Well it was nice to try out the new trolling motor on my boat, and it was sure nice to get the feel of a fish on the end of the line and the beginning of the new fishing season and get all the gear out of the basement and working again, but after spending last weekend fishing both Saturday and Sunday at Beaver Lake in Issaquah, catching 15 trout a day got to be a little boring. Yes 15 trout each day putting in 3 hours sounds like a lot of action, but when the planters barely stretch out and make it to 9 maybe 10 inches, it gets a little old. A few put up a great fight at a small 10 inches, but the rest were just horribly weak and small and I didn't even have to consider slowing down the boat and I just kept trolling right along at a pretty fast trolling speed (my motor is only 2 speeds, and even the low one gets the sevylor inflatable boat moving good) to give my friend a chance to hook another planter...Does anyone have an idea as to how a small 10 inch planter will grow within a few months? I enjoyed spending time fishing, but I am anxious to try and get some decent 12"-15" trout already after spending more than enough time playing around with the planters...But if anyone could give an idea as to how fast these little guys might grow and put some weight, length and strength together to make them a little more fun to catch...

Some lakes get planted with bigger trout from the get-go. Take a look at the trout stocking report on WDFW's web site. The report will show how big the fish being planted are. For example: 4.00 fish per pound are the small 8-10" fish. The smaller the number, fish per pound, the bigger the fish. There are a lot of lakes out there that get planted with 3.00 fish per pound or better.

Hope this helps.

BTW, here is the link to WDFW's weekly trout stocking report. Weekly stocking report

Thanks Easy Limits, I know all the trout stocking information and weekly reports and stuff... I check that weekly stocking report oftenly (every week) and Beaver Lake said that they got 2.50 fish per pound when it was stocked, but I didn't see one fish that made it over 10" and they were running 7 1/2 to 9 inches on average. I am waiting to get up to Deer and Lone lake on Whidbey Island where my other house is cause I know those lakes always have something bigger then lakes in my area (Pine and Beaver Lake which is what I usually fish, but its just so convenient to fish Pine and Beaver as they are within 20 mins of my house). Anything on the Island is a full day excursion or a weekend gig....

I know what you mean. Deer is one of my favorites. I usually try to make a trip there once a year. Pretty costly for me though pulling a boat over on the ferry plus gas.

Hey they charge me an extra $6 each way when I travel with my pontoon boat on top of my truck. It's not like they are using the air up there for anything...

That's funny and sad at the same time Mike.

Yea Deer lake and Lone lake are always my favorite trout lakes. I've fished those since I was 3 with my Great Grandpa and Grandpa...They just always provide something greater then the 11 inch planter and I've caught a fair share of nice fish out of both...It's just a little frustrating to deal with all the 9 inch planters now....I'm already bored out of my mind catching them and I want to get into something bigger..

I see boat launch bankies with stringers full of those 6-8 inch hatchery trout all the time. drives me nuts.

I know, its wrong in so many ways to keep those little planters...Why would you keep something that is hardly going to give you minimal meat with all the pains of the bones and what not. Why won't you just let them go and get bigger, because it's not much of a sport if you have a 8 inch planter on your line. And they just get killed by people who think that anything they catch is worth keeping. Take one or two and let them go so we can fish these lakes in the fall months and have some fish in their to make their be a fall trout season in these put and take lakes...

Between the birds and the catch and keep anglers most of those planters have "target" written all over them. What gets me POed is seeing the dead ones littering the launch areas. If you keep it, take it home! I think the only way to keep a lake fishing well through the season is to make it a special regs lake so you don't have anglers taking five at a time. I'd like to see a few more special regs lakes, but continue the "put and take" for the not so serious anglers. Their license feees help keep the lakes stocked.

Yea, unfortunately it seems that all of these lakes are just put and take lakes...Too bad they don't put in some special reg lakes like Lone Lake which has tremendous fishing and I haven't looked at the regs recently, but I think you can only keep something like 1 fish and it has to be over 18" anyways that lake provides an excellent fishery and too bad their aren't more of these special regs lakes...