FISHING – Rock Lake is being planted this week with 255,000 steelhead from Washington hatcheries connected to a wild fish lawsuit that prevents their release in Puget Sound streams.

The fish are 6-8 inches long and should be a big boost fishing at the Whitman County lake starting this fall, said Chris Donley, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife inland lakes manager.

The lawsuit-restricted fish prospered when stocked last year in Sprague Lake during the first year the steelhead were salvaged for inland waters. But Sprague will not share in the steelhead bounty this year.  "We want to highlight Sprague for its excellent bass fishing," Donley said.

Stocking in Rock Lake began Friday with a plant of 45,000 fish. The trucks will continue to roll to get all of the fish into the lake by June 29, Donley said.

Other trout releases:  Lake Spokane received another plant of about 120,000 triploid rainbow trout this year that should be producing well by fall. The plant is funded by Avista as part of a recreation mitigation for operating Long Lake Dam.  The  trout stocked in last year's debut of the program for Lake Spokane produced a lot of satisfied anglers last fall, winter and this spring.