Area lakes stocked with thousands of rainbow trout, just in time for weekend fishing | Tacoma News Tribune

LAKES

American: The lake is producing a few rainbow trout. Try trolling a wedding ring behind a flasher north of the state boat launch. The lake was stocked Monday with 1,650 rainbow trout, each weighing about .45 pounds each.

Kapowsin: The state stocked the lake Wednesday with 15,000 rainbow trout, weighing a little more than a third of a pound each.

Lawrence: There were 20,000 rainbows put into the lake Tuesday. They weighed about .4 pounds each.

Louise: The lake was planted Tuesday with 1,000 rainbow trout, weighing .45 pounds each.

Pass: Fly anglers will want to have a good number of chironomids, especially in olive or brown, for fishing here. Anglers are reporting catching rainbow trout 14-17 inches long using these flies under an indicator, or using a leech pattern on a full-sink line.

Roosevelt: Bank anglers have been having some success catching rainbow trout. Dough baits in rainbow color have been inducing strikes. The kokanee fishing has been slow.

Spanaway: Dock anglers are catching brown and rainbow trout, with browns measuring up to 21 inches and rainbows reaching 18 inches. The preferred bait has been worm and marshmallow. Boat traffic has been light because of the weather.

Steilacoom: On Tuesday, the lake was planted with 2,200 rainbows, weighing about .45 pounds each.

RIVERS

Columbia: The state announced Thursday that it will close retention of sturgeon in the Bonneville and The Dalles pools as of March 25. The state expects the harvest guidelines for both pools to be reached by then.

Olympic Coast: River levels are dropping, which could make for good fishing this weekend. The Hoh was producing some steelhead earlier this week.

Skookumchuck: Anglers are catching some steelhead. Try drifting corkies and yarn in chartreuse.

Yakima: Rains have made the river flow jump from around 1,300 cubic feet per second on March 10 to more than 6,000 cfs Thursday. The fish may not have had time to find new holding spots, and the water may not be clear enough to make the trip there worthwhile.

SALT WATER

Clams: The state has made some changes to the razor clam dig scheduled to start late next week. The Twin Harbors beaches will be open all four days of the dig, March 24-27. Mocrocks will be open March 24 and 26, while Copalis will be open March 25. The state, however, has canceled digging at Kalaloch because of a sudden decline in the clam population there. Recent sampling showed far fewer clams there than what was estimated before the season. Low tide times are: March 24, 5:01 p.m., 0.5 feet; March 25, 5:44 p.m., 0.2 feet; March 26, 6:24 p.m., 0 feet; and March 27, 7:04 p.m., 0 feet.

North Sound: Weather has kept most people off the water, but anglers report catching some nice chinook in Browns Bay by Edmonds and off Columbia Beach.

South Sound: There are definite signs of improvement in the salmon fishing. One angler landed an immature chinook weighing 16.8 pounds, but most fish are weighing 5-7 pounds. Troll between the slag pile and Owen Beach in water 120-150 feet deep. Flashers trailed by a spoon or artificial squid and run about 10 feet off the bottom have been working.