Trout may be thick, but ice isn’t yet

The winter fishing season opens today at Hog Canyon and Fourth of July lakes. Make sure your leader is fresh and the knots are perfect, because the trout are BIG.

But don’t get in a hurry. Ice was forming around the lakes this week and access to any open water might be tricky.

“I don’t think the ice around the edges will be thick enough to stand on, but we don’t have 24-hour watch cameras on those lakes and conditions change daily,” said Chris Donley, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department district fish biologist.

Depending on the extent of ice, launching of small boats and watercraft will be easier at Hog Canyon than at Fourth of July, although water levels are much lower than normal at both lakes.

“We planted fewer fish because of the lower water levels, but the growth on the fish has been excellent,” Donley said.

The rainbows at Hog Canyon, which is south of Interstate 90 from the Fishtrap exit, are averaging 12-14 inches with some fish going to 20 inches, Donley reported after doing some preseason sampling.

The rainbows at Fourth of July, just south of Sprague, are mostly 14-23 inches.

The daily limit at both lakes is five trout but only two can be more than 14 inches long. The biggest challenge at Fourth of July is to catch a fish less than 14 inches so you can keep more than two fish, Donley said.

“If you’re a bait fisherman and you catch two trout over 14 inches you’re done for the day,” he said. “You can’t catch and release when fishing with bait.” (See page 31 of Washington’s 2005 fishing regulations.)

Rate wildlife enforcement: David Marks of Spokane might be particularly interested in the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s request to comment on its Enforcement Program during a special call-in session this weekend.

Marks is the hunter featured recently in this column because he was given a rare $109 ticket for neglecting to file his mandatory hunting report for the 2004 deer season.

Some irregularity in the way his buck was recorded at a taxidermy shop triggered an investigation. According to Marks, the wildlife agent looking into the problem eventually said he couldn’t find that he had done anything wrong in hunting and tagging his deer.

“He said the investigation was closed and I could have my horns back,” Marks said. “But then he said that he’d put in too much time on the case and he had to give me something. So he gave me a ticket for not reporting my deer.”

Department officials later said they never intended the new mandatory hunter reports to be used to make criminals of hunters. Marks said he fought the ticket in court and the fine was reduced to $10.

Under a new law adopted by the legislature this year, that’s what any hunter who doesn’t file a 2005 report will be charged when he goes to buy a tag next year.

Meanwhile, the state wildlife enforcement program wants comments, not gripes, on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Call (360) 902-2862. The public evaluation is part of the enforcement program’s requirement for accreditation by an association of law enforcement agencies. Comments are limited to 10 minutes and must address the program’s ability to comply with accreditation standards, which can be found at www.calea.org. Among them:

“Role, responsibilities and relationships with other agencies.

“Organization, management and administration.

“Personnel process and operations.

“Prisoner and court-related activities.

Your guess is as good as mine whether anything area hunters and anglers have to say will be acceptable under those criteria.