Editor’s note: The following great article appeared in our April 2014 issue of Northwest Sportsman magazine.
by Jeff Holmes
The last Saturday in April in Washington – the 26th this year – may be the most important day in fishing in the entire West. Of the approximately 2.14 million angler trips made in the state every year for trout, a huge percentage come on that Saturday and Sunday of Opening Weekend of trout season. Many of those participants are kids, and their successes during the frenetic fishing of the opener and the weeks that follow can leave a lasting impact that retains new anglers, young and old alike. One thing’s for sure: Washington’s hatchery trout fishery provides our state’s single biggest point of engagement for the sport of fishing.
We are the second most populous state west of the Mississippi with an abundance of lakes and reservoirs suited for producing high-quality trout for the state’s approximately 1 million anglers, three quarters of whom fish for trout. Unfortunately, unlike some entities in government and within the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife Mothership in Olympia, WDFW’s hatchery trout stocking program is highly efficient, self-sustaining, profitable, and clearly achieving the agency’s dual mandate of conserving fish and wildlife foremost while also ensuring opportunities for harvest.
SIX-YEAR-OLD BAILEY JONES PERFORMS THE RAINBOW SHAKE AFTER LANDING THIS NICE TROUT AT CURLEW LAKE LAST SEASON. (JONES FAMILY)
Inland Fish Program Manager Chris Donley has appeared often in my articles as a former Eastern Washington district fish bio and currently as the state’s lead inland guy and trout guru. While I challenge Donley in conversation on a variety of subjects on a regular basis, I respect his knowledge as a senior biologist and master-class angler above all other WDFW folk I’ve known. Donley possesses an impressive character and knowledge of fisheries and fishing, but since I’m still stung from his jokes from earlier today about wanting to photograph me in a form-fitting cross-country ski outfit, let me point out that it’s not so impressive that he needs a four-wheeler to hunt whitetails.
As a guy who empathizes and identifies with both the warmwater and coldwater fishing communities, I’ve had ample opportunity to question Donley over the years about the role that trout play in our fisheries and our ,state’s economy. This year as you inadvertently consume trout bait by eating Frito Lay products or candy with filthy hands on the drive home from the lake with a cooler of limits, you too can think a little more about what Washington’s Opening Day of trout season means. From the opener to ice-up in Eastern Washington, hatchery trout are critical to our economy, our culture, and the future of fishing in the Evergreen State.
Jeff Holmes From an economic standpoint, can you speak briefly about the impacts of the state’s hatchery trout fisheries on WDFW’s operations?
Chris Donley Trout are a major source of revenue for the department. I don’t have specific evidence for exactly how many licenses trout sell for us, but I can say that based on the 2013 angler-preference survey, 77 percent of all anglers fish for trout. That makes trout the far-and-away most popular gamefish in Washington. That large of a proportion of anglers would indicate trout contribute significantly to the revenue the department generates to achieve its mission.
JH How does the whole of WDFW and the nonfishing public – including people with seemingly no skin in the game – benefit from revenue generated by the hatchery trout fishery? On the furthest end of the spectrum, does someone who disdains fishing but who cares about fish and wildlife still reap benefits from the success of the trout fishery?
CD Revenue from fishing licenses is not all earmarked to be spent only on fishing or fish production. License sales revenue is applied to accomplish the overall conservation mission of the department. First and foremost this means conservation of all fish and wildlife species – not just the harvestable fish and game species. Whether you’re a wildlife watcher, wolf advocate, elk hunter or trout fisherman, license sales of all types support the conservation ethic of all residents of the state of Washington and the conservation mission of the department. Trout happen to contribute very significantly to the overall pool of license revenue.
JH Can you talk about the economic data you guys use from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to illustrate the impacts of fishing on Washington’s economy?
CD Measuring the statewide economic impact of sport fishing and the relative contribution of independent fish species is challenging, not to mention expensive. Depending on the study you consult there are varying estimates of revenue from sport fishing in Washington that can be used. I have seen figures as high as $3 billion annually to what I will use today at about $1 billion annually. The best numbers I have at my fingertips come from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation.
This survey indicates that total expenditures on sportfishing in Washington are about $1 billion. Of the $1 billion in expenditures, $215 million is spent directly on angling trips. An angling trip is defined as just the cost to fish for a day, excluding gear and other sundry costs that anglers are all too familiar with. The defined per-day fishing trip cost from the 2011 study is $32/angling day.
Trout fishing in Washington accounted for approximately 2.136 million angler trips, which equates to $70 million in revenue spent or 32.5 percent of the total angling trip expenditures in Washington. In a state where salmon and steelhead are iconic, to consider that over 30 percent of the revenue generated from angling trips is from trout fishing points at the relative value of these species to WDFW. I’m not sure how many jobs trout fishing creates, how many resorts they support, or how many gear and boat manufacturers benefit, but the evidence would indicate that trout are very important not only to sportsman but to businesses and the state’s economy.
JH What social benefits do you see stemming from Washington’s hatchery trout fisheries?
CD The single biggest social benefit that trout bring is getting outdoor-starved kids outside. I see families and kids by themselves recreating daily on trout waters across the state in a day and age where kids aren’t very engaged in the outdoors. In a world that demands all of a child’s time with electronics, friends and schoolwork, there is only a limited amount of time to connect kids with the outdoors. Whether they are recruited as avid anglers or only casual anglers, we create an outdoor connection that will resonate with that child as they mature and become a productive tax-paying and voting citizen. Awareness of our environment and the impacts we have on it is critical to the long-term persistence of our fish and wildlife resources and the sport we love so much.
JH Here’s a broad question, Chris, but I think you are the guy to answer it: How do trout impact the overall angling landscape in Washington? What does trout fishing mean to our state?
CD In my family and in many Northwest families, trout means family time, friendship, picnics, warm spring evenings, cool fall mornings, the call of a redwing black bird, the smell of cottonwoods, nature lessons, hikes, junk food, smiles, fun and togetherness.
The 2013 angler survey indicates that 77 percent of all licensed anglers in the state fish for trout. In a state where salmon and steelhead are king, this data indicates that even the hardcore salmon and steelhead anglers are out fishing trout every year. The best thing about trout is that they are team players. They will take one for the team every time we offer a fishery for them. What I mean is that catch rates on trout are strictly driven by stocking density. The more there are, the more trout people catch. Certainly water conditions, weather, angler pressure and a host of other variables plays a role in angler success, but we know that if they are stocked adequately in a lake regardless of geography (east vs. west), they will provide a good fishery that is attractive to most anglers. Given this “team player” trait, they really are the gateway to hooking anglers on fishing.
There have been more avid anglers created from catching trout than any other species in the state. They are ideal fish for newcomers to the sport because they are accessible by shore anglers and boaters alike. They are native to the Northwest and are better suited biologically to our waters than other fish. They are also low tech to catch, easy to find, and good to eat. What more could one ask for?
JH A couple years ago you recommended an old fisheries biology text book to me – The Coming of the Pond Fishes – that explains the historical introduction of warmwater fish into the Northwest. Its author, Ben Hur Lampman, looks from a macro level at the proliferation of spinyrays and their impacts on Northwest fisheries. I am a fan of warmwater fish, but I love native species and respect fisheries science, and that old book was a real eye-opener and made me realize how little I knew and how little most of my warmwater angling brethren know about the biology and history of our inland fisheries in Washington.
In the Spokane region, you’ve developed an unfair reputation amongst a small minority of spinyray enthusiasts as being anti-warmwater-fish, because you’ve been involved in Washington trout fisheries for so long. I know that’s not the case personally, and I know even better that’s not the case in the Fish Program at WDFW.
Nonetheless, please explain your take on the role of panfish in “hooking” new anglers? They reproduce on their own successfully and are easy to catch – part of the year anyway. As the Inland Fish Program manager for WDFW, can you talk about the role of panfish in managing our state’s fisheries?
CD It might seem like we offer trout fishing kind of like Midwestern and Southern states offer crappie, bluegill and perch – like it’s merely a management choice – but it’s not. Our lakes are not nearly as productive as theirs, up and down the food chain. Part of that comes from a shorter growing season, which also creates an imbalance in our panfish populations by reducing the available window when predatory fish are active and consuming panfish. As a result, most of our panfish lakes overpopulate from lack of predation, and due to that which results in a lack of available food for panfish through competition with other panfish.
In many lakes and reservoirs across the state conditions are such that panfish are stunted regardless of the management strategies that are employed. Non-native species do well in new ecosystems, but they typically overpopulate themselves. We have some really good panfish lakes in Washington, but only in specific parts of the state, in lakes and reservoirs with specific growing conditions conducive to growth.
That said, even in some of our best waters – like Sprague Lake where we’re trying to build a quality crappie and bluegill fishery – establishing strong panfish populations is very difficult. Once they’re established, however, they tend to persist pretty well. Across most of the state we have the numbers but not the quality. It’s not that some people don’t truly love panfishing in Washington – it can be a blast – but many people are not interested in catching or eating the type of small panfish most of our waters produce. So from a biological, social, and economic standpoint, panfish just can’t come close to replacing trout, but they both play an important role in our state’s fisheries.
That we prioritize trout doesn’t mean that we don’t value panfish or refuse to embrace their recreational value as a way to recruit and retain anglers. But we value maximizing recreation in a uniquely Northwestern way with the most publicly desirable species of fish that is most biologically successful in our waters. Trout are an iconic and super-popular fish that help make Washington State a wonderful place to live and outdoor recreate – for everybody.
JH For families looking forward to trout season 2014, what’s the broad prognosis throughout the season – from the April 26th opener through fall?
CD We’re looking forward to another excellent spring trout fishery across Washington for 2014. Anglers can expect good to excellent fishing for large catchable rainbows averaging 10 to 12 inches with many stretching much longer.
Our continued innovations with our hatchery operations and stocking strategies allow us to review and refine our practices to maximize efficiency. What does all that mean to the angler? More and bigger trout in the creel, including major improvements in our Western Washington lakes near major population centers. For the opener and at least into early June, Washington’s trout anglers should be pretty happy with what they find tugging on lines in lakes statewide.
I expect fishing to slow during the heat of summer at our shallower, warmer lakes, and to accelerate again in fall. Beginning in October, we’ll do our third-annual “Fall into Fishing” promotion to encourage anglers to take advantage of additional stocking and the already wonderful fall angling at many of our lakes. While most lakes slow for trout fishing during the hottest part of summer, we still have plenty of statewide summertime opportunities for good trout and kokanee fishing in Eastern and Western Washington’s coolest, deepest lakes.
Great Washington Getaways is WDFW’s free, online (wdfw.wa.gov) vacation guide for you and your family to plan and share a summertime camping and fishing adventure. I wrote the publication for Donley and WDFW’s Fish Program, and in it we highlight some excellent summertime trout opportunities. Complete with advice about angling, camping, and other recreation opportunities nearby, Great Washington Getaways is an easy and informative resource. Catch up with me on Facebook if you have questions or would like more trip suggestions. NS