I have been doing a survey of lakes on the opening of the lowland lake trout fishing season for about 20 years. I love seeing families out enjoying trout fishing on these waters. For many it is an annual event. I have visited with families that have fished the same lake for decades and have four generations represented in their party. I got the impression that participation was up this year, maybe due to the good weather last Saturday morning. I started my day at Wapato Lake, where I saw that the folks from Manson were holding a derby and offering prizes. I also got a photo of a young angler that had caught one of the trout with a tag. He was excited about looking up the tag number on line so he could learn what king of prize he won. This annual Trout Derby the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has been doing for the past several years has been a huge success. This year the value of the prizes is over $40,000. In most years at least half of the tagged trout are caught lucky anglers have claimed their prize. The statewide Trout Derby runs through October 31st.