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Hi everyone, brand spankin new to the forum! A little bit about myself, I am just a young man (27), working on raising my family right. My wife and I and our two young kids live in the Yakima valley. Both my wife and I were born and raised over here. I grew up hunting and fishing the mountains around the valley. I have been hiking into high lakes for quite some time now. In the last couple years I have been hitting it hard with my brother and a great friend of mine. This year we decided we would each pick a new lake to go hike and fish. We are into hard hiking, off the trail, high elevation, isolation, good fishing, overnighter trips. Oh and a requirement for one of the lakes is it has to keep Golden or Tiger trout. Reaching out to you guys/gals to help us on our journey to finding some awesome lakes! Thank you.
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It sounds like you are already well on your way. Finding the blue spots on the maps and getting out there is exactly the best way to go. And exploring new water is my favorite thing.
Now the rub. The most common question we get is asking where to go catch golden trout. Because the lakes are typically sensitive and can’t stand too much pressure, we tend to not come right out and tell you where to go. Social media posts can put pressure in individual locations. Besides, I think a good portion of the fun is in the exploring.
That being said, here are a few things to keep in mind. You aren’t really going to find tiger trout in high lakes. They are regularly stocked in some Skamania County high lakes, but most are drive to or very short walks. Lakes with goldens tend to be higher elevation and off trail. Just the lakes you are looking for. There are exceptions, but if you keep trying you will definitely find them. Fish are not stocked in Mt Rainier National Park, so you won’t find goldens there, though there are fish in many lakes.
What sorts of places have you been to already? How far afield do you want to drive?
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Brian, thanks for your timely and knowledgeable response. I should have put a disclaimer in there, we are not looking for anyone’s secret spots, trying to ruin anyone’s spots. We always leave places better than when we arrived, picking up others trash and cleaning the camps and lake shores. We are simply out to enjoy the outdoors and catch some fish along the way. We are all avid outdoorsman and want to be able to enjoy the outdoors for many more years past our life times. As for social media, I can agree with you there. And you are exactly correct, getting out and exploring is the biggest part of it all. One of my sayings is “you don’t know until you go”. Having a young family makes m spring and summer hiking trips become premium, as I can only plan so many. I have to keep the family happy too! Just looking for a nudge in the right direction to some glorious, hard, exhausting, desolate, secluded, off trail fishing adventures. As for the Goldens, no biggie. We aren’t afraid to put some elbow grease into and do our own research. Looking for a fun new adventure. Thanks again Brian!
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Nudges for glorious off-trail fishing adventures. That’s a big topic! I’ll start out in the general. If you want longer overnight trips head for the larger wilderness areas: Alpine Lakes, Glacier Peak, Pasayten, or North Cascades National Park (where some fish are stocked). At the same time, don’t forget about places closer to home like the Goat Rocks. The William O. Douglas has tons of lakes and is well worth your time, but it generally isn’t as spectacular as the other wilderness areas.
From Yakima it would be a straight forward shot to head up into the Salmon-La-Sac area where the cross country adventures seem limitless. If you turn left you can head into the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness where there are so many spectacular lakes like Deadhead, Vicente, Circle, Venus, Spade, Shovel, Rebecca, and Rowena. Or turn right and visit the Granite Mountain area where you might visit the French Potholes, The Granite Man Potholes, Phoebe, Shoal, Jungfrau, Swedes, the Swallow Lakes, and on and on.
Or keep going up over Blewett Pass and into the Leavenworth area. You need a permit, but the cross country backside area of the Enchantments is gorgeous. Or find the way trail into Lake Victoria and explore the smaller lakes in that area. The lakes on French Ridge are really nice and that ties you back in with the Granite Mtn. area, eventually. Or head the other way toward Sylvester or the Lady Lakes. You could try for Charles and Knox Lakes.
I’ve really just been throwing lake names out and I haven’t even gotten past the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and just on the east side! You really can’t go wrong.
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