HUNTING FISHING
Westslope cutthroat and triploid rainbows are the primary targets in the lakes above the Pend Oreille River as it flows north through Washington’s upper righthand corner. While most waters are supported by fry and fingerling stockings, broodstockers can be found here as well. (MIKE WRIGHT)
Lakes Of The Northern Pend Oreille Valley In a state with thousands upon thousands of waters, those of Northeast Washington offer trout fishing far from the madding crowds, and deeper into summer. By Mike Wright
E
astern Washington and Northern Idaho are blessed with a wide variety of smaller lakes that can provide some excellent fishing during the summer. A number of these stillwaters can be easily accessed by road and do not require a great deal of hiking to reach them. Ordinarily these lakes would have heated up by July and August and the best spots would now be in the
higher elevations and might involve a fair amount of hiking to reach them. However, this spring was far from normal, with record-setting snow, rain and colder temperatures slowing how fast lakes warmed as well as weed growth, thus improving the fishing conditions in most of these lower elevation lakes. This is particularly true of those near Ione and Metaline Falls, on the Pend Oreille River. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has
a rather generous stocking program in these waters and most of the lakes are rather fertile and have some very favorable growth rates.
ONE EXCELLENT EXAMPLE of this would be Big Meadow Lake, just 7 miles west of Ione on Meadow Creek Road. Big Meadow receives an annual spring stocking of approximately 12,000 rainbow fingerlings, which grow rapidly to reach an average length of 10 to 16 inches. nwsportsmanmag.com | JULY 2022
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