March, 2016 What Does It Bring

March brings lots of things to do fishing wise here in Washington, both East and West of the Cascades. Here's a little run down on what is at hand.

March 1st brings the opening of many Eastern Washington lakes to early trout fishing. This year with the mild winter they are free of ice and ready to go. According to Chad Jackson, WDFW Regional Biologist out of Euphrata all of the early opening lakes in his area of Grant County should all provide some excelent fishing. These lakes provide a good cross section of angling opportunities in that some are managed for anglers wanting to catch an easy limit of average sized fish while others are managed to provide quality angling for larger fish with a limited bag limit or no retention of fish at all. No matter if you fish with bait, lures or flies you will find much to do at this time of year. 

March marks the real start of the Spring Chinook fishery in the Columbia and it's tributaries. There is not a single fish that is held with more esteem here in the Northwest. Anglers put in more time in the pursuit of this fish than any other. The reason for this is they are the finest table fare of any species the state has to offer. This fishery is going at the present time and should get better as the month goes on and into the first part of April when it will close. When the main part of the Columbia closes below Bonneville then we'll focus our attention upon the tributaries like the Cowlitz, Kalama and Willamete to name a few. The waters above Bonneville will also produce with anglers fishing Drano and off the Wind River and following the run upriver. We are looking for an above average Spring Chinook fishery which should produce lots of angling opportunity.