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Well, Sandy was more tactful than I intended to be. We did NOT intend or imply that you were a liar or wrong or whatever you thought we accused you of being. We merely extended your statement/s to say, in essence, “be sure to get approval from WDFW before putting fish in lakes–whether you are an individual or a member of a club.” – Mossback
I’m on Sandy’s side. So far as I am concerned, too many fishers (women fish, too) want to see THEIR kind of fish in lakes . . . and DON’T KNOW HOW FISH GET INTO A LAKE. Walleye is a classic example. Spiny Rays is another example. Why and how do sunfish/croppie/especially bass/etc. get into isolated lakes with no outlet? (Fortunately for Washington, we don’t have walking catfish in this state.)
Here’s an example of how one lake was saved from being contaminated: One mountain lake near another mountain lake has Goldens in it; the other lake has CT (with big heads because of overproduction). Fortunately for fishers, a fisherman sent letter to WDFW (actually, regional biologist, I think) asking if it was OK to catch fish in the “other” lake and take them to the lake with Goldens. The answer was/is obvious.
Anyway, I don’t think there is too much publicity or emphasis or verbalization on NOBODY (that’s no one, no person, no group, etc.)SHOULD STOCK (put) FISH IN ANY MOUNTAIN LAKE (or any lake) WITHOUT APPROVAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE. – Mossback
Brian Curtis is “THE” Curtis raft. Lots of Hi Lake fishers own Curtis rafts. Hard to beat, weight-wise, sturdiness-wise, and practical-bag-wise (that is used to inflate the rafts). If you have never heard of them before, ask Brian to tell you about them. – mossback
Upper Tuskohatchee cranks out better trout–at least it used to. A Curtis boat makes fishing it much more enjoyable. Otherwise, you fight brush all around the lake.
Some pots in between Upper and Lower Tuskohatchee used to have fish, too.
My theory is that they wouldn’t have the money, even if they wanted to add scuds to lake/s. They can’t even do what they ought to be doing. – mossback
If you go the Williams Lake route, you don’t have to go to the Chain lakes. Once you get past the mine and up above the rock slope, you cut NE across the southeast portion of Chain Lakes “basin” toward map LaBohn Gap. We did spend a night (on the floor) at the cabin (no longer there) near one of the Chain Lakes on our way out. Great night for mice running across our sleeping bags and our faces!! However, that was better than sleeping in the rain–we had no tent/s. I don’t remember any steep routes, but do remember a lot of rock.
One key question is whether you can get to end of the road (past Goldmeyer Hot Springs). If you can’t, that route won’t be worth the effort, relative to Shovel Lake route.
Used boots on my Brittany Spaniel frequently in the Lower Granite Dam (before it was there)/Pullman/Asotin areas. Infected his feet one time when I didn’t put boots on his feet and he was bleeding by the time we got back to car. What I’m leading up to is that (a) getting to a lot of off trail lakes includes going over rocky areas, and (b) if you do take the dogs with you on the Williams Lake route, they won’t need boots until you get past Williams Lake, but you should boot them above the mine (NE corner by Williams Lake) and over the “map LaGohn Gap,” and probably to your destination at Rowena Lake. I don’t know anything about the route to Shovel Lake from Waptus Lake, but I do believe you will have a tough time getting the dogs from Rebecca to Rowena.
I probably sound pessimistic. I’m not. A trip to Rowena is worth the effort, IMO. Great terrain area (to me), nice capsite (near outlet), and decent fishing. Whether to go now, however, is another question. – mossback
I didn’t mention Horseshoe (or Goat, both off from Dingford Creek trail, but have fishers trail). Hardscrabbles have too much reproduction, which means too many small fish, but things may have changed since I was there.
Do you mean Trapper in Chelan County? I know where it is, but have never been there.
If you like to prowl, prowl the lakes south of Rainy and on west side of MidFork. Fewer people, more challenging route finding. But DON’T go solo. Area has too many possibilities to get into trouble. Voice of experience talking; fortunately, I wasn’t alone. – mossback
Scalpel has described the Dream Lake’s route difficulty well. Getting up the Taylor River Road isn’t easy anymore, and getting from road to Dream Lake (and/or pot) has no GOOD trail; it does have fishers’ trail in spots, but you have to brushwhack at times, too.
I recommend you continue on MidFork road to Dingford Creek, park, then head up (on what now is sort of a trail made by lots of hikers) toward lots of lake possibilities, ranging from Greenridge, to Garfields to Nordrum to lots of lakes in between. Almost all have fish, thanks to the organization whose web site you are on.
Given what has happened to Taylor River road and is going to happen on Mid Fork road, lots of hikers have zeroed in on Dingford Creek. Unfortunately, some spots have been dessicated on both sides of the MidFork. Rainy, for example, has fish, used to be a nice hike, and relatively people free; now, I understand some ambitious people have cut a trail to the lake. It used to have a CCC trail part of the way toward Rainy from Camp Brown; if you knew where to get off it, you could get to Rainy with ease; if you stayed on it to the end, you wound up in a basin, scratching your head wondering what happened. OTOH, several lakes, with fish, are on that side of the river, too, but no trails all the way. You have to have some capability to “read” terrain. You don’t really need as much “readability” on Dingford Creek side, but you do need topo map, a compass, and clear weather. Tough getting around in rain, clouds, and/or fog (voice of experience speaking). Enjoy yourself. It’s great country. – mossback
Alaska Lake is first one that comes to my mind. Has a trail, sort of. If you like a lot of company (especially this week end), then Snow Lake, continuing on to more scenery at Gem Lake, and and if you are so inclined, continuing on to a little less company at Upper or Lower Wildcat Lake. Gem has no fish; the rest do, but a Curtis raft would be VERY helpful. – mossback
I’ll venture a guess that someone bought it at a fish store, kept it in a fish bowl for awhile, then decided to dump it–didn’t want to kill it. That’s the way oddball fish wind up in a a lake, like the “walking” catfish started on east coast, like the Walleye that wound up the Columbia River years ago, like bass that have wound up in lowland lakes that used to have only trout, etc.
Ignorance can ruin a lake. A number of years ago, someone once sent a letter to a district biologist asking if it would be alright to transfer some fish from one lake to another. Fortunately, he asked. To have done so would have ruined the lake. – Mossback
Well, I see you two guys been exchanging notes while I’ve been typing. We, too, went up to Chain Lakes area and over misplaced LaBohn gap. Route down from there is relatively easy IF you “read” well. Seems to me we went down an “easy-to-go” chimney in one place, but rest was relatively easy. And views were terrific.
Brian went to Rowena and Rebecca probably same route I did. My group (3) stayed at Rowena, toward outlet end, went down to Rebecca, angled over to Shovel, then back to Rebecca and Rowena. Trip was in late September, 1980. We had heard Rowena had NO fish, but we had good success, nothing over about 14 inches, but reasonably good. Rebecca had reproduction; loaded with 6-8 inch CT. That was only 25 years ago, so things may have changed a little
. The trip itself has both nice views and interesting routes to find. Route can be good if you are “route literate.” A lot of hikers aren’t, but those who can “read” routes do OK. – mossback Most of us oldtimers wore “tin” (Canvas) pants; if we also were duck hunters, we wore our duck pants. I wore heavy cotton or Army fatigue pants over 90% of the time. Many times, I was happy I did so. BTW, a lot of us wore leather gloves, too. I considered them one of the 10 essentials. Also wore high-top (Buffalo) boots, too. – Oldtimer
“if that was a RB that would have been my first one from an alpine lake. I am used to the silver hatchery fish. Can anyone tell me if they stocked pinnacle lake recently?”
The lake was stocked with RB 7 years ago, which means (given its size in 7 years) too many fish are in the lake. The Trail Blazers have NOT stocked the lake since 1972. Since then, the lake has received Brooks, Cutthroat, and RB–too many over the years, IMO. – mossback
