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Nice! It can be surprising just how small creeks can be that have fish. Often the fish got there because they dropped down from stocked lakes. And way back in the day Trail Blazers often stocked mountain streams.
Thanks for posting that Matt. We were up at the Colchuck (Stuart Lake) trailhead on a weekday a couple weeks ago and it was a zoo. I can see how traffic might get snarled on a weekend.
I’ll be curious if you see any signs of winter kill this year. I stocked a small west side lake just north of MRNP that I’ve stocked every 4-years since 2011 and the fishing has been very consistent. But it winter killed this year (the only fish we found were dead on the bottom). I’m wondering if it was a localized problem, or if it was a particularly difficult winter everywhere.
This is a great question. I’m not sure how far down the river you would need to go to find fish, but my best guess is that you wouldn’t have to go very far. I’m going to hazard a guess fish will start showing pretty much as soon as you get off the steep hillside and hit the valley bottom.
Those sorts of in-between elevation lakes are kind of hard to find. The lakes in the Chuckanuts might be open. Or Smelling and Julia. Something like Pine or Spider Lake in the Olympics might be an option this time of year.
One option for a hat might be to use one of our existing patches. They could be sewed on the hat of your choice.
I pretty much only pack fish out if there is snow available. That worked for us a couple weeks ago. Of course snow can be hard to come by in some places. I’ve had fish do fine with no extra cooling if it is not a hot day and they are wrapped in as many clothes or other insulation as possible. Old school Thermarests used to be perfect for that. Freezing a disposable water bottle full of water would be a good source of ice, but I don’t now how long it would last on a hot day.
I’ve never been to any of those lakes so I can’t be of much help. Lakes in Olympic National Park are not stocked so any high lakes with fish are naturally reproducing populations left over from early introductions. That should be a fantastic trip. Have a great time!
I didn’t realize they had that program. It does seem like a good idea.
Fun facts: I’d have to check back in my notes but I’m pretty sure I caught a sunapee trout larger than that 10″ state record. LOL. I’ve fished the lake where the record grayling was caught, but didn’t catch anything large.
Lonesome has fish but isn’t terribly deep. It has a population of naturally reproducing brookies. There is an experimental plant of tiger trout there. If you fish Lonesome we ask that you measure all fish you catch and release any tiger trout (but feel free to keep any brookies!). If you catch a tiger check for an adipose fin. Half of the tiger trout had their adipose fins clipped. If you could report back with whatever you catch it would be really helpful!
Hell Lake has no trouble holding fish. They can be hard to catch at times, but they do fine there. Ginnette is trickier. The first time I stocked it with MWRB they never showed. We tried TLCT and started to get returns. The lake is small and seems shallow, even if it is 25′ deep. I suspect that it winter or summer kills on occasion.
