Northwest Fishing Reports

With a forum full of COMMITTED fisherman, I'm surpised the high-lakes section of the site doesn't get more activity. The scenery is great and the fishing is usually AMAZING.

With literally HUNDREDS of high lakes in the state, many of which require 1.5miles or LESS of hiking, you guys need to start taking advantage of some of these honey-holes.

Here are some pics of someof the lakes I've been to so far this year (the ones I remember to bring the camera on!).




Elbow Lake, Mt. Baker area. ~4.5miles each way.





Lake Doreen, Mt Baker area. ~4.4 miles each way.







Blue Lake, Mt. Baker area ~1.4miles each way.
Yes, it was still 80% frozen LATE July!





Upper Josephine Lake, Skagit Co. ~1.5 miles each way, some bushwacking.





Lower Josephine Lake, Skagit Co. ~2 miles each way
This is an exciting lake to fish, though it doesn't look great. The water is extremely clear and shallow, and all the logs are stable to walk on...which makes fly fishing very easy for EBT's.



Lake Easton...this one probably doesn't count. I only fished it for 15 minutes one my way to the east side for work...


These next four aren't truly "high lakes" but I've seen them posted in this section before. All four are between 1,400-1,800ft if I recall correctly...however, each requires a hike to get there.



Lake 10, Skagit Co. 1.4mi road hike, plus some bushwacking dowhill to the lake.



Fragrance Lake, Whatcom Co. ~1.1mi each way, if you take the "shortcut."
Lots of hiking attention here (and dogs, bleck!). Small spinners for Cutts and Bows!



Lost Lake, Whatcom Co. ~4mi each way. This lake has an AMAZING outlet creek.



Camp 3 Ponds, Skagit Co. ~1mi each way. This tiny pond (3-4ft deep, 1/2acre) holds a HUGE population of small EBTs and rumors of a few Cutts. It's near one of my hunting spots, and it took a few years for me to decide to fish it...sure enough, easy fishin!

The high-lake season is still going strong.
Lakes 3.500ft+ or those lower lakes on the shady sides are still very easy to fish. The next couple months are the best times to get out...On the west side, we're still running into snow around 4,000ft in places.

Any ???'s on lakes you've got interest in, send me a PM.
I've fished MANY high lakes in skagit and whatcom counties...as well as some in snohomish. I'll offer up any help/tips I can!

Nice pics BSCMAN! Sounds like you've had a great year! And I think I need to start exploring north a little more! My problem is I get lazy and stick to familiar areas (along I-90 & hwy 2).

Great work Bscman....I like to think I get up to the alpine a lot...but you got me beat hands down!! If you ever feel like having someone tag along...let me know. Looks like we cover the same stomping grounds!!

How has the shore fishing access been for you this year?? Are you exclusively fly fishing?? Ya your right, still some snow in spots, but it is getting a little better...not much snow up to 5000' now (unless you are in the shade, ect.). ONE PROBLEM....they just had flurries at 6000' last week and I see the temps are dipping into the thirties this week!! Snow is on it's way...


Oh yeah....these would look great in the WL.com High lakes photo collection thread....

Nice pics .I can only speak for myself.Being 54 yo and slightly out of shape its hard for some of us to do the hikes into those lakes.A few years back on Icicle Creek I went up this 2.6 mile hike.I think to myself"piece of cake"Hahahaha its only 2.6 miles at a 60 degree angle.By the time I got there it was time to start heading back.So as beautiful and spectacular alot of these lakes are its just heck hiking to them. Kna mean?

I definitely know what you mean about elevation...
Most of the lakes picture required at least 1,200ft in elevation gain from the trailhead.
A couple of them were over 2,000ft of elevation gain--and that doesn't take into account all the ups and downs along the way. My current (cheap) gps will track distance and elevation, but doesn't add up a tally of all the ups and downs--wish I had the $$$ to upgrade

A 4.5mile hike in 89°F weather, up 2,200ft of mountain side (and three crude creek crossings) makes for a very long day...feels like a 20 mile day when you make it back to the truck! Especially when you are carrying 3-4 liters of water, lunch, a pair of poles, tackle, etc!

As for fishing methods...it's been entirely shore fishing.
Most of it has been done with spinning gear (mostly de-barbed rooster tails, panther martins, and swedish pimples).
I did start fly fishing this year--but my efforts have been crude at best. I still need some work on my casting, and I'm definitely in need of better line...however, I'm still catching fish so I guess that is what matters.

Every lake pictured above has produced fish.
I take pictures of each lake, a few snapshots of the trails (and scenery along the way), as well as at least 1 picture of each species caught in the lake. There have been a few 20+ fish days...but again, most high lakes hold smaller fish.
My girlfriend and I are trying to fish as many new lakes as possible (successfully!) to create a fishing/photo album. Our focus so far has been Skagit County, with a few Whatcom lakes thrown in the mix.

Rollin with Rolland,
I have no problem if you want to tag along.
My girlfriend and I show holsteins at the Evergreen fair, so this upcomming weekend will be very busy...then I've got a couple birthdays and family items to take care of. It will be a couple weeks before we get into another lake, but we have a couple we're considering. We usually trek on Saturdays or Sundays.
In the mean time, if you (or anyone else!) have any ???'s for local lakes send me a PM and I'll help out where I can.

Rollin with Rolland wrote: Oh yeah....these would look great in the WL.com High lakes photo collection thread....

How did I forget that thread...Sorry guys!
If it's a problem, I'll post 'em in there and we can delete this thread!?!?!

Bscman,

Wow! Awesome thread/report. Thanks for all those pics. and the info. I hike mostly around Monte Cristo, or the Pacific Crest around Hwy 2. You have motivated me to get out again a couple times before the window closes. Thanks again for such a great photo/info. display.

Great photos. I'll contact Mike about posting them in the lake descriptions.

Gorgeous shots Bscman . These are awesome lakes to bring the float tube in via the shoulder straps on the back. Looks very fishy and fun. Keep posting those adventures; they are fun to read!! Very fun stuff indeed!! KTK

racfish wrote:Nice pics .I can only speak for myself.Being 54 yo and slightly out of shape its hard for some of us to do the hikes into those lakes.A few years back on Icicle Creek I went up this 2.6 mile hike.I think to myself"piece of cake"Hahahaha its only 2.6 miles at a 60 degree angle.By the time I got there it was time to start heading back.So as beautiful and spectacular alot of these lakes are its just heck hiking to them. Kna mean?

Ditto, 50 years old, two bad knees, overweight now, it sure makes it tough.

I'd give you a mess of my pictures of Alpine lakes in Idaho and Montana from my youth, but it looks like this thread has done the damage for my ego already.

Funny how an 8" alpine fish seems so much more worthy of the challenge then a 18" lowland fish.

Great picks.

great pictures looks like you had allot of fun and the weather didn't look to bad.

Bscman wrote: Every lake pictured above has produced fish.
I take pictures of ... at least 1...of each species caught in the lake.

Let's see some of those fish pics! That pic of the two fish swimming is cool.

Ask and ye shall recieve...

Whenever possible, we try not to remove the fish from water...
When we are forced to do so, it's with a knot-less net and it handled gently with WET hands.


Eastern Brook Trout from Camp3 Ponds


Coastal Cutt from Lost Lake.
Unfortunately, this one was gill-caught and had to be kept....HUGE spots though!


Another Lost Lake Cutt


Rainbow from Lake Doreen.


EBT from *mostly* frozen Blue Lake


EBT from Lower Josephine Lake


Fragrance Lake Cutt -- My girlfriends first fish of the season, and first fish caught on her new "Lady Ugly Stik."

....and to more completely introduce myself....

My 'Oh my gosh, I almost just slipped off the log and into the lake'...just minutes before I hook myself in the lip" Rainbow at Fragrance Lake!

These are the pics already uploaded to my photobucket.
Maybe I'll add a few more (or trail/scenery pics) a little later!

Okay, I couldn't help myself...
I was already logged into my photobucket account, so I decided I would take a few minutes and post some scenery pictures!


Creek crossing on the way to Lake Doreen.


Waterfall above Blue Lake (1 of three waterfall/inlet creeks).


A noisy picture of distant Mt. Baker on our way up the Forest Service road to the Elbow Lake trailhead.


A "rock chuck" working the small moraine above Blue Lake.
We caught him in the middle of digging out a new den-hense the mud!


More EBT's at the Blue Lake outlet creek.
At one point there way a school of 16 working near the surface, but I could never get the camera up without spooking them.


Can anyone count how many trees around Upper Josephine Lake have been gnawed on my beavers?




Spring bear peel from Lower Josephine Lake--lots of fresh bear sign around this lake.


The "trail" into Lost Lake.

I'll quit before I post so many pictures I cause the site to crash!
I have over 1gb of fishing pictures from this season...hope to double that before it's over.

FWIW, the camera I most often use for convenience is a Kodak Z712 Point-and-Shoot. It's 7.1mp and has 12x optical zoom with image stabilization. It's on sale for $139 right now at office max which is a great deal...I paid twice that when it came out. The newer version is identical, but 8mp which is of little use unless you plan to price 20" pictures.
Some of the above were taken with my older Kodak Z700 (4mp, 5x zoom) simple because I don't mind taking it in the rain, or possibly dropping it in the water.

Ohhhhh, I just found this thread. Better late than never I guess in viewing it.

NICE job Bscman... I was hoping you might go 'oh I am using a Canon AE-1' or some old school camera with film LOL.

I have fished Fragrance on your list years ago but otherwise they are new to me. Nice view out over Georgia Straight going up there too.

I've fished other high mountain lakes, just not the ones you referenced. This brings back a lot of good camping/backpacking memories from younger days!

Thanx for all the photos!

I will have to give that blue lake a try. Does anybody know if i can camp around there? Im looking for a place to camp and fly fish for the summer.

I'll have to post some more pictures...it's been a long time since I posted this thread, and there have been a few dozen more hike-in lakes I've visited.

I quickly progressed from "nearby, easily accessed, hike-in lakes" like these pictured, to those lakes where you pull out a map book and say, "Look a little blue dot...let's try and find a way in there!"

There are some absolutely amazing lakes in Washington in some very beautiful areas. There is no better feeling than hiking 6 miles through the brush with a soaken-wet map to find your way to the base of a waterful, which just happens to be the outlet creek to the lake you're about to catch the most beautiful 4lb rainbow you've ever seen...only to then realize theres a very high likelyhood this is the first time that fish has ever seen a fishing lure.

Grr... this makes me want to do some hiking soooooo bad.

OMG< I just noticed this thread (must have missed Marc's heads-up). Looks like I have some work to do transfering all these forum photos to the web site!

I'm getting back into hiking this year and will be paying more attention to the Alpine Lakes section - promise!