Biologists keeping eye on declining fortunes at Newman

Biologists have their eye on Newman Lake this year.

Although bass fishing remains fairly good at the Spokane county lake, the panfish angling has been deteriorating in recent years and relatively few of the rainbows and brown trout the state stocks each year end up on anglers’ hooks.

“Newman Lake has been generating more complaints than fish,” said Chris Donley, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife district biologist.

“Residents blame tiger muskies, but it also could be water quality, development, land use and other things that have been changing,” Donley said.

“But when residents say the fishing stinks they usually know what they’re talking about. We’ll be doing a population survey and try to develop a plan from there. It’s not right to have a good 1,100-acre lake where nobody’s catching many fish.”

–Rich Landers