Rainbow Lake
Rainbow Lake gets its trout in small, frequent batches: 11 release dates across 5 months in 2025, averaging 1,262 fish a date, from Feb 27, 2025 to Jun 17, 2025.
WDFW data through Oct 30, 2026. Page updated .
Rainbow Lake in numbers
- catchable trout in 2025
- 13,878
- so far in 2026, through Oct 30
- 21,341
- 2025 against the 2015–2025 average of 13,924 a year
- +0%
2026 is running ahead of 2025: 21,341 fish through Oct 30, against 13,878 by the same date a year earlier. The latest batch, 2,550 rainbow trout, went in on Jun 17, 2026, 141 days before this page was built.
WDFW lists Rainbow Lake as 7.8 acres in Columbia County, at 2,213 ft. It is the largest of the 4 Columbia County waters on this site. The 2025 releases work out to about 1,779 catchable trout per acre here; 9 of the 37 waters on this site with a WDFW acreage were stocked more densely.
Every release since January 2025
19 species-date records, newest first. Fish per lb is the figure WDFW reports for each batch.
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 2020, with 16 release dates and 22,536 fish; the 2015–2025 average is 11.1 release dates a year.
How big are these fish?
- 4 to 8 oz
- 35,059 fish, 100%
- 1 to 2 lb
- 160 fish, 0%
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 4,420 rainbow trout on Mar 30, 2026. The heaviest fish were 60 rainbow trout on May 20, 2025, at 0.7 per lb, about 1.4 lb each.
Timing shifts from year to year. Treat this as a pattern, not a promise.
Closest waters on this site
Straight-line distance between the map points WDFW gives for each water, not driving distance.
Also in Columbia County: Blue Lake, Spring Lake, Watson Lake.