Eastside Washington Trout

A short report from the Spring 2026 Eastside Trout Tour — an attempt to shake off the winter chill, despite some rather wintery weather.

It never fails: I return each year thinking maybe, just maybe, I went a week too early. My traditional early-season circuit hits Omak, Dry Falls, and Lenore lakes in north-central Washington, chasing big Lahontan cutthroats and rainbow trout to kick off the year.

Overall, fishing was a little slower than hoped, but mission accomplished — I scratched out a few decent fish. And despite forecasts of wind, rain, and even snow, the winds stayed mostly calm and the sun showed up, with temps holding in the 50s. Pretty remarkable for March on the Eastside.

Omak Lake — I fished the southern shore on the Colville Indian Reservation with fair success. Fish were scattered in deeper water (15–20') and hadn't moved to the shallows yet, with water temps at 41°F. They were in great condition and, unlike typical Lahontans, quite feisty when hooked. Bonus: no wind and 55 degrees. Massive midge hatches (size 18s) went on all day, but the fish weren't interested — nothing worked until I switched to a size 6–8 leech.

Dry Falls Lake — Early season here has always been a struggle, and this year was no different until early afternoon. Water was 47°F, with sun and no breeze until around 3 PM. Insect activity was limited to a sparse midge hatch (size 20–22s). I hooked five fish and brought three to hand, the largest around 20 inches. All came from the cove near the launch site, right up in the reeds — a size 8 olive woolly bugger did the trick starting around noon. Got blown off around 3.

I had the lake mostly to myself. A gentleman I've run into there a number of times over the years showed up late morning, fishing chironomids from a small pram in the northwest reed beds. He seemed to do reasonably well until the wind picked up.

Lenore Lake — The south end was a skunk. Water was 47°F — optimum conditions — but nothing doing. A WDFW research team was running fyke nets and reported fish right up on the beach, which made the goose egg sting a little more. On the bright side: no wind, and a steady stream of sandhill cranes heading north toward the Canadian prairies.

The 2026 Eastside Trout Tour is in the books. Maybe I'll push the 2027 trip out a week and let things warm up a bit. Yeah... who am I kidding?