by Dave Graybill, May 13, 2013

The opening weekend of trout fishing was a good one in the region. Those who got out early in the morning experienced excellent fishing on most of the lakes. Winds grew in strength, and made fishing difficult later in the day. Overall, lots of large, quality rainbow were taken and the opener was one of the best in years.

I left early on Saturday morning and made my first stop at Blue Lake, north of Soap Lake. When I pulled up to the cleaning station it was crowded with angler’s busy taking care of their catch. The rainbow I saw were most very fat 13 to 14 inches. Chad Jackson, biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife said that the large size of the trout at Blue was not anticipated. It has been seven years since Blue Lake had been rehabbed and the growth rate here was better than expected. Anglers sure weren’t complaining. Those fishing from boats were doing better than the shore anglers and the average catch at Blue Lake was close to four fish per angler.

My next stop was at Park Lake, and my impression was that the early morning action was a bit faster than at Blue Lake. However, the final tally for Saturday indicated that Blue Lake still held the lead over Park Lake in terms of the average catch per angler. At Park fishermen averaged just 2.4 fish. At the cleaning station, where Jeff Korth and Monica Beich of the Department of Fish and Wildlife were busy checking the catch, I saw 11-inch trout along with some larger fish on stringers. One angler had a tiger trout over 20 inches.

Just up the road at Deep Lake, the action was very fast in the morning with many anglers getting limits or close to it. Trout were averaging 11 inches here, with some to 15 inches mixed in. The results at Perch Lake were similar to Deep Lake, with most of the trout measuring 11 to 13 inches.

I was surprised to learn that Vic Meyers Lake produced some of the best trout for all of the Grant County lakes. This is a small, narrow lake, but most of the fish taken were either triploids or carryover rainbow of 14 to 20 inches.

I also learned that Warden Lake produced near limit catches of rainbow that averaged 11 inches. There were good numbers of carryover rainbow of 15 inches included on stringers here. Due to high winds, most anglers packed it in by 10 a.m. on opening day.

Overall the lakes in Grant County performed very well for trout anglers. Growth rates were as good as or even better than expected. The quality of the rainbow I saw at Blue and Park lakes was excellent.


I next traveled up over the hill and across the wheat fields to Jameson Lake. I ran into Travis Maitland from the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s office in Wenatchee visiting with shore anglers on the way to Jack’s Resort. He showed me a couple of stringers that had rainbow that were made of a few 9-inch rainbow and also had trout to 18 inches. He said he had seen one rainbow that was 24 inches and weighed 6 pounds. When I got to Jack’s Resort I got a great welcome from Ginger and her crew, and they made sure I had a slice of their home made coconut cream pie to take home to my wife. I was glad to see a very large crowd of anglers at Jameson Lake this year and that there was some very big rainbow being taken. I took a photo of one stringer that was made up of two 14-inch rainbow and three that were 20 inches or larger. It looks like great trout fishing is back at Jameson.

I wasn’t going to end my survey of opening day lakes without a visit to one of my old time favorites, Wapato Lake. The last time I was a Wapato the trout were pretty small. However this year the stringers were full of rainbow that averaged 14 inches and very deep and heavy. Anglers were pleased with their catches here. The fish I saw were all the results of fry plants, and the lake also got 500 jumbo triploids this year.

I was surprised to learn that this year the trout fishing at Clear Lake was better than that at Beehive Reservoir on opening day. Clear Lake produced a higher catch per angler average and larger carryover trout, up to 18 inches. It was noted that both of these lakes, located on Wenatchee Heights, experienced very high winds and most anglers fished for a very short period of time.

Heavy wind last weekend also made it difficult for anglers that were trying for kokanee on Lake Chelan. I saw only two boats fishing in the lower basin on Chelan when I passed through there on Saturday, and I learned conditions were just as bad the following day.

Mark your calendars for the next free fishing seminar at Town Ford in East Wenatchee. It will be held on Thursday, March 23rd, beginning at 6 p.m. There will be a presentation on kokanee fishing in the region by Bobbie Loomis of Macks Lure Company. He has fished for kokanee throughout the western region and he will share his techniques and tackle that work on Lake Chelan and other kokanee lakes. Also appearing on May 23rd is Shane Magnuson, Upper Columbia Guide Service. He will be talking about how to catch spring salmon on the Icicle River. It is hoped that the Wenatchee River will also be open to spring salmon fishing this season, and his techniques will also apply here.

I am anxious to get out and try my luck on some of our local trout lakes. The high winds mean that there are plenty of fish left in these lakes, and I am eager to get a chance to get a bunch of them!

By Dave Graybill

FishingMagician.com