The Commissioner's Lake

[Dave Westburg]

PNW Flyfishing off-trail expert Phil K and I took an off-trail trip to a Highway 2 alpine lake named for this former Washington Game Commissioner. Back in the day we had Game Commissioners who actually liked to hunt and fish. There's a plaque on a tree at the lake's single campsite honoring him.

Phil K brought his orvis 7'6" bamboo rod and I brought an 8'6" Granger Victory. Phil K interrupted our hill climb to find dinner mushrooms.

Two hours of hard work in difficult terrain put us here...

The fish were cruising in and out of the shallows picking off callibaetis mayflies.

My best fly was a size 12-14 Greenwells Glory fished wet on an intermediate line. Phil found fish with a beadhead carey special and a slooow retrieve. The water was so clear that I could see the fish approach the fly. I started getting refusals in the afternoon calm and had to downsize to a size 16 black and blae wet fly and a 2 lb floro leader to avoid refusals.

Time to head up the rockslide on the way home...

 

[Phil K]

Mmmmmmm. Porcini!!

 

[Divad]

2lb test Neat basin and lake thank you for sharing!

 

[Phil K]

A few more pics:

Dave on the approach. It must not have been all that brushy if he did OK with his float tube 90% inflated and strapped to his pack.



I'm not usually that big on fish pics, but it was interesting to see the color variation. Number two decked out for spawning?





I like geology and had to check out this large freckled boulder. I've seen similar rocks from other hikes in the vicinity. Imagine big old chunks of sedimentary deposit being submerged in the crust, squashed, folded, broken up, cooked into granite-like rock, and drifting into the N American continent to build mountains.

 

[Ron McNeal]

WOW! Beautiful.

 

[SilverFly]

A few more pics:

Dave on the approach. It must not have been all that brushy if he did OK with his float tube 90% inflated and strapped to his pack.

View attachment 76229

I'm not usually that big on fish pics, but it was interesting to see the color variation. Number two decked out for spawning?

View attachment 76230

View attachment 76231

I like geology and had to check out this large freckled boulder. I've seen similar rocks from other hikes in the vicinity. Imagine big old chunks of sedimentary deposit being submerged in the crust, squashed, folded, broken up, cooked into granite-like rock, and drifting into the N American continent to build mountains.

View attachment 76239

Great report. Appreciate being taken along, even if virtually. I'd need to workout for months and drop another 30# to even consider a hike like that.

I'm also interested in geology but hardly an expert. Just guessing but think you've done a good description of a type of rock called Breccia. If that's what it is, I'd be fascinated to hear from a geologist as to what the heck it's doing in a volcanic mountain range.

 

[Phil K]

Great report. Appreciate being taken along, even if virtually. I'd need to workout for months and drop another 30# to even consider a hike like that.

I'm also interested in geology but hardly an expert. Just guessing but think you've done a good description of a type of rock called Breccia. If that's what it is, I'd be fascinated to hear from a geologist as to what the heck it's doing in a volcanic mountain range.

Nason Terrain, a complex mix of heavily metamorphosed sedimentary rocks somewhere in the 80-90 million year old range. Rocks are mostly gneiss and schist, two variations on a theme with different ways the materials align.
The Washington Cascades include some volcanic zones, but the N Cascades feature more Metamorphic rock groups. These are big blocks of crust that drifted into the N American plate, were thrust deep into the mantle, squashed and heated up to form harder crystalline rocks, and then forced up into mountain ranges as more crustal blocks smashed in behind them This big chunk with the freckles (not a technical term) may have been mixed up with molten granite, something that happens in this area.

 

[Pink Nighty]

As a fellow rock nerd, I've been working my way through Nick Zentners youtube page. Hes a professor of geology at CWU, and posts lectures about PNW geology. They're amazing and he has many videos covering the various exotic terranes accented to washington over time.

 

[Wade Rivers]

Maybe that 2nd fish pic is a cutthroat? So a 'bow and a cuttie

 

[Phil K]

Maybe that 2nd fish pic is a cutthroat? So a 'bow and a cuttie

‘Could be. We were surprised that another angler showed up after us; an ex- High Laker. He thought these were Golden Trout, but…… I’m not sure.

 

[Matt B]

Maybe that 2nd fish pic is a cutthroat? So a 'bow and a cuttie

Agree, looks like a rainbow and a westslope cutthroat to me.
Which are both part of the Atlantic Salmon clade, of course.
Gneiss fish, and that’s no schist.

 

[Phil K]

Gneiss fish, and that’s no schist.

OK, enough of that.

 

[Phil K]

Maybe we need a rock nerd thread?