I'm headed up there this weekend with the scouts, will stay at moosehorn and fish there friday then hike the notch mountain trial starting at the bald mountain trail head and ending up at trial lake. On this hike we will pass by lots of lakes including clegg, dean, notch, bench, meadow, Ibantik, lovenia, hope and wall lakes. For any of you that know the area I was just wondering which of these lakes would be the best bet to spend time fishing, and which ones are fishless. thanks for all the help and any information on any of these lakes or the trail its slef would be great thanks!
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My inlaws are camp ground hosts at trial lake. Tell them Jeremey and laura says "hi". I know trial is stocked around june-aug time, depending on the snow. Last year this time was still 5-7ft snow around wall lake and ruth lake. I wish I could remember witch lakes were stocked, but I know trial, washington, and ruth lake is for sure. I sure someone will know more.
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I HAVE ONLY FISHED WALL LAKE TWICE...NOT WORTH SPENDING MUCH TIME THERE
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Hope is the only one the book say does not contain fish . All the others have brook and a few with cutts in them . I have fish Dean , Notch , and have caught brookies from them and Wall I only had success at sunset with the cutts . Notch was non stop action but small brookies . But it has been a few years (decades) since I been there .
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[red][size 3]In seasons past Meadow Lake has produced a few underfed looking Cutthroat for me. It wasn't fast fishing but OK. Fly behind a water bobber and Panther Martins (and Panther Martins behind a water bobber[sly]) were the things that seemed to work best. [/size][/red]
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[#ff0000][size 3]Ibantic Lake had some great Brooke Trout. They were a little finicky but would take a small slooooowly cranked natural colored Flatfish until sundown. Anything pulled through the water was working that last hour. Watch for the Mountain Goats in the cliffs above Ibantic and through The Notch. [/size][/#ff0000]
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[#ff0000][size 3]Wall Lake was pretty but pretty much a waste of time with a fishing pole if you were into catching as well. Have something else planned into your menu besides trout if you stay there over dinner time. [/size][/#ff0000]
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[#ff0000][size 3]Washington Lake was fun with Cutthroat and Tiger Trout to catch. [/size][/#ff0000]
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[#ff0000][size 3]I haven't made it to the others you mentioned. I bet there is still a ton of snow up there so be safe and have fun![/size][/#ff0000]
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I will also say that Wall is a waste of time. It is only about a mile above trial lake. Fishing there has always been really slow for me. Ibantic has bigger fish in it than surrounding lakes in my opinion. But like others have said it can be hit or miss. But this time of year seems very busy with people.
Meadow Lake produced for me in the past alot of fish. Fast action but very skinny fish. Surrounding meadow streams have been fun to float flies or salmon eggs too!
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do any of you guys know of any more accessible lakes that have grayling in them? my hiking distance is limited, but i'd love to catch a grayling or two. thanks, bkidder
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I'm working on the info for a lake near Beaver view campground(?) and it's only a mile hike. Maybe! I'll know more next week.
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thanks a lot! i could probably handle a mile or two if its not too rough of terrain.
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I have fished notch (camped there for about 4 days every summer back in the late 80's) it has a cliff going up from the water on the west side of the lake that would be fun for kids to go climing on (unless its been outlawed by BSA for liability reasons). It seams the "fly & bubble" trick was the only thing that worked for us (not spinners, or bait). I envy you for being able to take that kind of hike, it's beautiful country. Good luck.
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Well its been about 10 years ago, but I wanted to put in a good word for wall lake. I caught cutthroats all evening there and a few good ones too. The best part was the taste! Some of the best trout I remember eating. When they started jumping at dusk we got them on both fly and a bubble and a worm below a bobber. It seems like the bigger ones were on the worm under the bobber.
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TAKE SMALL BLACK NAT FLIES, AND WATER BOBERS. FILL THE BOBBERS ABOUT 3/4,S FULL WITH ABOUT A 5 FOOT LEADER. GO TO THE SIDE THE WIND IS BLOWING TO AND REAL VERY SLOW. YOUL CATCH A TON.
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My daughter and I are heading up to Trial Lake this afternoon for an overnighter. We've always had good luck by the dam using just about anything shiney or a bobber/fly. Stop by and say "hi" if we're there...we'll be the ones catching the most fish [
]. We'll be there until noon on saturday.
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I would spend my fishing time at Ibantik Lake. Then I'd also try Lovenia Lake, since it is passed up by most hikers.
The real treat of that hike is Notch Pass. Rest there and enjoy the scenery. With the weather pattern, watch out for lightning.
Start your hike very early in order to get to fishing while they're biting. Midday fishing can really slow down.
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Well i'm back. I stayed at moosehorn and did ok from my float tube but didn't get to do very much fishing at all on the hike the next day. We didn't start until ten, so we were traveling rather quickly, and it seemed that I was the only one who wanted to stop and fish. It was a wonderful hike though passing throuh some of the most breath taking scenery that I've seen in a long time. It think I used close to a whole role of film on just the lake & mountain combination photo. We stopped at most of the lakes to rest for a while and all I saw was two brooks in Ibantik - what an ausome looking place, a deep blue lake surrounded by cliffs and forests. there was quite a few people at notch and Ibantik, but most of the way we were alone, until we got over the notch. thanks for all of the feed back even though I didn't get to do as much fishing as I would have liked. It was a great trail and would recomend it not because of it's fishing, but the amazing scenery.
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