Franklin County

Dalton Lake

March to May is the whole season at Dalton Lake. WDFW logged 14,805 catchable trout here in 2025, and none outside those three months.

WDFW data through Oct 30, 2026. Page updated November 5, 2026.

Open on a map

Map point 46.2971, -118.8001, as WDFW gives it for this water.

Key information

Size: 45.1 acres, 443 ft above sea level
Where: About five miles northeast of Ice Harbor Dam on the north side of the Snake River, at the end of Herman Road off Pasco-Kahlotus Road.
Bank fishing: Rated good, with public land around the lake.
Boats: Public boat launch from the Army Corps of Engineers at the end of Herman Road.
Stocking, per WDFW: Catchable rainbow trout in late winter and spring, with larger triploid rainbows added in April. Trout fishing is good but short-lived, with few caught after June 1.
Fish listed: Rainbow trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, yellow perch, black crappie, bullhead catfish.
Rules to check: Open year-round. Two-pole fishing allowed.

From the WDFW page for this water, read on November 5, 2026. Access, rules and closures change, so check that page and the current fishing rules before you go.

Dalton Lake in numbers

catchable trout in 2025: 14,805
so far in 2026, through Oct 30: 16,435
2025 against the 2015–2025 average of 16,551 a year: −11%

2026 is running close to 2025: 16,435 fish through Oct 30, against 14,805 by the same date a year earlier. The latest batch, 75 rainbow trout, went in on Apr 28, 2026, 191 days before this page was built.

WDFW lists Dalton Lake as 45.1 acres in Franklin County, at 443 ft. Its 2025 stocking came to about 328 catchable trout per acre, 13th of the 37 waters on this site with a WDFW acreage.

Release log

Every release since January 2025

13 species-date records, newest first. Fish per lb is the figure WDFW reports for each batch.

Latest batch, Apr 28, 202675rainbow trout, 1.4 lb each

Spring 2026

Apr 28Rainbow trout750.7 per lb · avg 1.4 lb

Apr 21Rainbow trout1,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Mar 25Rainbow trout5,1402.4 per lb · avg 7 oz

Mar 6Rainbow trout5,2202.4 per lb · avg 7 oz

Winter 2026

Feb 18Rainbow trout5,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Spring 2025

May 29Rainbow trout800.7 per lb · avg 1.4 lb

Apr 21Rainbow trout1,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Apr 2Rainbow trout750.7 per lb · avg 1.4 lb

Mar 31Rainbow trout2,2502.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Mar 18Rainbow trout3,7502.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Mar 17Rainbow trout2,5002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Mar 12Rainbow trout1500.7 per lb · avg 1.4 lb

Mar 4Rainbow trout5,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

2015 – 2026

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 2017, with 8 release dates and 20,727 fish; the 2015–2025 average is 6.0 release dates a year.

2015: 15,490 catchable fish on 5 release dates
2016: 16,289 catchable fish on 6 release dates
21k2017: 20,727 catchable fish on 8 release dates
2018: 17,942 catchable fish on 6 release dates
2019: 16,590 catchable fish on 6 release dates
2020: 17,133 catchable fish on 6 release dates
2021: 16,250 catchable fish on 6 release dates
2022: 16,000 catchable fish on 4 release dates
2023: 15,660 catchable fish on 6 release dates
2024: 15,175 catchable fish on 5 release dates
15k2025: 14,805 catchable fish on 8 release dates
16k2026 (to Oct 30): 16,435 catchable fish on 5 release dates

How big are these fish?

4 to 8 oz: 30,860 fish, 99%
1 to 2 lb: 380 fish, 1%

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 5,220 rainbow trout on Mar 6, 2026. The heaviest fish were 150 rainbow trout on Mar 12, 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

Recent releases statewide

12 mi

Walla Walla County

Quarry Pond

30 mi

Walla Walla County

Bennington Lake

54 mi

Columbia County

Spring Lake

Straight-line distance between the map points WDFW gives for each water, not driving distance.