Don’t Expect 24-Inch Trout

If you fish Fourth of July Lake on opening day Sunday, you may have to be content with a couple of 18- to 20-inch rainbows, a predicament most anglers would like.

Nearly all the trout hooked during test fishing by a Fish and Wildlife Department official a few days ago were in that size range. The official hooked only one fish less than 18 inches long, and that was about 12 inches.

The limit at Fourth of July Lake, as well as at nearby Hog Canyon Lake and Hatch in the Colville area, is five fish per day. The limit at Williams, north of Colville, also is five a day, but the lake was treated with rotenone recently and won’t be replanted with trout until next spring.

The problem for anglers is that they can’t take home more than two fish more than 14 inches long. The regulations say the limit is five trout, “no more than two over 14 inches.”

Fisheries biologist Bob Peck said that anglers who fish Fourth of July probably will catch relatively few of the 9- to 10-inchers released as fry last spring and the 12-inchers, which were “catchable” size when they were released later in the spring.

Although no rainbows more than 20 inches long were hooked during the test fishing, fishermen probably will catch a few in the 20 to 24-inch range.

As usual, a few greedy anglers will kill five 18- to 20-inch rainbows and then say with a straight face, if they’re checked by a wildlife agent, they didn’t know they couldn’t keep more than two 14-inch-plus fish. Of course, that kind of excuse won’t get them off the hook. They’ll be cited and have to pay a minimum fine of $95.

If an angler can’t resist keeping more than five rainbows, perhaps as many as a dozen, he or she likely will pay hundreds of dollars.

Peck said that 60,000 rainbow fry were released into Fourth of July last spring. Because they were tiny - 150 to the pound - the survival rate could be only about 50 percent. The Fish and Wildlife Department also released 10,000 9- to 10-inchers. The fry should be about 9 inches long now and the catchables about 12 inches.

For some reason, young trout don’t show up in the catch during the first few weeks of each season. Only the carryovers seem ready to bite. That’s why it may be difficult for anglers to catch rainbows under 14 inches on opening day.

Access to Fourth of July should be good if snowstorms don’t continue to move through the region. The one-mile road is level and in good shape.

However, the lake could have thin ice in the bays. Ice already is forming at many lakes in the region.

Gas-powered motors can’t be used. Most anglers either row or use electric motors.

If you want to take home five trout, fish Hog Canyon. Peck said the youngest fish are about 9 inches long. However, the lake seems to have a good carryover population of rainbows that are about 12 inches long and a few to more than 16 inches.

Peck said that the survival rate of trout planted earlier this year may have been good. Officials of the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the land around the lake, didn’t report a die-off during the spring and summer months.

The road into Hog Canyon will be rough as usual and could be plugged by snow.

Anglers can use gas-powered motors at Hog Canyon.

Little Hatch Lake, east of Colville, was rehabilitated last year and replanted with rainbow fry, which now are about 9 inches, and some catchable-size fish, now 11 inches.

Four winter fishing lakes in Okanogan County and one in Yakima County also will be opened Sunday.

Rat Lake near Brewster holds rainbows to 14 inches; Little Twin near Winthrop has 11-inch rainbows and a few carryover trout to about 16 inches; Green and Lower Green near Omak will produce rainbows to 15 inches.

North Elton Pond in Yakima County will yield half-pound rainbows. The limit is two per day.

Numerous other Eastern Washington lakes provide good fishing for trout and spiny rayed species through the winter, Madonna Luers, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Department, said. Waters open year-round are listed in the current fishing pamphlet.

Peck said the department treated Swan and Cedar lakes, as well as Williams, with rotenone a few weeks ago. Williams was full of carp, believed planted by someone who has a grudge against the department; Swan and Cedar were full of stunted largemouth bass.

Swan, long a popular lake with anglers who like brook trout, will be replanted with brookies, Peck said.

The department also rehabilitated Blue, Park and Alkali lakes southwest of Coulee City, Peck said.

Blue and Park, near Sun Lakes State Park, were full of perch. They’ll be replanted with rainbows.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review