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Washington Lakes Stocked In Time For Black Friday Fishing

Bureau of Land Management
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Flickr - tinyurl.com/y9glwuyq

Washington state’s Department of Fish and Game is offering its own version of retail therapy this Black Friday: skip the mall and go fishing instead.

WDFW stocked seven small lakes with trout and says it’s “offering anglers opportunities for tight lines rather than long lines on the day after Thanksgiving.”

Inland Fish Program Manager Steve Thiesfeld said the pitch works.

“Let’s just say, I won’t be in the mall,” he said with a laugh.

Thiesfeld admitted he’ll be hunting for deer and elk after Thanksgiving this year, but if that weren’t his plan, he’d be fishing.

“This isn’t our prime time for fishing for trout,” Thiesfeld said. "The Saturday opening day in April is our really big push for the trout season, but there are folks that aren’t hunters, that aren’t into salmon and steelhead and they still want an opportunity to fish.”

Thiesfeld said they do see a small bump in fishing license sales this time of year. But he can’t tell for sure if it’s because people really love to fish, or just don’t like to shop.

Some of the lakes scheduled to receive fish before Black Friday include:

  • Battle Ground Lake and Klineline Pond in Clark County
  • Kress Lake in Cowlitz County
  • Fort Borst Park Pond and South Lewis County Park Pond in Lewis County
  • American and Tanwax lakes in Pierce County
  • Rowland Lake in Klickitat County
  • Black, Long, and Offutt lakes in Thurston County
  • Elton Pond North in Yakima County

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing
Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.