by John Kruse, February 21, 2004

I made a scouting trip to the Quincy Wildlife Area yesterday - taking a look at the lakes prior to the March 1st Opener that brings crowds to many of these waters. Here's a rundown of what I found, and what the WDFW, in a recent Weekender Report - says to expect:

Stan Coffin Lake: This year round lake is ice free. My son and I didn't have any luck casting and slowly retrieving jigs for a little while there. Try this one later in the spring for panfish, as well as some catch and release bass fishing. The lake also has a population of Channel Cats!

Ancient Lakes: Didn't hike down to this chain of lakes. If you go, three of the four lakes generally have bass and pan fish and a separate one in the basin has historically been stocked with trout, though the WDFW didn't mention anything about that this year.

Quincy Lake: Frozen solid. Once it goes ice free, expect to catch trout from 9 to 12 inches. A growing population of perch is impacting this trout fishery.

Burke Lake: About 25 percent of the lake is ice free. This one might have most the ice off of it by the opener if the weather coooperates. Also stocked with 9 to 10 inch trout, and there may be some 12 inch carry overs from last Spring. Like Quincy Lk.., a growing perch population is hampering the trout fishing here.

Evergreen Reservoir: Still frozen. Once the ice comes off and it starts to warm up a bit, you may want to come here for Walleye, bass, perch, crappie and with luck, a Tiger Musky! There's a boat launch on either side of the reservoir to explore this body of water from.

Cree Lake: This small lake south of Evergreen Reservoir is ice free. There are some perch and crappie in here.

Cascade, Crystal and Cup Lakes: The small lakes west of Evergreen Reservoir are pretty much ice free. Anglers who hike to these lakes may do well early in the season for stocked trout. Up to 1000 trout are put in each of these places.

Dusty Lake: This once famous lake (for rainbows and big browns) finally got a rotenone treatment last year. It will be stocked with trout in April. Until then, there's not much there in the way of fishing.

There you go - your Quincy Lakes Preview! If you go, have a good time but be prepared for more limited fishing opportunities on March 1st than we've had in the recent past where mild winters left us with lots of open water. As March wears on towards April though, these lakes may be worth another visit for both trout and warmwater fishing.