Spring 2004 Hatchery Trout Stocking Plan for Washington Lakes and Streams

This booklet is organized into three sections: 1 - the lowland lakes catchable trout stocking table; 2 - stream catchable trout stocking table and 3 - the lowland lakes and ponds that were stocked during the spring and fall of 2003 with trout fry. The first two sections list the waters by county, show the trout species, the numbers, size, and approximate time to be stocked. The locations, dates, and times presented are based on current information, so unavoidable changes may occur. The last table lists the county, water, trout fry species and numbers stocked during 2003.

Catchable Trout Plants
About 5 million trout, 7 inches or larger, are scheduled to be stocked in 377 Washington lowland lakes this year. About 64,000 trout are planned for stocking in selected streams, to provide mitigation for lost opportunity to harvest wild fish or to provide recreational opportunity in areas where habitat does not support wild trout populations.

Triploid Trout
There are 80 lakes and ponds throughout the state that will be stocked with 1 ½ pound average trout. These trout, purchased by the Department, are sterile rainbows that have the potential to grow to trophy size if abundant food is available and if not harvested the first season after stocking. The triploid rainbow trout are identified as TRB under the Species in the catchable trout table. Some triploid trout fry are stocked in areas where natural reproduction of hatchery trout could adversely affect native species.

Trout Fry Plants
Many lakes are stocked with 2- to 5- inch long trout fry. Over 19 million fry were stocked in 380 lowland lakes and ponds in 2003. Trout fry are stocked in the spring and fall, where they feed and grow on natural food until the following spring when they are large enough to be harvested. The survival rate of fry varies depending on the lake. A number of eastern Washington lakes are managed in such a way that fry survival is very good and are the primary source of new trout available for harvest. Western Washington lakes depend primarily on catchable size trout plants because of relatively low fry survival. Where fry are stocked, the ones that survive supplement the catchable trout plants.

Some Tips for Catching Trout
As you read through the stocking tables, please note that many lakes are open year-round or open on March 1, and are stocked as early as January. While it may be too late this year to take advantage of this knowledge, stocking schedules are fairly consistent from year-to-year, so you can plan to get in some good early season fishing next year.

Research has shown that trout tend to stay in the top three to five feet of water for the first weeks after stocking. This makes them easy prey for cormorants and other avian predators, which can take a significant bite out of our stocking efforts. Your best chance for success may come in the first couple of weeks after trout are stocked where avian predation is prevalent. Angler activity tends to disrupt the feeding birds and can save the fish for a longer period of good fishing.

Because of this tendency of stocked trout to remain shallow for a while after stocking, fishing on the bottom may not be as productive early as it will be later. Troll shallow with small lures, flies or spinner-and-bait combinations early in the season. When fishing from shore, use a float to keep your bait up in the feeding zone.

After a few weeks, the trout will cue in on natural food items and be found where the food is and this tends to be deeper. At this time, try fishing on or just off the bottom, using floating paste type baits or other buoyant baits. Also, natural baits such as worms, fish eggs, or flies and lures that imitate natural trout food may work better. This will also be the case in lakes managed primarily with fry plants where the fish have grown up on natural food.