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The following thread is for Big Alpine Trout (hopefully all entered are over 20 inches) and the type which dreams are made of. But this is no contest, just superb big trout beyond the norm…
Ted Allestad’s big rainbow trout, photo by Kenny Allestad 1994. (photo contribution from Trail Blazers Photo Boards Display, submitted by McPil – coordinator.)
[Edited on 12-11-2003 by McPilchuck]
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A question regarding these fantastic fish…
I have fished a lot of nice highlakes, some of them very remote, some not so remote. I’ve caught lots of fish up there as well. Again, some of them nice, some ‘not so nice’. (they’re all nice…just not very large). Anyways, what advice would any of you be willing to give for seeking out the few large fish amongst their smaller neighbors? How much of it do you think is finding the right lake at the right time in the cycle? Do most people on this forum/in the club use spinning gear…spoons, spinners, bait? I use a flyrod about 99% of the time and do pretty well but I’d prefer quality over quantity if faced with an either/or dilemma. I can’t complain, just hiking up to a beautiful alpine lake and catching a mess of trout with nobody else around (like I did yesterday) is always fantastic…I’d keep doing it if nothing changed but I’d love to add to the experience! I guess time of day, specific lures/flies, specific types of water to look for, perhaps recommended reading?Thanks
jackby the way, how’s fishing been for everyone else?
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There is no easy, and no short answer to your questions. If you are catching a bunch of small fish it is possible, even likely, that there are no big fish in the lake. If a lake has fish that are naturally reproducing too efficiently they will become skinny and large headed when they sexually mature at age 3 or 4. There are too many fish for the food supply and they stop growing longer and put all their energy into producing gametes. In lakes with stunted populations you will catch small ones one after another and there will be no large ones in the lake.
Sometimes, you will be in a situation where there is a large population of recently planted fish, and a few large hold overs. Or, perhaps, more frequent stocking or limited natural reproduction such that there are fish of a range of sizes. Every lake is different and I can think of a myriad of contradictory examples to any generalization I make, but here goes anyway. Often the big ones will be down deep. I’ve been to lakes where fish were rising around the shore and fishing was decent. The easy thing to do would be to fish to the rising fish all around the shore. In one particularly good example of this situation I abandoned the 12-13″ fish along the shore and went deep off a rock slide. I worked one spot I liked for 45 minutes with no luck until I figured out the proper depth and technique. I had a strike or fish on 8 of the following 10 casts with the smallest fish going 17″. The technique is to go deep with a reasonably heavy spoon like a 1/4 oz Krocodile and retrieve very, very slowly. Find the bottom by counting how long it takes to sink and time the start of your retrieve on subsequent casts to start just barely off the bottom. Rock slides are particularly productive locations for this technique.
Often large rainbow will cruise the middle of the lake. A flatfish, f5 or f7, trolled in the middle can be very effective. I’ve seen situations were shore anglers might catch an occasional small fish while we couldn’t keep large fish off out in the boats.
I prefer catching fish on flies. There is no good way to keep small fish off if you are using flies. I can remember one partially frustrating day at a lake in Wyoming where the goldens were cruising the shore in schools. One large fish surrounded by a bunch of small fish. I would sneak up on the shore, spot the fish, and catch one of the little ones every time. Most of the time it is a matter of persistence and luck. Last summer I was at a lake with my daughter and we were catching lots of 8-10 inchers from the previous plant. Finally at the far end of the lake I told my daughter to cast her fly over along the shore and she caught a beautiful 16″ CT. It was a matter of putting the fly in a good spot and getting lucky that the big one hit it that time instead of a little one.
Sometimes you just have to get lucky and get to a lake that for whatever reason wasn’t fished much in the previous few years and there are some fish left over from an old plant that haven’t been caught. It might be another 10 or 15 years before fish like that can be found in the lake again.
As an aside, I always fish with a fly rod (5 wt). When I’m spin fishing I just put my spinning reel on the normal fly reel seat and use it as a spinning rod.
I never really care if I catch fish at all. The setting is good enough, fish are just a bonus. Big fish are an extra special bonus.
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Brian,
When you use spoons – or any other hardware, do you replace the treble hooks with single siwash hooks? I always end up releasing a lot of fish and the singles make it a heck of a lot easier to do that. I’ve been doing this with my Kastmasters for years, using Gamakatsu (sp?) singles. I haven’t noticed if I lose more fish than if I was using trebles. Ditto with the Flatifsh. Just curious how you do it.
Cliff
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Well I told myself that my backpacking gear was coming out this year and it will.BEAUTIFUL FISH! Looks like alot of them were c/r too.brings back memories.
I have Heard of the trailblazers before but this is as close as I have come to interacting with you guys.I grew in bremerton and have been trudging around the olympics since boyscouts.Some of you guys amaze me with the places you have gone.Like Hagen lks.One of my favorites, but to go cross country from there???I have always wanted to drop down into the crazy creek drainage!It is challenging enough to get into there from the putmin trail.I guess my problem is most of my adventures are solo and the risk of injury keeps me from pushing the envelope that far.Nothing like a deep breath by yourself back in gods country though.
my monicker..ltlcleo is my favorite fishing spoon.I have got to say that I have at least a few hours fishing for steelhead with spoons.Get rid of the trebles.Trebles are great for catching anything but fish.Like weeds, sticks etc.They are likly to pin the fishes mouth shut causing the fight to diminish.Ut most they make catch and release unrealalistic.With bigger fish you are more likely to hook a piece of the soft flesh in the mouth instead of getting a good corner set.I have lost alot of big fish because of trebles.
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ltlcleo- Welcome to the forum.
Salish- I’ll second that comment about the Kastmasters. I think you may have a little better chance of landing the fish with a treble [on the smaller fish; I agree with ltlcleo about the bigger fish], but its definitely not worth it with all the time you spend getting the fish off, possible injury to the fish, increased likelyhood of hanging up on the bottom, and in my opinion, a lesser chance of attracting a strike (that could just be me wanting to believe that I’m really doing something special by changing the hooks).
Just my two cents worth. I’m sure Brian has a lot better answer than I do.
Andrew”
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I definitely don’t have a better answer. I think your answer is excellent. I tend to have some lures with treble hooks and some with single in my tackle box. The ones with trebles are there, more often then not, because I was throwing the lure in at the last minute and hadn’t remembered to change the hook, not because I wanted the treble hook on. I always regret having it on when it mangles a fish.
I have found, however, that single, barbless hooks are far less effective at hooking fish when trolling from a raft, where I have to hold the rod between my legs, for rainbows. They hit the lure, come out of the water and immediately throw the hook.
Glad to have you here ltlcleo. I’m a west Sounder living here in Silverdale.”
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thanks for the welcome guys.I spent a few hours yesterday digging through this sight.The biographies of the old timers were special.Those boys were a tough breed with a definate love for our wilderness ereas.I always love the chance to talk to the few old timers left around here.I find the history and the stories of the past more entertaining than what is left.
I fell in love with the high lakes as a kid and it was not till after scouts and high school that I found hagen and others.I dropped of only because I became caught up in exploring the canyons of the rivers on the hood canal.I am hopefully going to fish under the high steel bridge tomarrow.Beating the brush on the lowlands of th olympics can be a tough route to go!
Did the trailblazers do any stocking here in the olympics?I always wondered if the fish I caught were wild or natives?
I could see where without a hookset that a treble would be more likely to set itself.Onother reason I got tired of trebles were my two dogs.It is also easiar to c/r a dog with a single barbless than it is a treble!lol
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“Virtually no high lakes in the state have truly native populations. Many of the introduced populations are now naturally reproducing. The few that do have native fish are large valley bottom lakes like the Hidden Lakes, Black, Waptus, and Packwood. All the fish in Olympic Mountain high lakes were introduced. Some were planted by Trail Blazers, but that has never been a primary area for the club and all current stocking there is done by the WDFW using helicopters.”
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Actually, these fish are both over 20 inches, as with all the other pics I’ve previously posted. Remember, this thread topic is: Big Alpine Trout.
note:
The following thread is for Big Alpine Trout (hopefully all entered are over 20 inches) and the type which dreams are made of, ones that would win a Kingfish Award in the Hi-Lakers Club or another contest if they were enetered. But this is no contest, just superb big trout beyond the norm…[Edited on 12-11-2003 by McPilchuck]
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Jonathan,
you should edit (i would hope) that photo out as this thread is not to be meant for sarcasm, but to show or inform people that big alpine trout do exist in high lakes, or the end result can be a trout 20 inches and over, whether it’s kept or released. As I related previously, the topic thread is Big Alpine Trout, all are 20 inches and over in the photographs, including Glen’s and Mike’s…Glen’s being just over 20 and Mike’s 23 inches. -
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I must agree with Brian. I don’t think any harm was done by Jonothan’s photo, and it’s a nice fish anyway even if it’s not as big as the others. Essentially everybody knows what a big fish looks like, and I doubt that anybody will be misinformed by the picture.
Some of my most memorable fish have been smaller–well, probably because I don’t catch many big fish. 😉
Some of them sure fight hard for their size.
Andrew”
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Whatever, I thought it was a bit sarcastic myself. No harm done tho. But (I won’t mention any names) I did receive a few private emails saying they didn’t think it should be in this thread, so I was responding to that request because I agree, that’s all so now you know.
PS. Iam sure Jonathan has a big alpine trout photo he might like to share, I’ve seen his flies and they are superb quailty, none better IMO.
Edited on 12-10-2003 by McPilchuck]
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Hey, anyone can post what they like, it’s an open board, and as far as that goes, I can as anyone can, disagree with whatever. If we agreed on everything, or posts in a thread, it would be pretty boring. So, if someone is looking for a retractment on my part, you won’t get it here, I chose to disagree with what I saw as not being particularly asscoiated with the thread topic, some others said the same in private. When I began this thread, it was meant to show folks what can be achieved (some alpine trout do grow big if not huge) or found in fishing (some) high alpine lakes. The thread was not meant to belittle anyone elses catch, but the thread topic again is Big Alpine Trout. Anyone can deviate from that, is their own right to do so. But I would hope they would start their own thread if it is to drift.
BTW Jonathan, NICE Big Trout you recently posted!
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Nice fish, McPil! So you released 11, did you keep that one? If so, how did it taste? I prefer salmon over trout any day(granted the atlantic isn’t the best, but I bet it would still be excellent).
I don’t know where you guys are fishing (except the Wind River range) but I’ve never seen anything close to these fish in the mountains. I must be fishing in all the wrong places. 16″ is my record.
Anybody want to clue me in as to where I could find trout bigger than, oh, 15″? I won’t tell anybody. My u2u inbox is always open. 😉 😀
Hm, I guess I sound like a beggar. Of course, if you’d rather not say, I completely understand.
Andrew”
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“Nice fish, McPil! So you released 11, did you keep that one? If so, how did it taste? I prefer salmon over trout any day(granted the atlantic isn’t the best, but I bet it would still be excellent).”
I found out about a lake thru a biologist that was planted with Atlantic Salmon, it took me alot of digging to find that info: 4,000 landlocked Quebec stock eggs were raised, of that two lakes were planted in the Olympics, they grew to enormous size way beyond what I caught in the 3 days on my first trip with my uncle who I invited along. I killed one in the picture, my uncle also one 19 incher for eating, his only BTW. All the others I released because you can’t eat that much fish and rarely do I keep but one or two anyway while high lake fishing, and then those are usually cooked, rarely do I pack out any fish as they don’t taste the same or fiber the same ten hours later. The Atlantic’s were superb fighters and their taste excellent.
Big trout are where you find them, and mostly it takes alot of searching to find them. Lakes that usually grow pretty nice fish are ones that are off the well beaten path, but not neccessarily so. One of the biggest trout I ever saw was in Evan Lake, less than 1/4 mile from the trailhead up near Boardman lake. Another 6 pounder I saw was at Ilswoot Lake in Necklace Valley, no shit!
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Thought I’d add this snake of a specimen to this wonderful collection not because it was a beautiful fish (though it tasted most excellent!), but because it was long enough- at 24.5″- to take the first Hi-Laker Kingfish award of the current millenium. Caught with a gold quarter oz. Thomas Bouyant while spin casting from my tube in a lake at around 4000′ on my last cast of the evening. Drug it in without alot of fight. Photo by Sandy McKean.
[Edited on 12-11-2003 by Dave Weyrick]
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Now this one is a beautiful fish and is still swimming about, hopefully several inches longer than the 23 it measured to win the 2002 Hi-Laker Kingfish award. Pictures showed that I caught it both days I was at the lake above 4000′ somewhere in Washington State. Took an egg pattern on a short line the first day and my trusty Thomas Bouyant (gold 1/4 oz.) the second.
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Brian, they are businessmen and orchardists from Brewster, Washington. I knew three of the four men quite well, two are recently deceased.
I don’t know the name of the packer that took them in there, but I have a pretty good idea. Sorry for the quality of the photo’s but I snapped a picture of them with my digital camera. -
“By the late sixties/early seventies the fishing in the Hiddens had declined so far that local anglers where putting pressure on the bio to plant brookies. The, then, very young and green bio actually did plant brookies in there. Thankfully, for some unknown reason they never took. We know the plants were good because they surveyed them at age one and they had grown very well, but they subsequently disappeared. That could have been one of the all time great disasters.”
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@Brian Curtis wrote:
In celebration of getting the pics reattached to this thread, here’s another big fish pic. I caught this one this last September in a Montana high lake.
Hi Brian,
I like it! Nice to see the shots back up.
McPil -
I just wanted to say that as an outsider (Californian) I am mighty impressed with these monster fish pictures! I have been fishing the high lakes of California for more than 20 years and fished over 500 lakes and I’ve only landed two fish over 20″: a 20.5″ brown from Heather Lake and Desolation Wilderness and a 32.5″ mackinaw from Gilmore Lake, also in Desolation:
My wife has fished almost as much as I have and she too only has tallied two 20″+ fish, both 23″ macks from Gilmore: 
In any case this thread and some others on this board really make me tempted to head a little further north for fishing one day. -
Hi giantbrookie, it is great to have you posting on the site. There are a lot of issues we have in common with California high lakes, and some that differ (we don’t have any mountain yellow legged frogs) so I hope you’ll stick around and join in the discussions.
I do have to note here that to get these large fish pics represent one heck of a lot of lake visits. What you’ll probably enjoy most about a trip up in these parts is how different the mountains are from the ones down in your area.
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Thanks for the welcome, Brian. I wish we had an equivalent forum like this in CA. As for issues such as MYLF, I would be happy to give an update on how things have been going (in CA and particularly the Sierra) from a fisherman’s point of view (that is somebody that doesn’t have direct access to information on policy changes). The long and the short of it is that there some fairly significant Sierra Nevada high country lake fisheries management changes (outside of Natioanal Parks), but the overall effect on high lake fishing is probably not huge. From a fishing standpoint it looks like the number of “lost” lakes (ie those that will no longer contain trout) is small in terms of percentage, although significant if one is unfortunate enough to be planning a trip to one of those “lost” lakes.
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Another brute: caught by Leif Nagle Sept. 2005, photo by Mike Quinn.
McPil
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@smckean wrote:
Nice ain’t the word for that ‘bow — it’s spectacular!. At what elevation is this lake? (I presume east side of the crest too.)
Well in excess of 6500 ft. That is about average for the lake. They caught one that was 26” but the guy with the camera was on the other side of the lake. All were released. 😀
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Well in excess of 6500 ft.
WOW…..It hard to believe any lake in the state of Washington can grow fish this big at 6500′. I would think only in eastern Washington could this be possible, but perhaps it is elsewhere.
NO, I an not “fishing” for the lake name here. I am just curious about elevations and food supply.
P.S. Are you sooperfly or Guest? And if Guest why not register?
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@smckean wrote:
Well in excess of 6500 ft.
WOW…..It hard to believe any lake in the state of Washington can grow fish this big at 6500′. I would think only in eastern Washington could this be possible, but perhaps it is elsewhere.
NO, I an not “fishing” for the lake name here. I am just curious about elevations and food supply.
P.S. Are you sooperfly or Guest? And if Guest why not register?
Oops.. didn’t realize I wasn’t logged in when I posted. Sorry! 😆 ..
This lake has abundance of feed. Huge scuds, salamanders, copeopods, etc. It’s really small, has a sandy bottom and is quite shallow.
http://www.rivercolor.com/images/fish2.jpg
http://www.rivercolor.com/images/fish1.jpgNothing in those pics less than 18″.
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‘Tis a nice rainbow there!
Big trout on jigs…never tried them but could see that they’d probably be effective. Myself and a few buds have found that flatfish seem to have a certain “killer” movement which is pretty effective for larger fish, and then there is the larger spoons too. And some like the right fly when else fails.
McPil
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I’m a little hesitant to post this because the lake is only around 1000′ in elevation. But, it’s in the woods and it is a large specimen. If folks complain I’ll be happy to yank it.
My friend Aaron used steelhead jigs all day on this lake and cleaned up. 2 very nice Browns and a handful of Cutthroat/Rainbow trout were caught in the middle of winter.
Hmmm, I may try a jig this winter….
I know a few Trailblazers frequent this fishing hole.
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A nice brown from that lost little lake in the woods
. “Beautiful” McPil
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This lake has abundance of feed. Huge scuds, salamanders, copeopods, etc. It’s really small, has a sandy bottom and is quite shallow
Not that it matters, but I didn’t phrase my words properly. What I meant to say was that I am ongoingly interested, as a quasi-scientific matter, in the relationship btwn elevation and food supply.
I could see by the fish photo that the food supply was good
, and the food items you mention (especially the scuds) make perfect sense. It is that the fish grow to that size (which is the same thing as saying “have that much to eat”) at 6500+ feet that amazes me! You’ve never said……was this on the east side of the Cascades crest? (I assume it was in the Cascades.)
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Here is a nice cutt from about 1977-78, don’t know if it made 20″ but it’s close. Whale lake is @ 4600′ & a pretty good cross-country hike, well it was back then…Our route was pretty cool, we started @ Slide lake and I caught a MBS cutt there that was huge 26-28″ guessing about 4 lbs…no picture of course. After Slide we went up the creek to Enjar/Hamar then over the ridge to the north & down the rockslide to Arrowhead lake. Next day we made it to Whale, fish nailed a #3 Mepps spinner. I was fishing my old Lamiglas collapsible 7′ spin/fly rod & think I had my Dad’s Mitchell 304s on it then….
This is one really slick site, glad I found it!!
c/22……. 😉
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This is my largest high mountain lake trout yet, caught in June 07. This is a very small lake apx 4800′ on the west side, north of Mt. Rainier. It’s loaded with leaches and frogs, with a muddy bottom. An ‘old timer’ fishing buddy showed me how to get there (no trail) and told me that it contained monster rainbows. Well, I fished it for 5 years before landing this one. I also landed a couple beautifull Brookies that I didn’t know were here. I included a picture of one of them, even though it’s not close to 20″; only because of how fat and beautifull it is. Super fat… maybe 14″?
I’m guessing the Rainbow at 4lbs and 22-23″
Cameron
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My goodness, those cutts are enormous!! I hope this summer to hook into a few like that… Hope I’m not too nosey here, but could you give me a general area that may hold trout of that size? The only place I’ve heard of with cutts like that are the Hidden Lakes… saw video of a 6+ pounder being landed at the WA Sportsman’s Show, from the Hidden Lakes. An outfitter takes folks 20+miles in there by horse (Darwood IIRC.) Haven’t been in there yet myself.
I can’t wait for summer… Planning on getting to some more lakes around Mt. Daniel, including Swallow Lakes. Anyone been in there? If so, from which side did you come in? It looks doable from Robin/Tuck Lakes, maybe a fun way to go.
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I’ve been to the Hidden Lakes many times over the past 10 years or so. Here’s a breakdown of what I’ve caught. I’m not saying somebody else hasn’t caught this or that, this is just my experience.
Cougar Lake: Bull and Rainbows
Lower Hidden: Bull and Rainbows
Middle Hidden: Bull,Rainbows and Cutties
Upper Hidden: Rainbows -
I’ve been in to the Hiddens 3 times, but not in many years. That’s the first I’ve heard of a cutthroat coming out of any of those lakes. There were some stocked there in 1975. They also stocked brookies in 1972. We’re really lucky they aren’t still there.
Someone with a sense of humor named the lakes. Instead of the mundane Lower, Middle, and Upper they are:
First Hidden
Middle Hidden
Big Hidden -
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Here’s another one from last year.
Brian Curtis with 20" CT 2012 by brianc9, on Flickr -
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Kathy, that brookie came out of a lake above 3000 feet. Leif hiked in jeans because he had an issue with his junky camo pants falling apart, so that was all he had. If that one is inadequate, we got some larger ones this summer. I will have to dig out my camera and upload them. Here are some that I have on my phone; more to come later. All these were taken at hike to lakes well above 4000 feet.
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