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West side lakes get more snow so they take longer to thaw out. 5100′ on the east side would be fine, the west side more iffy. It really depends on the exposure.
5100′ is fairly high for a west side lake. But the snow is coming off quickly this year. I would think you’d have a good shot by mid-July but there will probably still be some snow around. Hopefully someone who has been out more then me and has a better feel for the snowpack will give you a better answer.
The main Galena Chain Lakes do get a ton of traffic, but you’ll be able to catch fish up there. Because I don’t want to send any extra traffic to obscure lakes the only ones I’d recommend on the web would be spots that already receive lots of traffic like the Anderson and Watson Lakes. Your best bet is to get some topo software or go to topozone and start scrolling around. No matter what lake you choose you’re going to have a great trip.
Some of the higher lakes are opening up. Especially in the southern Cascades. The season has started.
Any questions are welcome here. You just have to put up with answers that might be rotten. 😀
I’ve spent a lot of time hiking and fishing in Alaska and I sure know why you miss it. But you can find solitude and incredible scenery down here if you work a bit for it.
Memorial Day is about a month early for most high lakes in Whatcom County and most of the hike to lakes are high lakes. There’ll be a ton of great places to go once we start getting into July, but I can’t think of too many this early. Hopefully someone will come up with a few good ideas for you.
Not much news yet. Last year was the first year. Still lots of brookies in the lake. No tiger muskie were sampled, but that isn’t unexpected. They’ll be going in to sample again in June.
As soon as the lakes start to open people will start heading up. We’ll start stocking some low lakes in April an May and we’ll be starting to stock high lakes in July.
Everything is still frozen now. Some of the lower lakes will start opening up in late May and June. This time of year you’re better off heading to low lakes in eastern WA or some of the foothill lakes on the west side.
I got a chance to look at a Griggs spinning rod at the TB meeting last night. Sportsmans Warehouse very kindly donated a rod for an upcoming fundraiser. It looks like a nice pack rod. Very light. I’d chose it over any of the other spinning rods I’ve seen.
I’m with you on the long handles. Sometimes they go with them so they can be turned around for fly fishing on combo rods. I made a spinning rod once and it had a nice short cork handle. Sadly, I broke it.
Still can’t whip those tiny jigs anywhere. I use 3/16-1/4 oz lures 95% of the time I’m casting lures.
I can’t remember exactly how those bubbles are sized, but if memory serves I like the medium size.
Here’s a bit of an action shot of me with a Shimano spinning reel on a 9′ fly rod at an Idaho high lake.
Fishing in Idaho certainly doesn’t disqualify you from these parts. I’ve fished a ton of Idaho high lakes so I’d be happy to talk Idaho high lakes all day.
If you really want to fly cast I’d stay away from the spin/fly combo rods like the Trail Master and go with a straight fly rod. I use a 9′ 5wt for both spin and fly fishing. I takes a bit of getting used to, spin casting with the reel behind, but is very effective. I’m so used to having the reel between my fingers when I cast that I end up casting two handed so I suppose I look a git goofy, but the setup works well and you can’t fly fish as effectively with a lousy fly rod.
3 Wt seems really light to me for high lake fishing. I’m not sure how it would cast lures, especially when you start getting up to a quarter ounce, and you do want to get that large, especially when you’re fishing deep.
My other concern is getting a rod that breaks down into enough pieces to put in your pack. Brush isn’t as big a concern in Idaho as it is here, but you’ll find it in certain areas and it isn’t worth risking your rod having it sticking too far out of your pack in any case. The Cabelas 3 wt comes in a 3-piece, but I think you’re better off with at least 4 pieces. Cabelas has a 5-piece including reel and line for $135. That looks like it could be a really nice set up.
I don’t know anything about the Grigs, but they look like they’re probably nice rods for the money.
I’ve found the Shimano reels to be lighter and smaller then the Mitchells and I’ve been happy with mine. Of course they’re releasing new models all the time.
