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I’ve hiked on a bit of it closer to Gold, but I haven’t been all they way between Dorothy and Gold. That’s a brushy valley, there’s no way to get up there without having to fight some brush. My suggestion would be to follow the way trail as far as you can and then follow the logical route up to the lake. Typically, you’ll pick up the route again in a short distance.
And be sure to pull the damn litter some people insist on leaving off the trees.
Silverton would be pretty cool, but I actually live in Silverdale, north of Bremerton.
Silverdale was originally named Goldendale, but they discovered there was already a Goldendale in the state so they went with Silverdale instead. I think that beginning must still be setting the tone around here…
Well, the public EIS meetings are over. There were four meetings and a grand total of one person who was not a Trail Blazer or Hi-Laker testified and he was in favor of alternative A (continue current stocking).
That’s a fairly loaded question. My number one criteria would be fantastic scenery. But if you are strictly talking about fishing that changes and the answer isn’t perfectly simple. The general rule of thumb is that the more food in the lake the larger the fish. That rule is complicated by stocking cycles (how old are the fish?) and fishing pressure (are they all caught out before they get big?) and mortality rates (how long do they live?).
The primary food sources for fish live in water less than 10 feet deep. Productivity is highest in the zone where light penetrates. Light supports plant life and plant life supports animal life. So shallow lakes are more productive then deep lakes. But what animals live in the lake can have a profound effect and that is sometimes determined by water chemistry. The lakes that grow the largest fish generally have fresh water shrimp, aka scuds, aka gammarus. In general, Rocky Mtn high lakes are much more likely to have shrimp then our lakes, but if you can find a shrimp lake you will find big fish if the lake isn’t full of stunted fish. Shrimp and insects like plants so submerged vegetation is a good sign of a productive lake.
So lets put this together. The best odds of finding your dream lake will be a shallow (productive) lake, that isn’t fished heavily (off trail, far back, not often visited), that you happen to visit at just the right year so the lake has big fish. Of course there are exceptions. A large deep, clear (unproductive) lake might have big fish if they’ve been there long enough.
I like to just go explore places I haven’t been. If I find fantastic fishing I figure that’s a bonus. If the fishing is lousy I’ve still had a great trip in the mountains. So I don’t think there is really such a thing as a lousy high lake.
The weather can make a huge difference. In the middle of the day on a hot day the fish will often go deep and you won’t see them at all. I’ve been to lakes where the water is riddled with rises and the fish are biting all over, but as soon as the sun hits the water the entire lake goes dead and you’d swear there wasn’t a fish in it.
Last time I was at Snoqualmie I fished for about an hour and a half and caught 3 from 10″ to 11.75″. But I’ve heard from other people who had slower fishing.
I’ve been by Deer and Bear a couple times, but I’ve never fished ’em. The first time they were mostly frozen and the second time I just walked by. Dorothy seems to turn off and on. The one time I fished it (about 25 years ago) I had lousy fishing, but I’ve heard that the fishing can really turn on if you’re there on the right day. I’ve never fished the Miller.
When you’re looking for high lakes to fish, don’t forget the smaller lakes. The big ones often aren’t the best.
The Crow Creek drainage is in the north end of Yakima County. It is north of Bumping Lake and south of Naches Pass.
McPil, do you still have the pics of the wolf tracks? Did they come out? That’s totally cool.
Oldtimer, when I was up on Ragged Ridge, by your favorite spot, we flushed out a black bear. So you can go all the way up to 100% sure about black bears being there.
Westslope cutthroat are stocked in lakes on the east side of the mountains and coastal cutts are stocked in lakes on the west side (their native drainages). The only west side exceptions are Skamania and most of Lewis counties where the cutthroat being stocked are westslope.
The eggs for the westslope cutts are taken from Twin Lakes near Lake Wenatchee. These fish are well adapted to mountain lakes, and that can be a problem. If there is any spawning habitat available at all they’ll take advantage of it. Consequently, we have lots and lots of lakes on the west side of the crest that are full of westslope cutts. Mostly too full.
If you want to catch westslope cutts, high lakes are a great place to do it.
Bear and Pinnacle are very popular lakes and as such aren’t the place you are likely to find super hot fishing. Bear is almost right on the road so it gets fished extra hard. That being said, the hike up to Pinnacle is worth it, and you should be able to catch some fish. Contrasting Diamond and Pinnacle will give you a taste of how varied high lakes can be.
Here’s the link to the High Lakes Primer Bob referred to.
@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve heard some rumors about Tiger Muskie possible being planted into some high lakes to help control the brookie population.
This has gone from rumor to reality. Here’s a great newspaper article about this exciting project.
Here’s the link to the growth report.
I just bought a spool of 4 lb FireLine the other day. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet.
If fish are rising I’d try starting with a dry fly. Vary the retrieve. I like to “pop” the bubble to give the fly some action. If that isn’t working I’ll try a steady, slow retrieve. Sometimes they don’t like any action.
I know some people swear by those blue/silver kastmasters so I’m sure I’ll get people who disagree with me chiming in, but in my experience blue/silver is not an effective color combo for high lake fishing. I’ve had good luck with blue/silver spoons in low lakes, but not high lakes. I much prefer red/brass or orange/brass. Try an orange/brass or red/white/brass Kamlooper Jr (3/16 oz) or a red/brass Krocodile. My favorite all around lure is the brass Jakes Spin-a-lure.
Some days the fish just aren’t hitting lures. You can carry a fly and bubble set up for those days.
The water in high lakes tends to be very clear so be sure you are using light line. I use 4 lb test line for spin fishing and go to a 2 lb leader for flies.
