All this warm weather has me dreaming of summer destinations.
Has anyone ever been to Red Castle in the Uintahs? My father-in-law says the fishing is phenomenal.
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I have been there and the fishing is amazing. The size of the fish is also very good for the Uintas (mostly cuts and bows). The hike is very long and the last five miles are a beast, but well worth the fishing and the scenery. From Red Castle you are actually just over the ridge from Kings Peak. It is one of the prettiest places I have ever been. There are 4 lakes in the area. The main Red Castle Lake was the best fishing and it is also the largest. I fished the upper and lower Red Castle lakes as well. Not as many fish and not quite as big. I never made it to East Red Castle. The streams all the way up are awesome fishing too. I encountered three bull moose at Lower Red Castle which was an amazing sight since you are getting up around 11,000 ft. and twelve miles in. Well worth the time and effort. I plan to do it again.
I hiked in there a bunch of years ago, it was beautiful and well worth the 12 miles of hiking. The hike wasn't bad, in fact we did it in and out overnight. Didn't do any fishing on that trip but we sure saw a lot of fish in the lakes. Also saw 13 bull moose that trip. I have always wanted to get back up there, it just hasn't worked out. Let us know if you go and how the fishing is
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Not to knock the Castle lakes, but in my opinion to hike that far for cutts is crazy. Now if it's nice brook trout you're after, there are some good lakes with nice fish and much shorter hikes. P.M. me if you're interested.
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A lot of years ago I packed into Upper Red Castle and had a ball catching cutts. The fish were huge compared to any other Uinta lake I had been to. The water was so clear you could watch them snatch your lure. Been wishing I could go back ever since. Nothing like fishing "on top of the world".
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I have not been to Red Castle, but from what I read and gather I am developing anxiety to go there. The Uintas have amazing fishing for their lake sizes, I tell you what. Does anyone kwow which lakes have Arctic Grayling? I am willing to hike
ANY distance to find good size grayling. Not as big as they catch them in Canada and Alaska, but still a good 2 pounds maybe.[
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Dry Fork up Weber Canyon. Fished it last summer. Tons of Grayling. The hike is about 5 miles in. Three lakes to choose from.
Thank you for that info. I will try to go there this year and catch me some grayling.
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was wondering if there are any close to cache valley?
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I too have been into the Red Castle Lakes with much the same experience as above - great fishing for rather large cuts. It is a long trip in but the area is as beautiful and any I know.
In response to BG1, I also like brookies and have found them in many of the Uinta mountain lakes however, I have rarely found any as large as the cuts in the Castle Lakes. Apparently they may become fewer in number in the future - it seems that the DWR is wanting to get rid of the brook trout in the Uintas and replace them with cuts.
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That would be terrible if they got rid of all the brookies. It would be great to have a few more lakes with the cutties but not all. I hiked into fish lake from spirit lake last summer. The brooke trout were as big there as I have caught anywhere accept for Henry's in Idaho. We caught them up to 18" and they were super fat and healthy. The colors on the males were absolutley breathtaking. I can't imagine the uintas without brooke trout.
FIshjon
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[font "Times New Roman"][#000000]Don't know for sure. I don't remember reading and grayling stocking in that area recently. Maybe in the Bear River or tributaries.[/#000000][/font]
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