Cascade and Olympic Alpine Lakes

The Olympic and Cascade Mountains of Washington harbor hundreds of alpine lakes. Many of these lakes are home to trout, which provide some excellent opportunities for fly fisherman. Some of the lakes require hiking to reach them, while others can be reached from the road. Crowding is rarely a problem on any of the lakes in the Olympics or Cascades, but can be a problem on busy weekend such as 4th July and Labor Day. One thing to consider when planning a trip to one of these lakes is that Washington has very unpredictable weather. Due to this it is always best to plan for rain, or even snow which is possible in the high cascades almost anytime of the year. For fisherman that are seeking solitude, there are miles of trails to explore and many of these trails are almost completely free of people during the middle of the week.

Above: a South Cascades lake with a Beaver Lodge in the foreground. A float tube is very helpful tool on most lakes such as the one above, due to shoreline vegetation. However logs (as long as they are stable enough) can often provide the extra distance needed to get your fly to trout.

Other lakes such as the one below are shallow and open enough to be fished from shore or waded.

Above: Brook Trout are found in many mountain lakes.

The alpine lakes in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains hold a wide variety of trout, including Rainbows, Westslope and Coastal Cutthroat, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Tiger Trout, Golden Trout, Bull Trout and Kokanee. Out of all of these Golden and Bull Trout are the hardest to find and Bull trout can not be legally fished for because they are currently listed as threatened. Golden Trout on the other hand are stocked in some lakes, but the location of these spots is a guarded secret by those who know where they are. These golden trout lakes often lie off marked trails and require at least a couple of days to get in and out of. Lakes where brook trout a found tend to have high densities of small stunted fish. Feel free to keep a few of these fish as it will only help to overall population. In some of the lakes, Brown and Tiger trout have been stocked, in an attempt to control the brookies' populations.

Upper Left: Lower elevation lakes, such as this one often have trees right up to the waters edge.

In most years, lower lakes (2000 - 3500 feet) are snow free by late April or May, but this can be earlier or later. Lakes above this elevation (5000+) are usually snow free by June or July. These lakes are often very calm and very clear, and a certain degree of stealth can be required. When the wind does kick up, it makes it hard for trout to see anglers, and fish often congregate at the side of the lake that the wind is blowing toward. Inlets and outlets of these lakes are good spots to fish as trout will gather there to feed. When there is a creek feeding or draining these lakes, they are often worth fishing as they likely can support self sustaining populations of trout. Be sure to leave spawning trout alone, as self-sustaining populations can be very fragile.