Fish Lake, WA

This has been Spokane County's best-known brook trout producer for decades, and the fishing can be as good now as it was 30 years ago. Although most of us think of brookies as skinny little seven-inchers, Fish Lake brook trout are the exception. Lots of fish carry over here through the winter, providing a high percentage of fat 11- to 14-inch fish well worth anyone's time and effort. In 2004, the Department of Fish and Wildlife added tiger trout to the lake for just a little variety, and they're stocked every year now.

Stillfishing with garden worms or night crawlers rates as the number-one brook trout getter, but trolling one of the slick little wigglers behind a string of trolling blades will also pay off. If you do fish the lake in a boat, remember that the lake has a prohibition on gas-powered motors, so use your electric or your oars.

The best brook trout fishing is in May and June, but the newest addition to the Fish Lake lineup continues to bite through much of the summer and comes on even stronger in September. That new addition is the brown trout, and it has added an exciting dimension to the fishery here. Browns of three pounds and bigger were common here by the start of the 1997 season, and much larger fish can be found in the lake now. If you want a big one, troll a Rapala or similar wobbling minnow imitator.