Opening Day Returns To Late April For Washington Trout Anglers
Washington’s biggest fishing event returns to its normally scheduled time this weekend as hundreds of lakes across the state stocked with millions of fish open for angling.
The fourth Saturday in April is also when WDFW’s trout derby kicks off, with specially tagged fish good for over prizes in the contest running through the end of October.
Both events were delayed until May 5 last year due to Governor Inslee’s Covid-19 restrictions, which paused fishing as well as hunting for six weeks starting in late March. When most everything reopened that Tuesday, I headlined it “A Day Unlike Any Other For Washington Sportsmen.”
The return to normal after an unmoored year is a huge positive.
“Many lakes throughout Washington are open for trout year-round, but opening day is a major event that brings people out to fish from all over the state,” said Steve Caromile, Inland Fish Program manager, in an agency press release.
By the numbers, opening day looks like:
16 million: The number of rainbows and kokanee stocked over the past year.
120+: Lakes that are
1,000-plus: Number of prizes available in the trout derby.
$38,000: Total value of derby prizes.
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