Trout In Short Supply

If the fishing is poor at many of the more than 40 Columbia Basin lakes that will be opened to fishing next Monday, you can blame cormorants, pumpkinseed sunfish, shiners and last year’s long, hot summer.

Cormorants, accredited in many parts of the country for decimating fish populations, may have dined on most of the trout fry planted in the lakes last year. They’ve gorged themselves on small trout every year the last several years.

Sunfish and shiners have been multiplying in several of the lakes in recent years. For example, stunted sunfish are now so numerous in Lenice, Nunnally, Merry, Quincy and Burke lakes, to name a few, that they’ve affected the growth rates of trout. And the shiner population in Dusty, once one of the top trout lakes in the Quincy area, is so big that they’re significant competitors with trout for food.

Last year’s long, hot summer apparently resulted in dieoffs at some shallow lakes.

Unfortunately for anglers, none of the trout lakes contaminated with unwanted species is likely to be treated with rotenone within the foreseeable future. Regional fisheries biologist Joe Foster said after returning from a meeting with top fisheries officials in Olympia that the department has decided not to buy any more rotenone for two years. Regional biologists will have to make do with the limited supplies in storehouses.

At least, Warden and South Warden lakes south of the Lind Coulee will provide fairly good fishing for catchable-size rainbows. Both were treated with rotenone last fall. About 30,000 of the 7- to 9-inchers were to be released into the lakes for the opener.

Don’t count on the Hampton lakes to yield good catches. Fishing was poor at Hampton and Upper Hampton last year and Foster doesn’t look for an improvement. It’s possible, he said, that cormorants ate most of the rainbow fry released into the lakes, and both lakes are infested with sunfish.

Perhaps surprisingly, loons fed on trout fry last spring. Usually considered birds of the wilderness, loons have put on a lot of fat at the expense of fishermen in Basin lakes the last few years.

The Pillar-Widgeon lakes south of Soda Lake once attracted hundreds of anglers on opening day. Fishing for rainbows, many of them more than 14 inches long, was almost unbelievably good. Then cormorants began eating most of the rainbow fry released each spring and fishing deteriorated.

Only a few anglers fished the 10 lakes last year, not enough for the Fish and Wildlife Department to get reliable checks on the fishing. Foster said, however, that he believes few fishermen caught limits. He hopes fishing will be fairly good this spring, but he’s keeping his fingers crossed.

Lenice, Nunnally and Merry lakes, once among the most productive lakes in the Basin, need to be treated with rotenone to eliminate the sunfish, Foster said.

Little Quail Lake, about 5 miles north of Othello on the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, was rehabilitated and will be planted with sterile rainbows, Foster said.

Halfmoon and Morgan, rehabbed two years ago, might provide fair to good fishing for rainbows if cormorants and other predator birds didn’t eat most of the fry released during spring months.

Most of the small lakes northwest and south of George are contaminated with sunfish or shiners, Foster said. Quincy and Burke, once outstanding trout producers, should be rehabilitated; they’re expected to provide only fair fishing this year. Dusty is full of shiners, but it holds some 18- to 20-inch rainbows.

Upper and Lower Caliche lakes are the best bets in the George area. Rainbows planted as fry last spring now are expected to be about 12 inches long and the lakes hold some trout to 18 inches.

Coffeepot Lake is one of the few lakes set to open Monday that should provide fair to good trout fishing. The lake was opened for the first time in many years last March 1. It was planted with 10,000 5- to 6-inch rainbows in 1997 and 5,000 catchable-size rainbows last year.

Most of the outsized rainbows that were in the lake before the department releases apparently were caught early in the 1998 season. Many of those released in 1997 were caught last year. Remaining trout may be more than 14 inches now.

Spokane district fisheries biologist Bob Peck said 5,000 catchable-size rainbows will be released soon, probably on April 6.

It’s unlikely, he said, that Coffeepot will be warm enough next Monday for good fishing for warmwater species.