Net pen projects catching on at trout lakes

Net pens projects are giving a giant boost to a growing number of trout fisheries in the region.

The biggest project is on Lake Roosevelt, where nearly 500,000 rainbows are being raised in 57 net pens and scheduled for release in mid-May in a program funded by The Bonneville Power Administration.

By August, those fish should be around 13 inches long and growing.

But resorts, homeowners associations and other groups are getting into the action on more and more smaller waters.

Other waters where trout are being raised in net pens and released for anglers include Curlew, Davis, Deer, Diamond, Loon, Newman, Waitts and the Pend Oreille River, all in northeastern Washington.

“These projects have made a difference,” said Curt Vail, Washington fisheries biologist, noting that Curlew lake gets 150,000 hatchery trout from the state plus 60,000 from net pens.

Potholes Reservoir also has a productive net-pen project at Mar-Don Resort. The net pen at Silver Lake in Spokane County is not in operation this year.