Fish on! Statewide lowland lakes trout fishing opener is April 25; Trout Derby returns with 900 prizes
Story originally published in the Northwest Sportsman Magazine’s April issue
When it comes to trout fishing, the weekend of April 25–26 is going to be a splendid time to be on the water.
It is a juncture each spring when thousands of anglers trek to approximately 525 statewide seasonal lowland lakes and ponds stocked in 2026 with nearly 15.5 million trout and kokanee, and the majority of the fish will be around to catch in time for the opener.
“Opening day is one of our biggest and most important days for anglers to get out on the water,” said Steve Caromile, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) inland Fish Program manager. “Spring weather can be hard to predict, but we’ve had a mild winter and hopefully that’ll lead to plenty of success for weeks to come.”
A breakdown shows an expected 2026 stocking plan of more than 2.1 million standardized catchable size trout is 11 to 13 inches, or average 2.5 fish/pound.
Anglers should also find around 157,000 larger size “jumbo” trout measuring 14 inches or longer. Most of the jumbos were planted in March and April and other trout are saved for fall planting. Some lucky anglers may even have a chance to catch a bigger “carryover” rainbow trout that survived over the past year.
Ramping it up is 1.6 million-plus trout categorized as “put, grow, and take” — reared in hatcheries and 2.6 to 10 fish per pound in size — stocked in 2025, and measure from 8- to 12-inches.
On top of that, an estimated 11.5 million fingerling and fry trout and kokanee planted one or two years ago will be in the catchable size range during the 2026 fisheries. Most fry were stocked into Eastern Washington opening day lakes, which are managed to create decent fry survival.
Trout stocking expectations
In the Puget Sound region — Island, King, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties — the projected number of trout stocked in 2026 is down slightly from 2025 and can be defined as a quality over quantity and result in a better outcome on opening day and beyond.
“Many fisheries in the North Puget Sound region will see a slight reduction in the number of trout stocked,” said Justin Spinelli, WDFW Puget Sound regional biologist. “This is a result of growing larger fish at our regional hatchery facilities, and an effort to reduce the burden on a lake’s food web chain to improve trout health and condition in the summer and fall.”
“Larger fish are typically caught at higher rates, so we don’t anticipate impacts to the fishery on opening day,” Spinelli said. “Despite the reduced number stocked, we also expect a substantial proportion of trout to support fisheries well beyond spring.”
The Puget Sound regional trout plants for the 2026 season is 395,900 catchable size (204,600 will be stocked in time for opening day), 24,875 jumbo size trout, and 30,000 “put, grow and take” trout. In addition, another 4.5-million trout fry were planted in 2025, and those that survived should be in the catchable size range for 2026. Most fry planted in westside lakes are kokanee trout.
In the southwest and coastal areas (Regions 5 and 6) also offer a good number of lakes and ponds stocked for opening day.
In Region 5 — Clark, Cowlitz, Klickitat, Lewis, and Skamania counties — the projected plant is 458,751 catchable size, 13,320 jumbo size trout, and 93,000 “put, grow and take” trout.
In Region 6 — Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, and Thurston counties — the projected plant, which may need to be adjusted or updated to reflect production changes, is 566,206 catchable size, 86,921 jumbo-sized trout, and 78,000 “put, grow, and take” trout.
You can find the 2026 statewide hatchery trout and kokanee stocking plan by referring to the WDFW fish stocking webpage.
Opening day tips and tricks
As for trout fishing gear, you can keep it fairly simple and you don’t have to spend much money.
A basic trout rod and reel combo usually costs $60 to $100, and an expensive set is about $130 to $200. Look for a fishing pole length of six to seven feet, and keep it relatively light and limber, in the four- to 10-pound range. Stick with a medium size spinning reel and capacity to hold more than 100 yards of six- to eight-pound test fishing line.
On the main line attach one or two number nine egg sinkers with a rubber bumper to a small barrel swivel. The length of leader is the most important factor and avoid the store-bought pre-tied 12-inch leaders that are way too short. Leaders should be three- to eight-pound test and 18 to 30 inches long.
One pro tip to keep in mind is the hook size tied to the end of your leader.
For hooks think “smaller is better” and use an egg or worm hook in a size eight or 14 or a №14 or 16 treble hooks.
Most of the time, it doesn’t take a lot of homework to find out what a stocked trout will bite. The top “old school” baits of choice are worms, maggots, salmon eggs or scented marshmallows.
Nowadays the preferred “new school” of choice are the softer dough baits like Berkley Power Bait. Dough baits come in all sorts of colors and varieties of shapes with mimicking a salmon egg, maggot, and worm just to name a few. You can also mold your own (think Play-Doh) into round balls of various sizes, or square or triangle, or whatever shape that comes to mind.
Various fly patterns work well, and the top choices are a black or black-olive colored Woolly Bugger in a size eight or 10 attached to a five- or six-foot leader and trolled weightless close to the surface.
In a boat, try trolling with a gang-flasher attached to a worm, maggot or salmon egg laced with a tiny piece of scented dough bait. You can also troll or cast and retrieve from shore with small spoon like a Dick Nite, Yakima Bait Triple Teazer or Luhr Jensen Super Duper.
The majority of shore anglers will cast out a bobber with their presentation sitting just below the surface in three to six feet of water. Others hang their presentation a few feet off the bottom where the bigger “carryover” trout tend to lurk.
Keep in mind most recently stocked trout tend to school near the surface, and many of the fish tend to hang around where the hatchery trucked placed the trout in the lake usually within yards of the shoreline, boat ramps and docks.
Planted trout like to stay just under the surface in three to six feet of water before they acclimate into their new surroundings and eventually spread out and move to deeper areas of the lake as the season progresses.
When heading out to lakes in the coming weeks and months, please be respectful of fellow anglers and other recreationists, obey posted signage at all water access areas and follow parking regulations and have a backup plan in case your preferred destination is overcrowded.
Where to go
In no certain order, here are some likely top producing statewide lakes to try on opening day (these are based on 2025 catch and historical data):
Westside lakes — Tarboo Lake in Jefferson County; Geneva, Langlois, Margaret, Shady, and Wilderness lakes in King County; Horseshoe Lake in Kitsap County; Horsethief Lake in Klickitat County; Mineral Lake in Lewis County; Devereaux and Wooten lakes in Mason County; Clear and Silver in Pierce County; Erie, McMurray, and Sixteen lakes in Skagit County; Bosworth, Echo-Maltby, and Ki lakes in Snohomish County; Clear, Hicks, Summit, and Ward in Thurston County; and Cain, Padden, Silver, and Toad lakes in Whatcom County.
Eastside lakes — Wapato Lake in Chelan County; Jameson Lake in Douglas County; Warden Lake in Grant County; Alta and Pearrygin lakes in Okanogan County; Williams in Spokane County; and Waitts in Stevens County.
In 2025, anglers on opening day saw ideal weather and generated an increase in statewide turnout and higher success rates.
The 2025 opening day data showed the statewide effort was roughly 199,000 anglers (142,987 in 2024) along with a higher catch of 852,000 trout caught (521,000 in 2024) and 475,000 kept (366,000 in 2024). The 2025 statewide trout caught per angler average was 3.9 per angler (3.4 in 2024) and trout kept was 2.3 per angler (2.1 in 2024) in the 72 lakes were checked by WDFW catch samplers.
Of the 19 total lakes surveyed in Region 4 (North Puget Sound) during the 2025 opener an estimated 13,254 anglers fished with a total catch of 73,588 trout and of those 36,000 were kept.
WDFW Trout Derby returns
The highly popular WDFW Trout Derby begins on April 25 and runs through Oct. 31 with over 100 stocked statewide lakes.
“We’ve got hundreds of prizes for those who catch a tagged fish, and we plan to stock most of the same lakes as we have in the past,” Caromile said. “It has been very popular over the past 11 years. The generosity of our license vendors and donors is what makes the trout derby a huge success, and something many anglers look forward to.”
More than 70 statewide businesses are offering an estimated 750 prizes valued around $30,000 and worth about $48 per prize. The number of tags turned in during the 2025 season was 59%. The success of the trout derby would only be possible through WDFW’s ongoing partnerships with business dealers/vendors throughout the state.
Prizes include gift cards; fishing gear and tackle; annual magazine subscriptions; Seattle Mariners game tickets; hooded jackets; books; rounds of golf at multiple golf courses; local aquarium admission; car detailing bucket; and kayak rentals. Higher valued prizes include a kayak; guided lake fishing trip for two; handheld GPS units; lifetime memberships for a streaming app to locate trout streams in Washington; stays at local resorts and campgrounds; backpack; and beverage refrigerator.
This season, each of the prize-winning trout can be identified by a green tag inserted near the dorsal fin.
Anglers can participate in the WDFW photo contest during the first week of the trout derby on Instagram by using the hashtag #watroutderby.
The derby is open to anyone with a valid 2026–2027 fishing license, and a temporary license may be used. There is no entry fee or registration required. Children under age 15 fish for free.
To see which statewide lakes contain tagged trout and learn more about how the derby works, refer to the WDFW Trout Derby website.
If you go
· Anglers can avoid the opening day madness and head now to year-round westside lakes stocked with trout between March and May. Other lakes also receive bonus plants in the autumn/winter, and thousands of trout averaging 1- to 1.5-pounds apiece going into some Puget Sound region lakes for the “Black Friday” fishing event in late-November. For the statewide stocking schedule, refer to the WDFW fishing and stocking reports webpage.
· A 2026–2027 fishing license is required for anyone age 16 or older and available online or from hundreds of license vendors across the state. A new licensing functionality is now available on the mobile app platforms on MyWDFW and Fish Washington® webpages. The 2025–2026 licenses expired on March 31. For details and to learn more about the new licensing app system, refer to the WDFW’s licensing webpage.
· There are thousands of lakes, ponds and reservoirs across Washington, and hundreds of WDFW-managed water-access areas, including some with areas accessible for people with disabilities. Details on water-access areas can be found on WDFW’s water access area website.
· Anglers parking at WDFW vehicle water-access areas are required to display the WDFW Vehicle Access Pass — provided when you buy eligible annual fishing licenses — or a Discover Pass. Anglers visiting Washington State Parks or Department of Natural Resources lands need a Discover Pass. Information on parking passes can be found at WDFW’s parking and access passes webpage.
· Before heading out, check WDFW’s fishing regulations webpage for permanent regulations and the WDFW emergency rules webpage for rule updates affecting fisheries.
· An excellent fishing resource can be found by going to the WDFW “places to go fishing” webpage. There are statewide kids fishing events held throughout the year and you can find more information by going to the WDFW “youth fishing events” webpage.
(Mark Yuasa is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Communications Manager and longtime local fishing and outdoor writer.)
