Wallace lake

[fear_no_fish]

Probably going to hike up to this lake here in the next week or so, i cant find it listed in the reg book though, what are the rules on this lake for fishing, barbless, single hook?? anything like that? Limits?
Also any pointers for the hike, how hard it is, any little thing like that would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance for any help
Also how hard would it be to pack in a small 2 person inflatable raft? Heard there was some sort of road that makes the hike much easier, is that in plan sight upon arriving or?? haha

[The Quadfather]

send a message to natetreat, he goes there often. Also, remember the only bodies of water you seen in the regs. are waters with "Special rules" If it's not listed, then that means no worries about selective gear, or weird seasons, bait, etc.

[natetreat]

Hahaha, yea, I've been up to wallace lake several times now. The greg ball trail is the fastest, but the hike gets REAL steep in spots. The old railroad grade adds another two miles one way, but the grade is much more luxurious and there is a sweet clear cut affording great views of the skykomish valley. I'd recommend the old railroad grade to anybody that isn't in tip top shape.

A small raft if you have a decent pack will be just fine. If you read my reports, at one point I hiked up a seahawk 400, which at about 40 pounds dry weight was probably one of the most difficult things I'd done. If you're used to backpacking and hiking, it's a medium difficulty hike, and if you take your time you'll be fine.

The lake has shore access problems, especially when runoff starts to get it high, so a raft is definitely what you want. Be really careful when launching, there are a ton of submerged sticks and trees that one small miscalculation will puncture your raft and you'll be swimming for shore.

The log jam around the outlet holds a myriad of fish, we caught cutts up to 18", and hooked into some monsters. There are rumors of macks up there, and in reading WDFW literature as well as alpine lakes studies, I'm tempted to believe that there may be a few still around, that's one of the main reasons why I started exploring the lake in the first place. So good luck on that front.

The fish are like most alpine trout, you'll get slammed the first three or four casts, and then they'll wise up to your presentation and you'll have to switch to fool them, we fished small spinners and kastmaters and spoons. Bring a bunch. The outlet creek is also chock full of trout. I'll be surprised if you don't nail 'em.

As for regs, it's just statewide, year round. I'd recommend going barbless if you're planning on releasing fish, because they often times INHALE your spinner. But some of the trout appear to be quite stunted, so don't hesitate to retain the fish so that they can reach a larger size. It's a beautiful area, and we hooked the biggest fish fishing the far shore right above the drop off, where the depth just goes off the charts. I hooked into one that was rivaling a steelhead in size so you never know.

*edit*

Also you may want to bring a machete, as getting down to the water in the summer when the brush is in full swing is quite the bushwack

[fear_no_fish]

Alright thanks alot, thats very helpful. Are there any spots on or close to the lake to camp at?
Are the trails marked? Like with a sing or something? haha

[natetreat]

The trails are well marked within the park, the old railroad grade leaves the park for a while, but if you look at a map it's easy to find out where ou are. You can camp at Jay lake, which is about 2 miles down the way, I think you have to register with the rangers or something, I don't know. Look up Wallace falls state park on the forest service site and at WTA.

[zen leecher aka Bill W]

Wallace and Isabel both have lake trout in them.

[Mike Carey]

Alright thanks alot, thats very helpful. Are there any spots on or close to the lake to camp at?
Are the trails marked? Like with a sing or something? haha

sprry, late response here. No camping allowed at Wallace Lake, so ya, Jay lake is the closest area to camp. I posted a Wallace lake report on my Blog a week or so ago.