Northwest Fishing Reports

The game dept. finally made it clear in the regulations about an electric motor on Medical Lake. In the new regs it will say "No Motors"[-x . Before they stated that the lake was Selective Gear Rules, which allows an electric motor. Medical Lake (city) for years has had the lake posted "no motors". This contridicted what was in the game departments rules. The City of Medical Lake has the final say as to the activities on that lake[-( .

Here is the official word from the Game Department on Medical Lake-

Thank you for your e-mail correspondence to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Fish Program.

The WDFW regulation pamphlet cycle runs from May 1 through April 30 of the following year. The current pamphlet is still in effect through the end of this month. The 2007/2008 pamphlet will reflect the fact that Medical Lake, in Spokane County, will have an April 28 through September 30 open season for both Trout and Other Game Fish. These fisheries will have Selective Gear Rules in effect, as well as the new listing that states: MOTORS PROHIBITED.

With regards to the new fishing year regulations, the 2007/2008 Salmon seasons for Washington State are now set, and have been finalized. The WDFW regulation pamphlet cycle is in effect from May 1 through April 30 of the following year, while the fishing license cycle runs from April 1 through March 31 of the following year. The rule books comes out a month after the license cycle begins on April 1 because of a process known as North Of Falcon (NOF). This is where Federal (U.S.), International (Canada), State (Washington, Oregon, Idaho), Recreational, Commercial, and Tribal representatives all meet to discuss and set quotas and seasons based on projected run sizes for the different stocks and species of salmon. The process usually starts towards the end of March and lasts until mid- April. Once completed, these set seasons are incorporated into the pamphlet draft, checked for accuracy, and sent off to the state printer. When this is done they are sent out for distribution from the printer and the WDFW Licensing division. We always hope to have the newest regulations available to the public, both online and at license vendor locations, by May 1st at the latest.

Please make sure you check for emergency rule changes before you harvest as follows:

Fishing Rule Change Hotline at (360) 902-2500
Shellfish Rule Change Hotline at 1-866-880-5431
Or, try our new searchable emergency rule link off our website at: https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/index.jsp

Additionally, for shellfish, make sure to call the Dept. of Health Marine Toxins PSP Hotline at 1-800-562-5632.

Marc - The new pamphlet does, in fact, show Medcial Lake as "No motors".

I haven't seen the new pamphlet yet. There have been several years that they didn't get them printed til the middle of May. Glad to hear they are out on time=d>

BTW, Medical is going to produce well this year......check my report w/photos. :d/

My family is headed out to Medical this morning. We are going to the Fishermens breakfast along the way. Maybe we will see you there. We do not have a boat so we will be at the bank with the nicer park.

A LITTLE OFF THE SUBJECT BUT I GREW UP IN SPOKANE NORTH SIDE OF TOWN WENT TO NORTH CENTRAL H.S IS THERE STILL GOOD TROUT IN THE LAKE LIVE IN EVERETT WA NOW FISH ANY CHANCE I GET TO THAY PLANT TRIPLOUID TROUT IN THERE AND DO THAY DO THE SAME FOR WEST MEDICAL LK

Go to Members and select Video. There is a video on Medical Lake and it has some still pictures of some rainbows caught there.