discrepancy between wdfw and here

[gonefishin]

hey all.

i’ve noted a discrepancy between the washington state trout fishing stocked lakes page ( http://wdfw.wa.gov/outreach/fishing/hilakapx.pdf ) and hearsay here and elsewhere.

for example, some have said there’re fish in otter lake or big heart lake, and these aren’t on the wdfw page. i’ve also read someone had not much luck at melakwa lake, which also is not on the wdfw page, lending credence to the accuracy of the wdfw page.

is the wdfw page just completely out of date?

is it simply an inaccurate list?

is the wdfw page noting lakes that are stocked, while the other lakes have acquired trout naturally?

i suspect the page is simply a semi-accurate guide to be used, but that there are other lakes that have been stocked.

is there another more accurate source describing which lakes have been stocked?

sorry for all the questions, just curious.

have had a great summer fishing for trout in the high lakes, playing by all the rules too! (had to drive like 20 miles to get size #10 open-eye siwash hooks, etc.).

thanks.”

[Brian Curtis]

The WDFW listed are suggested lakes and the list is not meant to be anything close to all stocked lakes. The lakes were chosen for that list because they were lakes that could handle increased pressure because they were listed on the internet. You won’t find any off trail lakes on that list (I don’t think), for instance. In fact, you’ll often find better fishing at lake that are not on that list, but often those lakes are too fragile to direct people to. You have to get out maps and go find ’em.

Melakwa Lake does have fish, and is regularly stocked. Otter and Big Heart have fish, too.

There is not a complete list of high lakes that have been stocked. The high lake fishery and lake shorelines can be extremely fragile. It is felt that the best way to reduce impacts at specific lakes is to not direct people there. Exploring lakes I know nothing about is one of my favorite things to do.

[gonefishin]

got it Brian.

thanks for a very informative answer.

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