The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

by Roger S. Lucas

Fishing for rainbow trout in Banks Lake is about to get a little bit better.

The POWER organization (Promoters of Wildlife & Environmental Resources) plans to release 50,000 rainbow trout into Banks Lake April 20.

Carl Russell, spokesman for the group, said that POWER will receive 50,000 more rainbow trout on April 23, and start the process of feeding them and growing them into maturity for future fishing.

Fish scheduled for release April 20, were received last Oct. 24. They were then 2 to 3 inches long, and it took 21 of the small fish to make a pound.

What a difference nearly six months made.

Russell said late last week that the released rainbows will be 8 to 10 inches long and it will take about five to make a pound.

Last October, the club received 54,317 fish, and most are still alive.

“I think that we have had less than 100 die during the time we’ve had them,” Russell said.

The rainbow that the group receives on April 23, about 50,000 again, will weigh in at about 50 per pound. They are scheduled for release sometime near the end of June.

Russell also said that there are now 130,000 kokanee in the fish pens in Electric City and these will likely be released in late June.