Comments Sought On Proposals Ro Change Lake Roosevelt Daily Catch Limit On Trout

Fisheries managers are seeking public input through July 25 on proposals for changing the daily catch limit on trout at Lake Roosevelt, the Columbia River reservoir in northeast Washington.

The proposals are available for review on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/redband_trout/. Comments can be e-mailed to Carmen.Perez-Frayne@dfw.wa.gov. Input can also be provided at a public meeting, which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, June 30, at WDFW's Eastern Region office, 2315 N. Discovery Place, in Spokane Valley.

Proposed changes to the catch limit are designed to help further protect wild redband rainbow trout while still providing anglers with opportunities to harvest hatchery fish, said Chris Donley, WDFW Eastern Region fish program manager. Redband trout are a subspecies of rainbow trout found in the Columbia River and its tributaries.

Currently, anglers fishing Lake Roosevelt can keep five trout (hatchery or wild) per day, including two that are 20 inches or larger.

Under one proposed option, Lake Roosevelt anglers could keep up to 10 trout, only one of which can be a wild trout that is 18 inches or larger. This proposal also extends by two months the closure of the Sanpoil River arm of the reservoir where redband rainbow trout stage to make their upriver spawning run. Currently, the arm is closed Feb. 1 through March 31. Under this proposal, it would close Feb. 1 through May 31.

Another proposal would limit anglers to five hatchery trout per day with no harvest of wild trout allowed from Grand Coulee Dam to the Northport Bridge. Anglers fishing from the Northport Bridge upstream to the Canadian border would be limited to two trout (wild or hatchery fish) that are 18 inches or greater in length daily.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission also will hear public testimony on the proposal during its Aug. 5-6 meeting in Olympia. For the specific day and time, check the commission's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/