Avoid the cheap store-bought pre-tied 12-inch leaders that are way too short in length. Either tie your own leaders or spend a few extra dollars on pre-tied versions in 3- to 8-pound test that measure 18 to 30 inches long. A smaller size 12 or 14 egg hook is the best choice when using a moldable dough bait or nugget, salmon eggs, worm pieces, or maggots. For live bait such as a whole worm, nightcrawler, or marshmallow, the optimal hook size is a size 8 or 10 worm hook. If you use an artificial fly, the stick with a size #14 hook or smaller. A hook that is too big or exposed may scare away the fish, and one that is too small may result in fewer hook-ups. Lastly, make sure your hooks are sharp and sticky.
Most anglers casting from the banks or in a boat will stick with the popular moldable dough baits, which come in a variety of colors, and some are shaped like a salmon egg, marshmallow, maggot, or worm. The old school baits include salmon eggs, worms/nightcrawlers, maggots, and marshmallows.
From a boat troll a gang-flasher with a hook tipped with a piece of worm, maggot, or salmon egg, along with a tiny piece of scented dough bait or a liquid scent. A small spoon or spinner also gets its fair share of bites.
From the shoreline, cast out a small-sized bobber with your bait sitting just below the surface in 3 to 8 feet of water. Others like to go deeper, where it hangs just a few feet off the bottom, where the larger-size carryover trout lurk. Recently planted trout tend to hang around near or just under the surface of the water at depths of 3 to 10 feet. Once the stocked trout acclimate, they’ll eventually spread out and move into deeper areas of the lake. Anglers often look for schools of trout right where the hatchery truck placed them, usually near the shore, boat ramp, or dock areas.
Trout like to rise to the top of the water column to gobble up insects on the water’s surface. This is where artificial flies come into play, like a Woolly Bugger in black, dark green, or black-olive in a size 8 or 10 with a 5- or 6-foot leader. They can be cast from shore or trolled weightless close to the surface behind a boat or floating device.
A fishing license – https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/login – is required for anyone age 16 or older. A Discover Pass – https://wdfw.wa.gov/licenses/parking – is required to park a vehicle at many state lands, including the state park system, WDFW lands, and the Department of Natural Resources lands.
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Boating Program –
https://parks.wa.gov/find-activity/activity-search/boating – would also like to remind anglers to take a boater safety education course, if you haven’t already, to be prepared for spring and summer. In Washington, boaters who operate a vessel with a 15-horsepower engine or greater must carry a Boater Education Card to prove they passed an accredited boating safety education course.
