The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is on an April 1 through March 31 licensing year. The WDFW website offers links to news, regulations, licensing information, fishing guides, and tips. Washington State department of fish and wildlife

Salmon, Steelhead, and Trout
Located three hours west of Seattle, the unspoiled rivers that skirt the Olympic Mountains--Hoh, Bogachiel, Sol Duc, Quillayute, and Calawah--sport some of the world's finest salmon and steelhead fishing. Fall fishing: Large runs of steelhead trout return to spawn in the Olympic Peninsula streams. Winter fishing: Large numbers of steelhead return to most of the rivers a week or two before Thanksgiving with hatchery origin. Hatchery steelhead generally provide good fishing through early January and then give way to the larger wild steelhead around the New Year and continue to provide good fishing all the way through the end of April. Contact the Crescent Lake Lodge for best bets (360-928-3211 or www.lakecrescentlodge.com)

Trout in Lowland Lakes
Lowland lake trout fishing is the most popular angling activity in Washington State, with more than 17 million trout planted every year, and plenty of anglers out to catch them. Rainbow trout are the main draw, but cutthroat, brown, eastern brook, lake trout, and kokanee, which is actually a landlocked sockeye salmon, also provide plenty of recreational opportunities. Good bets for trout, bass, salmon, steelhead, marine fish, shellfish, panfish, sturgeon, walleye, and other species categorized by western and eastern Washington can be found at www.wa.gov/wdfw