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Since this project spans 2 years, I am displaying the data for each year separately. My idea is to help us know which lakes have been sampled and which lakes need more samples. The Table for this year is current as of September 2, 2015. Remember, we are hoping to get 15 to 25 samples per lake.
If you find illegal fish in another lake, sample them and let me know what you have found.
If you see any errors or have updates to this table, please contact me.
Thanks,
RexSince this project spans 2 years, I am displaying the data for each year separately. My idea is to help us know which lakes have been sampled and which lakes need more samples. The Table for this year is current as of September 2, 2015. Remember, we are hoping to get 15 to 25 samples per lake.
If you find fish that should not be in a lake, sample them and let me know.
If you see any errors or have updates to this table, please contact me.
Thanks,
RexPart 2:
Everyone was glad to see that significant work has been done on the Fish Lake road so it is no longer a nightmare to drive. Arriving back at Jack’s cabin, Ted, Yanling, and Rex got serious preparing dinner with a lot of help from Preston Morgan and his daughter Harmony, Jim Smith, Martin Messing, Doug, and others.
As people started eating, most of the Deer(1) Lake stocking group returned. Jack, Minda, and Becca were expected to be arriving later since they had a long ways to go. By 8 PM, everyone was stuffed to the gills with salmon burger, Johnsonville brats, pizza, salad, potato chips, salsa, apple pie, strawberry cheese cake, and watermelon. However, there was still no sign of Jack, Minda, and Becca. We were all becoming concerned since it was starting to get dark. John Taylor drove over to the Waptus River trailhead hoping to see them, but no luck. Finally it was decided to send out Josh Cowart, Tim Messing, and Rich O’Connell. They headed up the Waptus River trail with headlamps. At about two miles in, they came upon the gang. Josh then ran out to share the good news and to relieve anxieties. The group finally got back to the cabin at about 10 PM. Everyone was very glad to see them.
So with just a little excitement, a good time was had by all. 28 people participated in the group dinner on Saturday night and there was more than enough to eat of good food provided by Yanling Yu, Tim Messing, and Ted Allestad. It was a grand event and will no doubt go down in history as the 15th time that Jack Rollo has hosted the overnighter at his cabin. Many thanks Jack from everyone!
Another lake has shown up with Brown Trout, Swan Lake in Kittitas County, so please add this lake to the survey list.
And here is another very important note. If you go to a lake and find Browns and you do not have your Brown Trout DNA kit with you, bring the fish home and take the sample as soon as possible. If the fish has been frozen, thaw it out first, then take the sample. I got this information straight from the Biologist.
Rex
Sunday morning we slowly packed up after a leisurely breakfast. The ferry does not arrive at Lucerne until 2:30 PM; we were not in a hurry. After we boated all the packs and people to the dock on the east side of the lake, Jack, Jan, Robin, and Hans wanted to go see the remains of Gordon’s cabin, so Yanling and I joined in since we knew exactly where it is located. To avoid all the windfalls from the burn, we boated down. On the way back, Jack showed us an eagle’s nest south on the cabins. The nest was at the very top of an old snag about 100+ feet tall. We could see the head of the eagle in the nest as it watched us motoring by.
During this time, Josh and John were doing some more fishing from the row boat while Minda was catching just as many fish from the dock. Although it was clear no one really wanted to leave, as noon rolled around we realized we needed to get going if we were going to catch the ferry. We all thanked Sid for a great time and begrudgingly headed down the trail. Sid followed us with some heavy items on his Honda motorbike.
Jack and I broke off from the group as we got down near Lucerne; we wanted to go take a look at the town. From 1937 to 1957 Lucerne was a very active town when the Holden Mine was in operation. Now the Forest Service has a small facility here and there is a group of about 20 small houses that are for the most part very well maintained. As we entered the small town, a man riding lawn mower told us that we were not allowed to be here since it is all private property. Since we were just walking through, he asked us to not linger. Just 50 feet farther we saw the first “No Trespassing” sign. Then we saw a woman. Jack asked her if any of the cabins were for sale. She replied that everything here belonged to the Lake Chelan Boat Club.
Jack and I moseyed over to the ferry dock. The rest of the gang were sun bathing on the beach. While waiting for the ferry, I threw a few casts in the lake out of curiosity; no bites. Typical of Lake Chelan, the afternoon wind was pretty strong by the time the ferry arrived making it a challenge to dock the boat. The captain had to take two tries to get her tied up. On the boat, there was a crowd on people since it was Sunday afternoon. We were able to find seats on the open deck, so that we could enjoy the surrounding views. Once the boat got going, the relative wind was almost zero so it was very pleasant.
We arrive back at Field’s Point at about 5 PM. After thanking Jack and everyone for a great 3 days, we all headed off for home. Hans went with Jack and Brian who agreed to drop him off in Cle Elum to see what the story was on his vehicle.
So you can now see why I started this summary of our Domke Lake trip with “What a Great trip!” Many thanks to Jack for making all the arrangements. I hope the rest of the gang will add their comments and photos to this thread.
That night, Sid came over to share dinner with us. Since everyone brought something to share, we had tons of good food. We had venison chili, asparagus, rice, garlic bread, watermelon, sausage, fish, and lots more. Sid brought over a delicious fresh rhubarb pie that he had just made. (Yes, he grows rhubarb up there!) There was also an assortment of liquid refreshments that appeared to lighten up the group just in time for Jack’s funny shirt and/or costume contest. It was all so much fun that we finally agreed everyone was a winner.
Saturday after breakfast, Jack and John went to visit with Sid. Robin and Jan took one boat fishing and Hans and Minda used the other boat for fishing. Brian, Josh, Yanling, and I decided to go up Domke Mountain via a straight-up cross-country route rather than the very long trail. We found that getting up the first couple hundred feet from the lake shore to be a challenge due to the fire that went thru here in 2007 leaving jumbo piles of large charcoal logs everywhere. In no time our hands and pants were sooty. In just under a mile we did 1380 feet to get up to the ridge. There we found the trail up the remaining 600+ feet to the old site of the lookout (see the old B&W photo). Unfortunately the lookout is now gone along with many others. From this vantage point we had good views. We could see there was still a lot of snow all around us above about 4500 feet. There were large piles of animal poop everywhere which made us very curious (see photo of Brian and Josh examining the poop). We found out later from Sid that this poop was most likely from several horses that he has and allows to roam free. On the way down we found the old site of Gordon Stuart’s cabin. Gordon came to Lake Chelan in 1924 to become a trapper at age 20. He learned the trade from mountain man “A.L. Cool”. Cool arrived at Domke Lake in the mid 1890’s. When A.L. Cool died in a cabin fire in 1941, Gordon took over the resort. Today, all that is left of Gordon’s cabin is the fireplace and a very stout table. From the photo you can see where a good sized tree has fallen on the table and although it broke the tree in half, the table is undamaged. After Gordon passed away, Sid continued to tradition.
Josh must have been partying too much before this trip and zonked out in the cabin. Robin checked out a comfortable lawn chair and found it to be very comfortable too. Several of us found the fishing to be surprisingly good for such a large lake. We were catching cutthroats and rainbows that averaged about 12 inches. A few of the cutthroats were as large as 14 inches. Behind the largest cabin, there was a horseshoe court. With plenty of people, we quickly had several teams. It was interesting to observe the different techniques. Everyone quickly learned that Yanling’s Frisbee technique required the rest of us to stand clear for personal safety. Brian and I managed to win several rounds but in the end Hans and John were the champions when Hans managed to get 2 ringers in a row.
With kerosene and Coleman lanterns, we had a late dinner and told stories about infamous Trail Blazers like George Kniert, Cliff Lawson, Clayton Kilbourn, and Jamie Van Etten. Funny how Jamie’s stories always seem to be the best.
Arriving at the lake, it took 4 boats to get all of us and our gear over to the cabins on the west side of the lake. Sid instructed us on the use of the outboard motors, the wood burning stove, Coleman lantern and stove. Once we were settled, Sid motored back across the lake to his cabin.
The cabins were definitely rustic but very nice. Jack, Brian, Josh, and Hans stayed in the cabin, while Jan, Robin, Minda, John, Yanling, and I stayed in three separate tents. I picked the tent over the cabins because it is my experience that mountain rustic cabins tend to have lots of mice; however, none were seen here.
Part 3:
At the lower lake, the gang had the remaining 13 jugs tempering in the lake while Ben, Brian, and Kathy checked out the condition of the brookies; there were plenty to catch. Yanling was busy photographing everything. The lower lake temperature was 44F and typically the jugs were running about 57F. Once the jugs were tempered, we had the fun task of getting 13 to 16 inch Tigers out of the jugs; you can’t just pour them out. You need to hold the mouth of the jugs under the water and wait for the Tigers to turn around towards the opening. Many times they will them swim out, but some times it is necessary to give a gentle squeeze of the jug to blow the Tiger out. This is repeated until they are all out of the jug. All of our Tigers looked very healthy and happy in their new home. Not being like trout that start swimming around and even feeding, the Tigers just sit there in the ambush mode waiting for some prey to swim by.
I posted new signs at the lakes and by 5:45 PM we were all heading back for the cars. We stopped at the pass for a group picture with Mt Rainier in the background and by about 6:30 PM we were all removing our gear and packing up for the long drive home. Needless to say we were all feeling pretty good about this very successful first backpack stocking of Tiger muskies.
There is no doubt that the team effort made all the difference in making this a successful stocking. What could have been a very difficult stocking trip was actually very easy due to the strength and experience of each member of this team. I am extremely grateful to everyone for making this a very successful stocking trip.
Part 2:
The snow conditions on the access road were not as bad as Yanling and I had found one week ago, so we were able to drive farther up than expected through a couple of snow patches on the road. It was fortunate that we all had 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive vehicles. We were able to get within 1.7 miles of the lakes before we were stopped by solid deep snow on the road. Here we unloaded the snowmobile and prepared for this historical event. Doug and Kathy loaded 5 jugs in their sled and took off for the lakes. Mick and Ben each put 3 jugs onto their sleds and headed up on skis with Joe providing assistance. Chuck, Brian, Yanling, and I each took a jug in our packs. By 3:45 PM we were all on our way up the snowy road.
The road goes up over a pass at 4143 feet before dropping down the other side to the upper lake at 3957 feet. The road continues down to just shy of the lower lake. From there, it is about 200 feet on a trail to the lower lake at 3864 feet. There were bare patches on the access road to the lakes today which were not helpful to the snowmobile or the skiers, but in fact it really did not slow them down. By 4:40 PM Chuck and I were tempering the Tigers at the upper lake and by 4:50 PM, all the other jugs were in the lower lake.
The beavers have raised the water level at the upper lake so that the water goes well into the brush and it is difficult to get to open water now. Chuck and I worked our way around the west end of the lake through the brush to find a little open water access. We wanted to find a place away from the outlet. It is now dammed up by the beavers but we still felt we wanted to put the tigers well away from the outlet. The lake temperature was 52F and my jug was 62F. The Tigers looked in good shape and they were anxious to get out of the jugs. After a short tempering, 10 Tigers had a new home in the upper lake. I still have 2 remaining Tigers in my jug so I headed on down to the lower lake with them.
Part 1:
This was a historical event for the Trail Blazers, WDFW, and for Washington State; the first ever stocking of a mountain lake in Washington State with Tiger muskies via backpack. Since we could not pick up the Tigers until about noon at the Mossyrock Hatchery, there was no need for an early start so we left home around 8:30 AM. (The Tigers were being driven over from Ringold Hatchery in Eastern Washington via tanker truck that morning.) Getting onto the Express lanes of I-5, Yanling and I quickly realized that there was a problem since there was almost no movement of the traffic. Turning on the radio, the traffic reporter announced that a dump truck had turned over on I-5 just before the I-90 junction, spilling his load of gravel and then caught fire. The announcer said the freeway was totally closed and would be for several hours. Fortunately we were able to get off the freeway and took surface streets to south Seattle.
We picked up Chuck Russell at Southcenter and headed south on I-5. We arrived at Mossyrock Hatchery just before noon. Brian Curtis was already there. Since we were planning to load our 15 jugs with 90 Tigers, we discussed the logistics with Tim Summers who ended up coordinating everything. The tanker truck from Ringold arrived at about 12:30. Tim got them to net out a bunch of the Tigers and put them into a tub on the ground. They were running 13 to 16 inches, long and about ½ pound each. They looked really big! We had preloaded each of our large mouth jugs with 2 gallons of water. With a jug in another tub, they Tigers were hand loaded, one at time, head first into the jugs. Tim then filled each jug with O2. With Tim’s excellent coordination and the help of everyone at the hatchery, the loading of the Tigers into the jugs went very smoothly and quickly. By 1:25 PM we were on the road heading for Ashford. With 10 jugs in our car, it was crowded, so Chuck rode with Brian and the other 5 jugs. We were very thankful that Brian had agreed to bring his vehicle and meet us at Mossyrock; it would have been a real challenge to haul 15 jugs of Tigers and packs in one vehicle.
By 2:20 PM we arrived at the meet-up place east of Ashford. Doug Archambeau and Kathy Cropp were already there with their snowmobile in a trailer. In a few minutes, Mick Scott drove up with Ben Eacker and Joe Knowles. Since time was not on our side, we wasted no time and started the drive up to the access to the Anderson Lakes. The access is through DNR property that is not open to public vehicles, but we have a long standing agreement with DNR to allow us to drive their roads to do the work at the Anderson Lakes. The current manager, Brandon Mohler, and his predecessor Ted Keeley, have both been extremely helpful and supportive of this project.
Yanling and I tried to drive to the Anderson Lakes on Monday. We hit the first major snow at 3350 feet. It was a patch covering the entire road about 100 feet long and 8 inches deep. We parked the car there and started walking. It is another 2.2 miles to the lower lake. After this first major patch of snow, the road was bare for about 1/4 mile, then it is solid snow all the way to past the upper lake. In places the snow was 3 to 4 feet deep. It took us 1.5+ hours to walk the snow covered road with some rain and light snow falling at the pass. The upper lake was open, water temperature 41F. Beavers have built a substantial dam ahead of the culvert that drains the lake so that the water level is now at least 2 feet higher.
The lower lake was still 50% frozen, water temperature 40F. Beavers have also built a dam on the outlet of this lake and the water level is up 2 to 3 feet. The campsite where we always staged for putting rafts into the lake is almost completely underwater. Most people now go east of the outlet to avoid having to cross the high outlet stream. Someone has built a large log raft and has it tied to a tree to the east of the outlet.
Anyway, it is clear we are not going to drive cars to the lakes any time soon. Since the word is that Monday, May 12th, is the only day that the Bio can get Tiger muskies to us, we are now considering other options to get the Tigers to the lakes. Kathy Cropp and Doug have a snowmobile that tows a ski trailer. The idea would be to use the snowmobile and its ski trailer to get all the fish jugs up to the lakes. The snowmobile sounds like a good solution but the road is very narrow and turning the snowmobile trailer around could be a killer problem. So our backup solution now is to get 15 people to carry the 15 each 5 gallon jugs to the lakes. Getting 15 people to volunteer is also a big challenge, but it is a relatively short hike (2.2 miles one way and 1100 feet). Brian Curtis, Mick Scott, and Chuck Russell have already committed to help. With Yanling and me, that makes 5. Just need 10 more people!
If you can help us carry a 5 gallon jug, please let me know as soon as possible. Here is your chance to help make history; the first ever stocking a mountain lake in Washington State with Tiger muskies via backpack!
Rex
Vern,
When I first started coming to the Hi-Lakers, Vic was President. He made a lasting impression on me and I am sure this is true for many other people. Both Vic and you have given a lot to both clubs and these are the memories I shall carry with me.
Many thanks,
Rex
