Horseshoe Lake

In 2025, WDFW logged 8 release dates at Horseshoe Lake, spread over 5 months from Jan 1, 2025 to Dec 17, 2025. That is about 2,712 fish a date.

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

Horseshoe Lake in numbers

catchable trout in 2025: 21,700
so far in 2026, through Oct 30: 21,122
2025 against the 2015–2025 average of 20,034 a year: +8%

2026 is running close to 2025: 21,122 fish through Oct 30, against 21,650 by the same date a year earlier. The latest batch, 2,602 rainbow trout, went in on May 15, 2026, 174 days before this page was built.

WDFW lists Horseshoe Lake as 83.3 acres in Cowlitz County, at 13 ft. At 13 ft it is the second-lowest of the 36 waters here with a listed elevation. It is the larger of the 2 Cowlitz County waters on this site. The 2025 releases work out to about 261 catchable trout per acre here; 16 of the 37 waters on this site with a WDFW acreage were stocked more densely.

Release log

Every release since January 2025

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

Latest batch, May 15, 20262,602rainbow trout, 11 oz each

Spring 2026

May 15Rainbow trout2,6021.5 per lb · avg 11 oz

May 5Brown trout3,2402.7 per lb · avg 6 oz

Apr 16Rainbow trout3,9202.8 per lb · avg 6 oz

Apr 14Rainbow trout3,1202.6 per lb · avg 6 oz

Apr 7Rainbow trout3,2402.7 per lb · avg 6 oz

Mar 31Rainbow trout3,0002.7 per lb · avg 6 oz

Winter 2026

Jan 26Rainbow trout2,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Spring 2025

May 16Rainbow trout2,5452 per lb · avg 8 oz

Apr 23Brown trout2,0003.1 per lb · avg 5 oz

Apr 22Rainbow trout3,1052.7 per lb · avg 6 oz

Apr 8Rainbow trout6,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Apr 1Rainbow trout3,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Mar 19Rainbow trout3,0002.5 per lb · avg 6 oz

Winter 2025

Dec 17Rainbow trout500.2 per lb · avg 5.0 lb

Jan 1Rainbow trout2,0002.7 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 23,502 fish; the 2015–2025 average is 7.9 release dates a year.

2015: 22,201 catchable fish on 10 release dates
2016: 17,157 catchable fish on 5 release dates
24k2017: 23,502 catchable fish on 8 release dates
2018: 19,768 catchable fish on 9 release dates
2019: 17,657 catchable fish on 7 release dates
2020: 16,131 catchable fish on 6 release dates
2021: 19,764 catchable fish on 9 release dates
2022: 19,678 catchable fish on 8 release dates
2023: 20,771 catchable fish on 8 release dates
2024: 22,045 catchable fish on 9 release dates
22k2025: 21,700 catchable fish on 8 release dates
21k2026 (to Oct 30): 21,122 catchable fish on 7 release dates

How big are these fish?

4 to 8 oz: 37,625 fish, 88%
8 to 16 oz: 5,147 fish, 12%
2 lb and over: 50 fish, 0%

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 6,000 rainbow trout on Apr 8, 2025. The heaviest fish were 50 rainbow trout on Dec 17, 2025, at 0.2 per lb, about 5.0 lb each.

Species in these records: rainbow trout, brown trout.

Timing shifts from year to year. Treat this as a pattern, not a promise.