Last year I bought a new lightweight float tube and dipped my toe in the water with high lake backpacking. It didn't disappoint, so this year I've been all-in with exploring new lakes at every opportunity...including a handful of trips over the past few weeks.
Part 1: The first lake was a day trip for me a few weekends ago. I drove out early from home and after a hike through wildflowers, meadow, and a steep final ascent I arrived at the lake before 9:00am. The water was crystal clear and later in the day I was able to observe some nice fish cruising near the outlet.
By 9:30am I was fishing and as I reached the far side of the lake I got my first action. A healthy 17" rainbow on a black leech that I quickly pumped for information and released. Bloodworms, chironomids, caddis nymph, mayfly nymph, dragonfly nymph, and some terrestrials...basically eating everything it saw. A few minutes later I hooked an even bigger fish that measured over 19". A little further down the lake I picked up another 17" rainbow. Then a 14" brown, which I found interesting because there is no record of browns in this lake and it certainly didn't swim up a creek to get there.
With 4 solid fish in the first hour I was feeling pretty good, but the action slowed to a crawl for the rest of the day. I saw a good mayfly hatch midday and lost a few before catching one more beautiful 19"+ fish on a FAB in the afternoon. I called it a day around 2:30pm and packed up, but I will definitely be back to this lake.
Part 2A: I took last week off with the intention of taking a solo trip for 3 nights and then taking my boys out for a few nights. With the fire/smoke situation I decided to head south to an area I'd been eyeing for a while. I got to the trailhead before 11am on Saturday and I could tell it was going to be a packed house the first night based on the number of vehicles. I hiked up to a plateau full of lakes and found that the lake I had originally planned to stay at the first night was full. I kept going and at about mile 7 arrived at my plan B. It's a beautiful little lake that you can walk almost all the way around...it is the rare mountain lake that has plenty of room for the backcast, so it's great for anyone that wants to fish from shore.
I took my tube out and caught 8 or so west slope cutts up to 12" in a few hours. Then I decided to check out another nearby lake that another flyfisher told me he had caught bigger ones. I didn't have as much action, but I picked up a few fat fish before I headed back for the night.
The next day I hiked back through a recent burn to the other lake that I had planned to sleep at. This time there were plenty of available spots at the lake and it was beautiful. I fished for about 5 hours and caught around 20 cutthroat up to 12". I also fished one of the smaller lakes directly above it, but found the fish stunted at that location.
I had planned on staying 3 nights, but the fishing side of me wanted a bigger challenge, so I decided to pack up after 2 nights and try another location that I had been thinking about. On my way out I enjoyed some berries and enjoyed a great view of St. Helens as I descended from the plateau. I also inadvertently snuck up on a bear eating berries in the early morning...I was only about 30ft away when I came around the corner and it had it's back to me...it had to have been running at 30mph once it saw me. About 10 minutes later I saw another bear watching from the top of a ridge...that also bolted as soon as it saw me. A good reminder to make noise in the wild. I made it back to the truck around 10am, warned the few hikers in the lot to watch for bears, and started driving north.
To be continued...
Part 1: The first lake was a day trip for me a few weekends ago. I drove out early from home and after a hike through wildflowers, meadow, and a steep final ascent I arrived at the lake before 9:00am. The water was crystal clear and later in the day I was able to observe some nice fish cruising near the outlet.
By 9:30am I was fishing and as I reached the far side of the lake I got my first action. A healthy 17" rainbow on a black leech that I quickly pumped for information and released. Bloodworms, chironomids, caddis nymph, mayfly nymph, dragonfly nymph, and some terrestrials...basically eating everything it saw. A few minutes later I hooked an even bigger fish that measured over 19". A little further down the lake I picked up another 17" rainbow. Then a 14" brown, which I found interesting because there is no record of browns in this lake and it certainly didn't swim up a creek to get there.
With 4 solid fish in the first hour I was feeling pretty good, but the action slowed to a crawl for the rest of the day. I saw a good mayfly hatch midday and lost a few before catching one more beautiful 19"+ fish on a FAB in the afternoon. I called it a day around 2:30pm and packed up, but I will definitely be back to this lake.
Part 2A: I took last week off with the intention of taking a solo trip for 3 nights and then taking my boys out for a few nights. With the fire/smoke situation I decided to head south to an area I'd been eyeing for a while. I got to the trailhead before 11am on Saturday and I could tell it was going to be a packed house the first night based on the number of vehicles. I hiked up to a plateau full of lakes and found that the lake I had originally planned to stay at the first night was full. I kept going and at about mile 7 arrived at my plan B. It's a beautiful little lake that you can walk almost all the way around...it is the rare mountain lake that has plenty of room for the backcast, so it's great for anyone that wants to fish from shore.
I took my tube out and caught 8 or so west slope cutts up to 12" in a few hours. Then I decided to check out another nearby lake that another flyfisher told me he had caught bigger ones. I didn't have as much action, but I picked up a few fat fish before I headed back for the night.
The next day I hiked back through a recent burn to the other lake that I had planned to sleep at. This time there were plenty of available spots at the lake and it was beautiful. I fished for about 5 hours and caught around 20 cutthroat up to 12". I also fished one of the smaller lakes directly above it, but found the fish stunted at that location.
I had planned on staying 3 nights, but the fishing side of me wanted a bigger challenge, so I decided to pack up after 2 nights and try another location that I had been thinking about. On my way out I enjoyed some berries and enjoyed a great view of St. Helens as I descended from the plateau. I also inadvertently snuck up on a bear eating berries in the early morning...I was only about 30ft away when I came around the corner and it had it's back to me...it had to have been running at 30mph once it saw me. About 10 minutes later I saw another bear watching from the top of a ridge...that also bolted as soon as it saw me. A good reminder to make noise in the wild. I made it back to the truck around 10am, warned the few hikers in the lot to watch for bears, and started driving north.
To be continued...
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