Seasonal Closures at Sherman Creek
If you visit the Sherman Creek Wildlife Area, located along the west side of Lake Roosevelt and managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), this time of year, you may have noticed that the gates on Trout Lake Road and Bisbee Mountain Road are closed and locked. This is an annual closure that starts on December 1 each year to prevent vehicles from entering. This is to protect deer on winter range.
Sherman Creek was acquired in 1948 with Pittman-Robertson and State wildlife funds to protect deer winter range and provide wildlife recreation. You are welcome to hike in past the gates, but you have to wait to drive in until March 31, 2026. When recreating in deer winter range, please keep your dog leashed or in voice control to avoid stress on wildlife in the area.
Bountiful Trout
2025 saw some of the best trout fishing on Lake Roosevelt in many years. The WDFW has received numerous reports of fishers easily catching their limits and quite a few who were making a point of taking their kids and grandkids out due to how easy the fishing was. While there is not any one reason as to why the fish were so plentiful this year, one possible explanation is the drawdown patterns of the Upper Columbia River. Drawdown is the lowering of a reservoir’s water level, and 2024 featured a milder drawdown. Fishing tends to be better in the year following a mild drawdown due to the carryover of more fish, as opposed to deep drawdowns when many fish are washed down into lower lakes or over the dam.
In the past couple weeks, fishing has slowed down significantly – especially for shore anglers. WFDW hopes that levels will begin to pick up as winter progresses, and the department will continue monitoring.
