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After seeing the WDFW reports that Tye Lake in Monroe had been stocked with generous sized Rainbows (2478, 4/4, 2.1/lb, 1544, 4/27, 2.1/lb, 980, 5/1, 2.0/lb, and 523, 5/2, 1.9/lb) I thought it would be a good target for a morning of fishing. In my understanding, a stocker trout in the 2.1 per lb. range is usually at least 11" to 12"... something less than 2.0 per lb. would be closer to 13"??? Anyway, I arrived at the lake about 5:30 AM. Not a cloud in the sky, with the promise of a hot day... temp at the outset was 54 degrees. Water temp at the shoreline (about 15' out), was a surprising 71 degrees. Was very surprised at the high water level of the lake. Most of the wetland area on the southwest corner, where ducks and geese have nested in the past is under water. I was the first at the lakeside. I began fishing with pink Power Eggs on one rig (6' leader), chartreuse PE on the other (4' leader). Within fifteen minutes I had my first hit, on the pink PE and reeled in my first Rainbow of the day, a respectable 12" 'er. After letting my PEs soak for another two hours, and changing colors several times, without a hit, I switched to nightcrawlers under a float. I immediately began to have bites, and was able to reel in several surprisingly small Rainbows, in the 9" to 10" range. Several were lip hooked, and I returned them unscathed, but several were hooked deeply and I had to retain them. About 9:30 the float disappeared and when I set the hook I felt considerable weight and knew I was into a bigger fish. I was greatly surprised to find a 13" Brown Bullhead (a.k.a. Catfish) at the end of my line. I tried several other baits and presentations trying to avoid smaller fish, but to no avail. The lake is full of undersized fish. I retained my limit of five Rainbows, one of 12", one close to 11" and the other three from 9"to 10"... one of them was a 9" fin clipped steelhead smolt. Saw lots of other fish caught nearby, nearly all of them in the 9" to 10" range. I have no idea where the 5525 Rainbows that the WDFW says are 2.1/lb and larger are. Where did all the smaller fish come from? Is someone else stocking the lake with 9" and 10" fish? Oh well, always enjoy a day of fishing regardless! Left the lake before noon and saw many other fishermen limit as well. A couple small boats launched, one returned in a couple hours with a limit, one fish of about 13", the rest 9" to 10".
Enjoyed watching the Bald Eagles stealing fish from the Ospreys. The eagles sit on the power poles on the west side of the lake and when they observe an Osprey take a fish, then make a beeline for it and harrass it until the Osprey drops the fish, then the eagle swoopes to recover it. By 10:00 the sun was high in the sky and dozens of sun-bathers, swimmers and people enjoying the lakeside were enmass. PTL!

lohans4

5/15/2018 3:39:52 PM

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but if you use bait [ worms ] anything that you release goes against your limit.

Stansjoy

5/15/2018 5:50:01 PM

lohans4... You are absolutely right... I am thankful that no WDFW agent was standing by, watching me, I surely would have been cited. I knew when I wrote that line in my report, that someone would bring it up. If it makes any difference, I can tell you that the two trout I released were completely unharmed. I as a long-time fly-fisherman, I always remove to hook with a forceps... in the case of a lip hooked fish, I grab the shank of the hook, a quick jerk, and the fish swims off without being handled by me.
My point for the whole report was that I went to Tye Lake expecting to find a certain quality of fish. What I found was a prolific amount of Rainbow trout that were below my expectations. My understanding is that the WDFW contracts with certain hatcheries to provide planted trout for the public. If Tokul Creek hatchery is telling the WDFW that they are planting 2500+ trout in Tye Lake, in the 2.1 to 1.9/lb range, and they actually plant 2500+ trout in the 2.7 or 2.8/lb range, they are stealing... they are stealing from us! As with all public expenditures, the ones who are being ripped off, is us... the public! Someone needs to hold them accountable... as with so many public projects, there are contractors who are willing to cheat the public so they can get a higher profit margin. Some think that's okay... the problem is, the public is me!

Stansjoy

5/15/2018 7:09:23 PM

Oooops! Of course the number in my reply should have 5500+ Rainbows, not 2500+.

Finsider

5/16/2018 2:29:58 AM

Good report Stansjoy, some excellent points. I think the estimated "fish per pound " column in the WDFW's catchable trout stocking report can vary quite a bit depending on who's turning in the info. I agree with you that it should be as accurate as possible. I applaud the WDFW for generally increasing the size of the catchables (now referred to as "jumbos") the last couple of years from roughly 2.8 / 3.5 fish to the pound up to around 1.8 / 2.2. But I am very disappointed they discontinued purchasing triploids this year from the private trout producer Troutlodge. Spicing the plant with trips in the 0.65 fish per pound range (some much bigger) was frowned upon by no one. The idea was to hike WDFW's revenue through increased license sales as more folks wanted to pursue the bigger fish. It definitely created a bigger buzz than what we had this year. I haven't heard anything about why this was discontinued. Did Troutlodge pull the plug? I doubt that. Did our license fees decrease because of the cancellation? I don't wish to bash the WDFW here, I think they've always done a tremendous job with the trout program, but a large part of that was the triploid purchases. I'm sure "big fish fever" had the intended affect of more license sales, so that will probably slip now. Again, I haven't heard any reasoning from the WDFW about why the triploid program was shelved. I'm positive just about everybody would like to see it return for good next year.

JoshH

5/16/2018 7:33:14 AM

Pulled this year due to budget reasons. There is a thread in regards to the triploid program in the lake forum here.

Finsider

5/17/2018 4:21:50 PM

Thanks JoshH, interesting discussion. I figured the 'ol budget restrictions claim would get the blame again, even though there are tons of ways to make up that shortfall that don't torpedo one of your revenue increasing strategies. Again, not to bash the WDFW's trout program, lots of good stuff - larger catchables, increased fall & winter plants, black friday program, etc. But the triploid purchases were one of the biggest pluses and needs to be brought back, even if the legislature fails to increase their budget.

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