Get outside on Black Friday for trout fishing opportunities at 26 statewide lakes and ponds
While spending quality time with family and friends is key during the Thanksgiving holiday, why not extend the love by enjoying some time on the water and possibly catching a trout!
“Our Black Friday trout fishing has been very popular for many years, and we’ll be stocking 26 statewide lakes with thousands of nice-sized fish to boost opportunities,” said Steve Caromile, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Inland Fish Program manager. “The holidays are great to spend quality time outdoors with family and friends, avoid the mall shopping madness and maybe even catch a fish.”
WDFW hatchery staff will be busy leading up to Black Friday by stocking 64,350 jumbo-sized rainbow trout, averaging one to three pounds apiece and measuring up to 17 inches long, in 26 lakes covering an area from the Puget Sound region to southwest Washington as well as a few Eastern Washington lakes and ponds.
The Black Friday program created more than a decade ago by WDFW looked at ways to raise thousands of rainbow trout for a late season fishery. This post-Thanksgiving holiday fishery has been a hot commodity among anglers looking for options to cash in on fishing time when choices are slim pickings.
During October, WDFW hatchery trucks also stocked many other year-round lakes around Washington to boost fall/winter fishing opportunities and allow anglers a jump start to fish right now in advance of Black Friday. For WDFW stocking information, go to WDFW trout stocking webpage.
WDFW is stocking 230,000 trout in 67 lakes statewide this fall, but not every lake is open year-round. In Washington, some lakes close at the end of October, and some open every year on the day after Thanksgiving, providing lots of fishing opportunity. Don’t forget to check the WDFW regulations webpage or the FishWashington mobile app to confirm the lake you plan to fish is legally open. Information generated by artificial intelligence “AI” can be outdated or incorrect.
Black Friday trout plants
· Chelan County — Roses Lake, 20,000
· Clark County — Battle Ground Lake, 2,000; and Klineline Pond, 2,000.
· Cowlitz County — Kress Lake, 2,000.
· Island County — x-Cranberry Lake, 4,000.
· Jefferson County — Leland Lake, 500 (This lake was recently added to the Black Friday list of trout plants).
· King County — x-Lake Alice, 1,000; x-Beaver Lake, 2,500; and x-Green Lake, 5,000.
· Klickitat County — Rowland Lake, 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 Lake, 2,000; and Tanwax Lake, 1,350.
· Snohomish County — x-Ballinger Lake, 3,000; x-Blackmans Lake, 1,500; x-Gissburg Ponds, 1,500; x-Silver Lake, 3,000; and x-Lake Tye, 2,000.
· Thurston County — Black Lake, 3,000; Long Lake,, 1,000; and Offutt Lake, 1,000.
· Yakima County: x- 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. Note: In Yakima County, the I-82 Pond #4 was a change from the original stocking plan of Elton Pond North, which will not be receiving a trout plant 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 as well as trout averaging a quarter-pound to 1 pound apiece:
· 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.
How to gear up
When fishing for trout all you really need to do when it comes to fishing gear is keep it simple.
A trout rod and reel will usually cost $50 to $90, and a more expensive combo is still a palatable $100 to $200. A trout fishing rod should be light and limber in the six to seven foot range with a four- to 10-pound line weight range. A medium-sized spinning reel get the job done with a capacity to hold more than 100 yards of 6- to eight-pound test fishing line.
Attach to the mainline one or two number eight or nine egg sinkers with a rubber bumper just above a small barrel swivel. For a leader, don’t get store-bought pre-tied 12-inch leaders, which are way too short. Try tying your own leaders or pay a few extra dollars on pre-tied versions in three- to eight-pound test that measure 18 to 30 inches long. A smaller size #12 or #14 egg or worm hook is preferred.
Most anglers casting from the shoreline or in a boat opt to use moldable dough baits, which come in a variety of colors, and some are shaped like a salmon egg, marshmallow, maggot, and worm or simply get the kind you shape yourself.
Others like to stick to “old school” traditional baits such as salmon eggs, worms, maggots, and scented marshmallows although many prefer soft dough baits.
Boat anglers can troll a gang-flasher with a worm, maggot or salmon egg laced to a tiny piece of scented dough bait or small spoon or spinner.
Bank anglers usually cast out a bobber with their presentation sitting just below the surface in three to eight feet of water. Others prefer to go deeper where it hangs just a few feet off the bottom.
Recently planted trout usually stay near or just under the surface anywhere from depths of three to 10 feet. Once they acclimate they’ll eventually spread out and move into deeper areas of the lake. Anglers often look for schools of trout right around where the hatchery truck placed them in the lake usually near the shore, boat ramp or dock.
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 eight or 10 with a five- or six-foot leader. They can be cast from shore or trolled weightless close to the surface behind a boat or floating device.
While the emphasis is on trout a good number of year-round lakes also provide decent catches of warmwater fish like yellow perch, largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish.
Check the WDFW website for tips and videos on how to catch trout.
A fishing license is required for anyone age 16 or older. A Discover Pass 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 would also like to remind angler 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.
(Mark Yuasa is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Communications Manager and was the fishing and hunting reporter at The Seattle Times for 28 years.)
