Lake Lenore

Lake Lenore fills about 5 miles of the Lower Grand Coulee north of Soap Lake, under basalt walls. Its water is too alkaline for most trout, so the state stocks Lahontan cutthroat, a Great Basin fish that thrives in it and grows to 20 inches and more on chironomids, scuds and damsels. The rules keep it a quality fishery: selective gear, and one fish a day of 18 inches or more.

The season opens on March 1, and spring is when the lake is known. Cutthroat cruise the shallows and gather at the north end, where they try to spawn, and a chironomid under an indicator or a leech stripped slowly along the shore takes most of them. Float tubes and small boats work the shoreline drop-offs. Summer is hot and fish go deeper, and fall brings them back up before the close on November 30. Highway 17 runs along the east shore, with several access sites, and the wind can blow hard through the coulee.