Waitts Lake Year-Round Fishing: Seasons, Species, and Smart

At roughly 2,200 feet in Stevens County, Washington, this small lake stays fishable through all four seasons. This 455-acre, 90-foot-deep lake in the Colville National Forest holds rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and yellow perch, and it freezes thick enough in cold winters to support a real ice fishery. Most of the shoreline is private, so planning watercraft, season, and species before you load the truck saves time on arrival.

What follows covers the species available each season, the tactics that consistently produce, the WDFW rules that govern your trip, and the access and lodging details for a four-season plan.

Where Waitts Lake Sits in Washington’s Fishing Map

Waitts Lake covers about 455 acres in Stevens County, roughly 20 miles north of Colville and a little over an hour north of Spokane. Forest roads and one paved approach connect the lake to Highway 395, and the surrounding Colville National Forest adds a buffer of public land that makes regional trip planning easy.

Most of the shoreline is privately held, and Waitts Lake Resort sits on the southeast end as the anchor for both lodging and boat access. A small public launch and a few bank access points exist, but a boat, kayak, or float tube is what reaches the best water on this lake. If you plan to drive a standard vehicle, the paved road to the resort area is fine; the gravel spur roads can get slick in spring thaw or after a long rain.

How the Lake Compares to Nearby Waters

Loon Lake, about 12 miles south, gets more traffic and slightly larger trout, while Waitts trades some size for a quieter experience and a solid kokanee run. For a two-lake sampler, you can launch at Waitts in the morning and be on Loon Lake by early afternoon. Roosevelt Lake, farther southwest, is the regional trophy option for kokanee and Chinook, but it also demands more time, more fuel, and a deeper trolling setup. Within a 90-minute drive, you can mix Waitts with No Name Lake, Gillette Lake, or the Little Pend Oreille chain, all of which are managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and stocked on a rotating basis.

Weather Patterns That Shape the Calendar

Summers reach the low 80s during the day and drop into the 50s overnight, which suits cool-water species well. Winters average daily highs near freezing and nighttime lows in the teens, and the lake freezes thick enough to walk on in cold years. Most of the open-water fishing happens from late April through October, with a shoulder season in March and November when the water is cold and the bite slows but does not stop.

What You Can Catch in Every Season

Waitts Lake holds a diverse fishery that shifts with the calendar. Stocked rainbow trout, kokanee, bass, and yellow perch are all present in good numbers, and the kokanee population is the strongest in Stevens County outside of Roosevelt Lake.

Spring and Summer Species Mix

Spring is rainbow trout season from shore and from the boat, as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plants catchable-size trout through April, May, and into early June. Summer widens the menu: kokanee suspend over the deeper basin in 30 to 50 feet of water, largemouth and smallmouth bass push into the weed edges and rocky drop-offs, and yellow perch school in 10 to 20 feet near submerged timber. Anglers trolling for kokanee will often pick up a stray rainbow or a fat perch on the same spread.

Fall and Winter Species Mix

Fall cools the surface and pulls kokanee shallower, which makes them easier to reach without a downrigger. Trout and perch stay active through October, and bass fishing tapers off as the water slips into the low 50s. Winter brings a real shift: in a hard-freeze year, you can drill for perch and holdover trout through 6 to 14 inches of clear ice, with kokanee an occasional bonus where they school in mid-depth basins. In a soft winter, open-water shore fishing for trout near the public access can still produce through December.

Season	Primary Species	Typical Depth	Best Method
Spring	Rainbow trout, perch	5–20 ft	Bank bait, light tackle
Summer	Kokanee, bass, trout	30–50 ft (kokanee), 5–15 ft (bass)	Trolling, topwater, plastics
Fall	Kokanee, trout, perch	20–40 ft (kokanee), 5–15 ft (trout)	Trolling, jigging
Winter	Trout, perch, occasional kokanee	6–25 ft under ice	Ice jigs, tip-ups

Techniques and Tackle That Match the Lake

The technique you choose should follow the species and the season, not the other way around. Waitts rewards anglers who adapt to what the water is doing on a given week rather than fishing the same way every trip.

Open-Water Tactics by Species

For kokanee, trolling is the dominant method and produces the most consistent results. A downrigger or a heavy lead-core line paired with a dodger and a small hoochie or spoon in pink, orange, or chartreuse will cover the 30- to 50-foot column where the schools hold. Lead-core line is the simpler path because it requires less hardware, but a downrigger lets you set precise depths. The fish school tightly, so once you find the right depth and color, stay on it.

For bass, soft plastics work best in early summer when the water is still cool and the fish are tight to rocky points. A Texas-rigged worm in green pumpkin or a small swimbait dragged along the bottom near the weedy shorelines is a reliable pattern. By midsummer, switch to topwater plugs walked along the edges of the weed mats, especially early morning and late evening.

For trout and perch from shore, a simple setup of a light spinning rod with 4-pound test, a small split shot, and a piece of worm or a PowerBait-style bait fished off the bottom near the public access points is the most productive approach during stocking season. Early morning and the last two hours of light are the best windows.

Ice Tactics When the Lake Freezes

Ice fishing on Waitts centers on two patterns: jigging for perch in 8 to 15 feet near the submerged timber, and tip-ups for trout set along the same drop-offs. A small tungsten jig tipped with a chunk of worm or a single maggot is the standard perch rig. For trout, set tip-ups at varying depths from 6 to 25 feet, with a live bait or a salted shrimp fished just off the bottom. Wait for clear ice at least 4 inches thick before walking out, and check conditions daily because the Colville National Forest receives significant snowfall that insulates the surface and slows freezing in some years.

“Drill a test hole near the resort area first. The clearer ice is usually on the north and east sides where wind keeps the snow off and the freeze goes through cleanly.

Licenses, Limits, and the Rules You Actually Need

A valid Washington State freshwater fishing license is required for any angler 15 or older, and you can buy one online through the WDFW website, at any licensed dealer, or at the resort itself. A combined freshwater and shellfish license covers everything you need for Waitts Lake. A Vehicle Access Pass may be required at some WDFW-managed boat launches, but the launch at Waitts Lake Resort is private and does not require one.

Current Limits and Record Cards

WDFW’s annual sport fishing rules pamphlet is the only place to confirm current limits, and those limits change every two years on a regional rotation. As of the most recent publication, Waitts Lake follows the standard Northeast Washington trout and kokanee limits, with a daily trout aggregate that includes kokanee. You are required to carry a catch record card when fishing for salmon, steelhead, halibut, or sturgeon, and to record any retained kokanee or trout at the time of catch. Check the WDFW pamphlet before you go because special gear restrictions or temporary area closures can go into effect with short notice, especially around derbies and the early-season trout plants.

Stocking Schedule and How to Use It

Each spring, WDFW trucks deliver catchable rainbow trout to the lake, typically between mid-April and early June, with the heaviest plants arriving in May. The kokanee population is sustained through natural reproduction and a periodic fry stocking, but the trout are the most predictable part of the schedule. If you want a guarantee of action, plan a trip in the first three weeks after a confirmed plant, when the fresh trout are concentrated near the launch and the shore access points.

Putting Together a Four-Season Fishing Plan

A solid annual plan treats each season as its own fishery with its own target species, depth, and method. The lake gives you four distinct opportunities, and matching your trip to the right window is what produces a full creel rather than a single fish.

Spring: Trout From Shore and the First Trolling Trips

Hit the lake in late April or early May for freshly planted rainbow trout, working the public access points with PowerBait, worm, or a small spinner. As the water warms into the upper 50s by late May, the kokanee start showing on the sonar at 40 to 50 feet, and a lead-core trolling spread will pick them up consistently. The spring bite window is short, usually three to four weeks of peak action, so plan a trip right after a confirmed plant rather than trying to time the weather.

Summer: Deep Trolling and Topwater Bass

June through August is the core of the open-water season, with the longest days and the most stable water temperatures. Run kokanee rigs early in the morning while the light is low, then switch to bass along the weed edges once the sun is high and the surface bite turns on. Late afternoon topwater is a reliable evening pattern for both largemouth and smallmouth in the back bays.

Fall: Kokanee Shallower, Trout From the Bank

September and October are the underrated windows on Waitts. The kokanee push shallower as the thermocline drops, often holding at 25 to 35 feet where a lighter trolling rig can reach them without a downrigger. Trout and perch stay active along the rocky shorelines, and the fall color on the surrounding Colville National Forest makes it a trip worth planning for scenery alone.

Winter: Ice or Shore, Depending on the Freeze

December through February is a conditional season. In a hard-freeze year, the ice reaches 8 to 14 inches by mid-January and stays solid through February, opening a real ice fishery for perch and trout. In a warm winter, the lake stays open and you can still pick up trout from the bank near the public launch, but the action is slow and the days are short. Either way, check current conditions before you drive, and never walk on ice without testing the thickness at the access point.

Month	Primary Target	Setup	Notes
Apr–May	Rainbow trout	Shore bait, light tackle	Hit within 3 weeks of stocking
Jun–Aug	Kokanee, bass	Downrigger/lead-core, topwater	Early AM trolling, PM topwater
Sep–Oct	Kokanee, trout, perch	Lighter trolling, jigging	Best scenery of the year
Nov–Mar	Trout, perch (ice)	Tip-ups, jigs	Ice dependent on winter

Access, Lodging, and On-the-Water Logistics

Waitts Lake Resort is the operational center for most trips. The resort has cabins, RV sites, tent camping, a small store, and a private boat launch that is the most reliable place to put a trailered boat in the water. A public launch exists but is limited, and the resort launch costs a small daily fee that pays for itself in convenience and parking.

Boat, Kayak, and Shore Options

A 14- to 18-foot boat handles the lake well in all but the roughest summer afternoons, and a kayak or a canoe can reach the bass water and the perch flats easily during the calm morning hours. A small electric motor or a four-stroke outboard in the 6- to 9.9-horsepower range is the standard rig. For shore anglers, the public access at the county end and the resort shoreline are the two best bets, and both are walkable from the campground.

Nearby Trips Worth Stacking

Loon Lake is 12 miles south and offers a bigger trout and kokanee fishery with a public launch and a marina. Gillette Lake, No Name Lake, and the Little Pend Oreille chain are all within 30 minutes and add variety on a multi-day trip. If you want a longer outing, pair Waitts with a day on Roosevelt Lake, about 90 minutes southwest, where the kokanee and Chinook fishing is the best in the region but the lake is large enough to need a full day on the water to fish effectively.

“Plan fuel carefully. The nearest full-service grocery and gas station is a short drive into Colville or Chewelah, and a side trip costs you 30 to 60 minutes depending on which side of the lake you are on.

Wrap Up

Waitts Lake gives you a real four-season fishery in northeastern Washington, with rainbow trout and kokanee as the headline species, bass and perch filling the gaps, and a winter ice option in cold years. Match your trip to the season, the stocking schedule, and the depth the species are holding at, and the lake produces consistently. The single most important habit: confirm current WDFW rules and stocking reports before every trip, because the limits and the timing of the trout plants are the one variable that changes year to year.

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