The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has planted about 80,000 juvenile steelhead in Rock Lake near Sprague. The state planted the ocean running fish in the lake because of a change at the Tokul Creek Fish Hatchery in King County in Western Washington. Fish and Wildlife is no longer raising steelhead at that hatchery to protect wild steelhead. The final population of steelhead reared at the hatchery last year need to be planted in a location where they can’t impact wild fish. State officials chose Rock Lake because of its excellent habitat and since it’s not connected to waters where wild steelhead are present. The small steelhead were planted in Rock Lake were ten to the pound. They are expected to reach a catchable size of about 11 inches by late this summer. The rules for fishing steelhead in Rock Lake are the same as the statewide regulations for trout. Steelhead are normally an ocean-going species that return to their home rivers to spawn but they also thrive in large lakes. More juvenile steelhead will be planted in Rock Lake this spring.