By John Kruse
In recent years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has urged anglers to celebrate “Black Friday” after Thanksgiving not in the stores, but out on the water catching some of the jumbo trout they plant this time of year around the state.
The vast majority of these fish are stocked in Western Washington but Central and Eastern Washington get some jumbo trout too. This year, 140 huge trout, weighing between five and ten pounds, were stocked in Yakima’s Rotary Lake in mid-November. Nearby Myron Lake also received 125 similar size rainbows.
Heading further east several lakes got big fish planted in them on Halloween to include:
Jump Off Joe Lake – Stevens County – 350 brown trout averaging 2 pounds
Waitts Lake – Stevens County – 402 brown trout weighing 2 pound each
Deer Lake – Stevens County – 600 eastern brook trout weighing just over a pound each
Sacheen Lake – Pend Oreille County – 215 eastern brook trout also averaging a pound each
In addition to this Roses Lake near Manson was stocked with over 10,000 catchable size rainbows in early November. Are many of these fish still swimming around these lakes? With most outdoors enthusiasts focused on hunting there likely are and all of these waters would be worth fishing in the days ahead.
DUCK HUNTING ACCIDENT
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports a 53-year-old male was seriously injured after being shot while duck hunting on November 20th. The man was hunting with a friend in a small boat on Elochoman Slough in Southwest Washington’s Wahkiakum County that morning. They were in the act of retrieving ducks from the water. The shooter’s shotgun in the boat was propped up and fell over. As the shooter tried to retrieve the firearm, he fired the weapon, striking the victim.
The shooter immediately called 911and took the victim to the Cathlamet Marina where emergency service personnel transported him to the hospital. The victim is currently in stable condition at Vancouver SW Medical Center recovering from his injuries.
The lessons learned here? Have the safety on your firearm on at all times unless you are ready to pull the trigger and shoot. Also, if you are done with your hunt and retrieving birds before you head home, unload your firearms. Finally, stow your firearms in places where they not only are pointed in a safe direction, but also secured so they don’t fall like this one did, with the barrel pointing towards the victim. It’s fortunate this accident didn’t turn out worse.
John Kruse – www.northwesternoutdoors.com and www.americaoutdoorsradio.com
PHOTO CREDITS:
- Dave Kilhefner caught this nice trout on a snowy day – J. Kruse