Lake fishing kicks off Saturday in Washington

By CASEY OLSON

Sports editor

Officials from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) are estimating at least 300,000 men, women and children will be casting their fishing lines this weekend. Saturday marks opening day of lowland lake fishing in Washington.

“It’s still one of the best entertainment values around,” said WDFW Director Jeff Koenings.

Most of the lakes that open to fishing on Saturday, remain open through October. A freshwater fishing license is needed to participate on opening day. Licenses are available to resident adults for $21.90 and can be purchased at www.fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov, by telephone at 1-866-246-9453 or at several license dealers across the state. Kids under 15 fish for free.

Everybody who buys a license receives a free Vehicle Use Permit, which must be on any motor vehicle parked in a WDFW fishing access parking lot. The permits are transferrable between up to two vehicles.

Fish and Wildlife officials have been busy stocking the lakes with more than 25 million fish.

“Opening day is often the best time to catch some of these fish,” Koenings said. “But that also means that many lakes with our improved access facilities can be very crowded. Fishers should be patient.”

This year, 80 lakes throughout the state were stocked with triploid trout averaging a pound-and-a-half each. These trout, purchased by WDFW, are sterile rainbows that are heavy eaters and have the potential to grow to trophy size. A total of 51,311 triploid trout were stocked statewide, including 744 in SeaTac’s Angle Lake.

The fishing should be solid at lakes around Federal Way on Saturday. Steel Lake was stocked with 7,000 rainbow trout eight- to 12-inches long, Lake Dolloff received 2,000, Lake Geneva got 4,500 rainbows and Lake Fenwick was stocked with 2,500 trout. Other area lakes that will be open Saturday will be Five Mile Lake, Lake Killarney and Star Lake.

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