Brown trout!

Bambooflyguy · Sep 7, 2023

BST and I C&R’d some nice brown trout yesterday at a semi local wet side lake!

Also some rainbows, bass and yellow perch almost made a perfect day…..except some dumb ass named Steve remembered his waders were still hanging in the hallway half the way there!

Even though I drove no way I was turning back…..wet pontooning, not as much fun as wet wading……

Dave Westburg · Sep 7, 2023

Didn't know there were browns in many west side lakes. Is there a wdfw stocking program? Wonder if they are trying to use the browns to control the other species of fish.

Jim in Anacortes · Sep 7, 2023

For some odd reason the German Brown Trout has always been my absolute favorite sport fish. They get very big in the lakes of the Eastern Sierras, and the smaller ones are a hoot to fish for in the streams there. When the streams have the huge lake Browns in them it is stellar. Here, where I live, catching Browns on "gurglers" has been a blessing for me. When they get bigger than 22" they get a "hook jaw". I like that.

Jim in Anacortes · Sep 7, 2023

However when they then get over 40 pounds, they almost seem like a separate species.

Tim L · Sep 7, 2023

Dave Westburg said:
Didn't know there were browns in many west side lakes. Is there a wdfw stocking program? Wonder if they are trying to use the browns to control the other species of fish.

Dave, there is a stocking program that goes back a lot of years. I have everything dating back to 1999. On average, roughly 400,000 browns are planted statewide in WA. As you'd expect the majority are on the east side. West side alone has traditionally had upwards of 40 lakes that received browns regularly (yearly), however that number is closer to ten in the last 5 years. Pass, Cranberry, Martha WB, Green and Fazon are current examples. My understanding has been that they go to food rich environments where they can thrive and also coexist with other species. I've spent considerable time on Pass and MWB, both have notably produced over the years with an occasional down season, which I'd call normal. 20-23" is generally high side, 25-26" is possible but really rare.

Bambooflyguy · Sep 7, 2023

20”-26”!! Holy crap….I was ecstatic with 13”-14” yesterday! 73 miles from Burien…..how’s that for notspotting?

Ernie · Sep 7, 2023

Bambooflyguy said:
20”-26”!! Holy crap….I was ecstatic with 13”-14” yesterday! 73 miles from Burien…..how’s that for notspotting?

Thought it was that lake!

Dave Westburg · Sep 7, 2023

Tim Lockhart said:
Dave, there is a stocking program that goes back a lot of years. I have everything dating back to 1999. On average, roughly 400,000 browns are planted statewide in WA. As you'd expect the majority are on the east side. West side alone has traditionally had upwards of 40 lakes that received browns regularly (yearly), however that number is closer to ten in the last 5 years. Pass, Cranberry, Martha WB, Green and Fazon are current examples. My understanding has been that they go to food rich environments where they can thrive and also coexist with other species. I've spent considerable time on Pass and MWB, both have notably produced over the years with an occasional down season, which I'd call normal. 20-23" is generally high side, 25-26" is possible but really rare.

I seem to remember that a while ago the state stocked some browns in alpine lakes with overabundant brook trout populations (e.g. King County's Rock Lake) to attempt to keep the brook trout population in check. There are a lot of overabundant brook trout lakes in the state where that would be a great idea.

Bambooflyguy · Sep 7, 2023

Maybe they’ll make us some Tigers!

speedbird · Sep 7, 2023

Bambooflyguy said:
Maybe they’ll make us some Tigers!

Maybe they'll get Coho sized, I'd kill to catch a ferox in a Washington alpine lake

Aaron Meredith · Sep 8, 2023

Quickly cross referencing WDFW stocking with google maps for ~73 miles from Burien

Lue Taylor · Sep 8, 2023

Tim Lockhart said:
Dave, there is a stocking program that goes back a lot of years. I have everything dating back to 1999. On average, roughly 400,000 browns are planted statewide in WA. As you'd expect the majority are on the east side. West side alone has traditionally had upwards of 40 lakes that received browns regularly (yearly), however that number is closer to ten in the last 5 years. Pass, Cranberry, Martha WB, Green and Fazon are current examples. My understanding has been that they go to food rich environments where they can thrive and also coexist with other species. I've spent considerable time on Pass and MWB, both have notably produced over the years with an occasional down season, which I'd call normal. 20-23" is generally high side, 25-26" is possible but really rare.

Spanaway, Mineral Tim

FishyJere · Sep 8, 2023

Knuppenberg.

Stonedfish · Sep 8, 2023

Tim Lockhart said:
Dave, there is a stocking program that goes back a lot of years. I have everything dating back to 1999. On average, roughly 400,000 browns are planted statewide in WA. As you'd expect the majority are on the east side. West side alone has traditionally had upwards of 40 lakes that received browns regularly (yearly), however that number is closer to ten in the last 5 years. Pass, Cranberry, Martha WB, Green and Fazon are current examples. My understanding has been that they go to food rich environments where they can thrive and also coexist with other species. I've spent considerable time on Pass and MWB, both have notably produced over the years with an occasional down season, which I'd call normal. 20-23" is generally high side, 25-26" is possible but really rare.

Yep, I can think of three right off the top of my head that produced good fishing for browns that are no longer stocked.
One of those had potential to put out some super big fish and did produce some very nice fish when it was being stocked. There may still be some in there as they have access to running water.
SF

Bass-O-Matic · Sep 8, 2023

On the Eastside (barely) one was caught @ 30"s in late October at night. Looked like a sea-run from Chile. Probably lasted longer due to elevation and cooler really clean water? No butterball factor to it, more chrome rated. Next time I am at the place where there is a photo of it I'll take a phone shot for us to drool over. Dam invasive! I checked in with WDFW on it and they denied ever planting them in the location but back in the early 90's I saw a list of years that they did plant them there in the 70's.

Tim L · Sep 8, 2023

Can look them all up on wdfw. I just keep my own spreadsheet, seeing all at once/slicing and dicing has served me well for a long time.

Bambooflyguy · Sep 8, 2023

Lue Taylor said:
Spanaway, Mineral Tim

Really??

BigSplashTom · Sep 9, 2023

Thx Steve for taking one for the team and not turning back for those missing waders.
Sorry, I still have to laugh about that first wave coming over your bow.
Think that vocal range is called soprano?
Crap, you still out fished me 2x but I finally c&r my first brown trout.

Shawn Seeger · Sep 10, 2023

Bambooflyguy said:
20”-26”!! Holy crap….I was ecstatic with 13”-14” yesterday! 73 miles from Burien…..how’s that for notspotting?

And based on that you should have come by my house! I could have loaned you waders for the day. And not the old B-town hood house.

Bambooflyguy · Sep 11, 2023

Got into some real nice browns today!! Two browns @ 20” on top and two rainbows @ 20” on a wet fly. Missed a few others. Horrible traffic, long drive, no beer or Crown……but still an amazing memorable day! Tom C&R’d two huge rainbows and lost his largest brown to a heavy hook set……..