Fish Lake

Autumn counts here. Of the 71,150 catchable trout released at Fish Lake in 2025, 65,650 (92%) went in during autumn and 5,500 in spring.

WDFW data through Oct 30, 2026. Page updated November 5, 2026.

Key information

Size: 492.5 acres, 1,933 ft above sea level
Where: About 16 miles north of Leavenworth and a mile northeast of Lake Wenatchee. Main access is through the Cove Resort. Nearest town named by WDFW: Leavenworth (about 16 miles south).
Bank fishing: Rated good. National Forest land borders parts of the lake, and Cove Resort allows shore and dock fishing for a fee. Limited walk-in access on the east end and the north and south shores.
Boats: Through Cove Resort; $5 launch fee.
Stocking, per WDFW: Catchable rainbow trout, and kokanee fry each spring since 2020.
Fish listed: Brown trout, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, yellow perch, kokanee and others.
Rules to check: Two-pole fishing allowed. The $5 fee also applies to fishing from the resort dock. WDFW encourages keeping the daily limit of largemouth bass and yellow perch to protect kokanee and trout.

From the WDFW page for this water, read on November 5, 2026. Access, rules and closures change, so check that page and the current fishing rules before you go.

Fish Lake in numbers

catchable trout in 2025: 71,150
so far in 2026, through Oct 30: 73,398
2025 against the 2015–2025 average of 29,179 a year: +144%

2026 is running close to 2025: 73,398 fish through Oct 30, against 71,150 by the same date a year earlier. The latest batch, 7,000 rainbow trout, went in on Oct 5, 2026, 31 days before this page was built.

WDFW lists Fish Lake as 492.5 acres in Chelan County, at 1,933 ft. It is the largest of the 3 Chelan County waters on this site. Its 2025 stocking came to about 144 catchable trout per acre, 24th of the 37 waters on this site with a WDFW acreage.

Release log

Every release since January 2025

18 species-date records, newest first. Fish per lb is the figure WDFW reports for each batch.

Latest batch, Oct 5, 20267,000rainbow trout, 6 oz each

Autumn 2026

Oct 5Rainbow trout7,0002.8 per lb · avg 6 oz

Sep 10Rainbow trout11,6069 per lb · avg 2 oz

Sep 9Rainbow trout10,8009 per lb · avg 2 oz

Sep 8Rainbow trout6,4008 per lb · avg 2 oz

Sep 4Rainbow trout19,6007 per lb · avg 2 oz

Spring 2026

Apr 10Rainbow trout1,9202.1 per lb · avg 8 oz

Apr 9Rainbow trout8,5722.7 per lb · avg 6 oz

Mar 25Rainbow trout7,5002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Autumn 2025

Oct 27Rainbow trout2,3202.9 per lb · avg 6 oz

Oct 24Rainbow trout4,3502.9 per lb · avg 6 oz

Oct 22Rainbow trout3,9202.8 per lb · avg 6 oz

Oct 21Rainbow trout3,9202.8 per lb · avg 6 oz

Oct 17Rainbow trout4,3402.8 per lb · avg 6 oz

Oct 9Rainbow trout9,9009 per lb · avg 2 oz

Oct 7Rainbow trout24,3009 per lb · avg 2 oz

Oct 6Rainbow trout12,6009 per lb · avg 2 oz

Spring 2025

Apr 17Rainbow trout1,7501.6 per lb · avg 10 oz

Apr 3Rainbow trout3,7502.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

2015 – 2026

Fish released each year

2025 is yellow. 2026 is outlined because the year is not over: the data runs to Oct 30, 2026. The busiest full year was 2025, with 10 release dates and 71,150 fish; the 2015–2025 average is 4.3 release dates a year.

2015: 11,500 catchable fish on 3 release dates
2016: 12,501 catchable fish on 3 release dates
2017: 8,749 catchable fish on 2 release dates
2018: 10,375 catchable fish on 3 release dates
2019: 5,200 catchable fish on 2 release dates
2020: 61,479 catchable fish on 7 release dates
2021: 44,170 catchable fish on 3 release dates
2022: 36,900 catchable fish on 4 release dates
2023: 15,000 catchable fish on 4 release dates
2024: 43,950 catchable fish on 6 release dates
71k2025: 71,150 catchable fish on 10 release dates
73k2026 (to Oct 30): 73,398 catchable fish on 8 release dates

How big are these fish?

Under 4 oz: 95,206 fish, 66%
4 to 8 oz: 47,592 fish, 33%
8 to 16 oz: 1,750 fish, 1%

Weight is 1 ÷ fish per lb, as WDFW reports it for each batch. It is a batch average, not a guarantee for any one fish. Counts cover every release since January 2025.

Notes from the records

The biggest single batch since January 2025 was 24,300 rainbow trout on Oct 7, 2025. The heaviest fish were 1,750 rainbow trout on Apr 17, 2025, at 1.6 per lb, about 10 oz each.

Timing shifts from year to year. Treat this as a pattern, not a promise.