08-02-2025
Field Reports: 80,000 hatchery steelhead dumped into Rock Lake
Feb. 7—Some 80,000 young hatchery steelhead are exploring their new digs in a lake in Whitman County.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife released the rainbow trout into Rock Lake near Ewan last Sunday.
WDFW said in a blog post that the fish were available because the agency dropped its early winter steelhead hatchery program at its Tokul Creek Hatchery on the Snoqualmie River last year.
The program ended to reduce interbreeding between early hatchery steelhead and wild steelhead. It was one of two that was nixed — a similar program at the Dungeness Hatchery on the Dungeness River also ended last year.
WDFW plans to work with tribal officials to develop a hatchery program that uses wild steelhead as broodstock.
But ending the hatchery programs meant there were a bunch of rainbows that needed somewhere to go.
Rock Lake was chosen as one destination because the 2,190-acre lake in the scablands isn't connected to any streams where there are wild steelhead.
The rainbows aren't big. WDFW estimated there are about 10 fish per pound, but that they'll grow quickly and will be catchable sizes by late summer.
Because the fish have no shot at becoming true steelhead, which migrate to the ocean, anglers don't need a catch record card to target them.
More fish still need to be disbursed from the hatchery. WDFW said in its blog post that stocking will continue, with additional fish destined either for Rock Lake or other nonanadromous lakes.
Junior Duck Stamp contest entries due soonThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting entries for its annual Junior Duck Stamp contest.
Entries in the contest must be postmarked or in-hand at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge by Saturday, according to a news release.
Students from kindergarten through high school compete in this free contest each year. The news release says the object is for students to show what they've learned about waterfowl by drawing or painting a native north American duck, goose or swan.
The winning artwork from the national contest becomes the Junior Duck Stamp for the following year. This year's Junior Duck Stamp features a king eider painted by 17-year-old Emily Lian of Oregon.
There is a Washington state contest and a national contest. Winners of the Washington contest move on to the national one.
Last year's "Best of Show" winner for the Washington contest was 15-year-old Yvonne Yin.
Spokane Audubon to meet this week
Island conservation is on the agenda for the Spokane Audubon Society's meeting this week.
The organization's Wednesday meeting will feature a presentation on invasive species removal on islands by Heath Packard, the chief philanthropy officer for Island Conservation.
The meeting will be conducted at the Shadle Park Library from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and virtually via Zoom. A link is available at
Packard once served as the Washington state policy director for the National Audubon Society. He'll talk about work to remove invasive species from islands and will present examples from all over the world.
