Safford notches turkey tag

Caiden Safford, 15, of Moses Lake, shot his first turkey with his Grandpa Ray Safford at Jump Off Joe Lake near Chewelah during the youth hunt on April 4. Caiden was using Browning 12 gauge for the hunt. The hunter is a student at Moses Lake High School. Dennis note: Way to go Caiden.

Lowland lake opening results for Grant County:

Blue Lake

Angler participation was significantly lower, down 30 percent, than the past couple years. This meant there was more trout to go around for the anglers. Trout catch rate and size was excellent averaging 15 inches with a few carryovers recorded during the creel.

Most anglers were pleased with their outing. The weather was fair during the morning. The day started out a little chilly, mid 30s, and overcast until about 9:30 a.m. After that it was sunny and warmer until about 11:30a.m. when the rain started. There was a light wind, less than10 mph, during the creel, but it didn't appear to negatively impact angling.

The results: 55 anglers were checked, 194 fish kept, zero released, average fish caught per angler was 3.5 and the largest fish was a rainbow measuring 17 inches.

Deep Lake

Angler participation was significantly lower than the past couple years. Overall, anglers were very satisfied with their outing, especially the catch rates, but they did comment on the slightly smaller than average size fish, 12inches. Weather conditions the same as Blue and Park lakes.

Results: 55 anglers were checked with 217 fish kept. A total of 38 fish were released and the average fish caught per angler was 3.9 with the same average fish kept per angler. The largest fish was a rainbow measuring 12.5 inches.

Park Lake

Angler participation was significantly lower, down 30 percent, than the past couple years. This meant there was more trout to go around for the anglers.

Trout catch rate and size was excellent averaging, 14 inches, with a few carryovers recorded during the creel. Most anglers were pleased with their outing.

The weather was fair during the morning. The day started out a little chilly and overcast until about 9:30 a.m. After that it was sunny and warmer until about 11:30 a.m. when the rain started.

There was a light wind during the creel, but it didn't appear to negatively impact angling.

The results: 89 anglers were checked with 203 fish kept and five released. An average of 2.3 fish was caught per angler and the same average was kept per angler. The largest fish was a 25-inch brown trout.

Warden Lake

Overall anglers were very happy with their outing on opening day, however most did comment on the lower than average size of the trout and near absence of carryover size trout.

Angler participation was lower than the past couple years. Peak angler effort was at noon with 18 boats (51 boat anglers) and 11 shoreline anglers.

The weather was little chilly in the morning, mid 30s, and overcast, but became sunny and little warmer by 10a.m. There was a light wind, less than 10 mph, during the creel, but it didn't appear to negatively affect angling.

The results: 54 angles were checked with 170 fish caught and 66 released. The average number of fish caught per angler was 3.1 and the same average for the average number of fish kept per angler. The largest fish was a 12.5-inch rainbow.