The Washington Outdoor Report - week of Oct. 24

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s annual trout derby ends after Halloween. This year 100 lakes were stocked with tagged fish and if you catch one and report it, you’ll be eligible for a nice prize. Over 70 businesses provided prizes this year valued at $38,000. So why are we bringing up this derby so late? Because more than half of these tagged fish have not yet been caught and this is a great time to fish for trout as they put on the proverbial feedbag before winter. You can find a stocked lake near you and more details about this program at

https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/contests/trout-derby.

Opening Weekend Hunting Results

Staci Lehman, the Public Affairs Officer for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Eastern Washington, said some 300 hunters came through staffed check stations in Northeast Washington during the opening weekend, the vast majority of them deer hunters. There were about 50 harvested deer brought in and samples were taken from white-tailed deer to see if any of them test positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. There were no check stations in the Winthrop area this year but there are plans to have it open next October.

Captain Mike Sprecher said the opening weekend for deer hunters was “fairly typical” but hunter numbers were down a little. Unfortunately, WDFW Enforcement Officers did find several hunters doing things they shouldn’t be doing to include trespassing on private lands, spotlighting deer at night and taking some non-legal animals.

As for duck hunting, Lehman was able to forward me information from three WDFW regulated access waterfowl hunting areas in the Desert Wildlife Area within Grant County. Hunter numbers were down this year, partially due to the drought and a lack of water. A total of 54 hunters were checked with 115 ducks for an average harvest of 2.1 ducks per hunter. In comparison, 3.1 ducks were taken on average by hunters in the same area last year during the opening weekend of waterfowl season.

Lehman encourages hunters to stop by check stations, even if they aren’t successful. The staff members at these stations want to know what you are seeing in the field and answer any questions you have. If you do harvest a deer, biologists can help you figure out the age of your buck and if it’s your first deer ever, they’ll even give you a certificate commemorating that milestone event!