Washington lowland lake opener is Saturday | Field Reports
Next Saturday is a big day for anglers in Washington.
It's opening day for hundreds of lowland lakes across the state, including several in the Spokane area.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release that it is planting 2.1 million catchable sized trout in lakes statewide ahead of opening day. In all, the state plans to plant more than 15 million trout and kokanee salmon in lakes.
Saturday also marks the start of the 11th annual Trout Derby. WDFW has put green tags near the dorsal fin of trout stocked in more than 100 lakes statewide, and anglers who catch a tagged trout can win one of more than 900 prizes donated by local businesses.
Prizes include gift cards, fishing tackle, Mariners tickets and more.
Only certain lakes are participating in the Trout Derby, but they're spread around the state. WDFW said there are participating lakes in the following counties: Asotin, Chelan, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Pierce, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Spokane, Stevens, Thurston, Walla Walla, Whatcom, Whitman and Yakima.
More information is available on WDFW's Trout Derby website.
State of Lake Pend Oreille meeting set for Wednesday
Idaho fisheries officials will host their annual "State of the Lake" open house this week to discuss trends in Lake Pend Oreille's fish species.
The gathering will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the University of Idaho Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center at 10881 N. Boyer Road.
The event is an open house, not a formal presentation. A video detailing the updates the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has on the fishery is available online at Fish and Game's website.
Fish and Game staff will be at the open house to answer questions.
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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 7:17 PM.