Many anglers will soon be transitioning from lake fishing to stream fishing as the first Saturday of June marks the opening of rivers, streams and beaver ponds statewide.

In Grays Harbor, June 2 means that summer steelhead fishing gets into full swing. This writing aims to assist steelheaders in their preparation with information where the plants were made in 2016 for the 2018 summer season.

For the Coastal River Systems, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has made three river plants for the upcoming season. In terms of the Quillayute River System, the Calawah River obtained 33,000 stealhead smolt. This number is a slight increase of what was planted for the previous season.

The Humptulips River received 32,795 steelhead smolt, also a slight increase over the past year.

The Chehalis River System, and in particular the Wynooche River, obtained 62,000 steelhead smolt. This number is a drop of 14,735 smolt from the previous year. This information is not the greatest news for the Wynoochee.

Everyone needs to bear in mind that the return ratio is considerably less than the actual plants. It is generally expected that between one and three per cent of these smolt will actually return as adults to rivers where they were planted. So, if you do the math, the actual numbers are more like hundreds than thousands of fish.

The Wynooche River by far is the more heavily stocked stream. It is also the more heavily fished river in our area during the summer months. One of the key reasons, for the volume of fish going to this river, is the controlled water flow. The Wynooche Dam can release water at intervals which provide healthy habitat for migrating steelhead. Secondly, if the migration happens too quickly, the WDFW are able to trap the fish at the dam and transport them to lower sections of the river; therefore, the fishery is enhanced greatly by these efforts.

Some steelhead, for rearing purposes, make a left hand turn on the Chehalis River and proceed up Winkleman Creek to the Aberdeen Fish Hatchery. This planned retention and movement provided a means of maintaining a sustainable steelhead fishery.

With all the attention going to the upcoming river fishery one should not overlook the lakes. In preparation for Memorial Day, the WDFW will see to it that several lakes will get a boost for the holiday weekend. In Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties, virtually all the lakes will get some kind of an enhancement plant.

Duck Lake will receive 700 catchable rainbows. Failor Lake gets 1,100 rainbows and 100 jumbos. Lake Aberdeen and Lake Sylvia will be stocked with 1,000 rainbows and 200 jumbos. Vance Pond No. 1 (Bowers Lake) gets 1,000 rainbows and 125 jumbos. Whereas, Vance Pond No. 2 (Inez Lake) gets 1,000 rainbows and 150 jumbos.

Pacific County plants are as follows: Cases Pond with 400 rainbows, Snag Lake gets 1,000 rainbows and 500 jumbos, Western Lake receiving 1,000 rainbows and 500 jumbos and Black Lake obtaining 3,000 rainbows.

So, things are shaping up for some great local fishing.