Fishing Forum

I'm going to be hiking my ways into echo this weekend and just curious is it worth taking waders with me or not???

I sure want to get a golden [].
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My experience is that the natural Unita lakes (e.g., not the reservoirs) have bottoms of mucky silt mixed with sharp rocks and boulders that make them a pain to wade. Now a float tube would be a BIG advantage and worth carrying. Just my two cents.
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I'd skip the waders at Echo. No real use. Fishing from shore is fine. I don't really do any better with a float tube there either. Consider keeping your limit of 8 brookies there. If you filet them you'll need 8 of them for a 4 oz serving of fish[]. Now if you figure out how to make them not taste like mud let me know.
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What vehicle are you driving in ? While it's not nearly as bad as it used to be the last couple miles are fairly bad still. If you don't have at least 7-8 inches of clearance you'll most likely have to lug in those waders (and float tube) a mile or 2 (with mountain lions watching from the woods. Honestly I've only encountered a mtn lion once while fishing from shore there so don't sweat it as the slowest prey around for miles[laugh].
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[quote riverdog] Consider keeping your limit of 8 brookies there. [/quote]


+1. I was just there 3 weeks ago and all the fish (both brookies and goldens) are still skinny as @*$%. Take out as many brookies as the law will allow and maybe the goldens will have a chance to grow a little. I swear they are the same size as last summer, when they were planted. At least they are colorful now.

As for eating the brookies, any skinny, stunted fish will taste far worse than a well fed, tasty, scud filled one, but I just gut them, put them in a special flour and seasoning mix, and fry them and they are OK.


With respect to waders, they would be a waste of time and effort, unless you also had a float tube. I like fishing there with the tube. It gives me more options and mobility. When I was there, all the fish were deep and I couldn't get any on my usual surface techniques. I put on a little bladed royal coachman and kicked that around in the tube. It was game on from there.
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2006 ford taurus. I've heard it's not a good idea to take it.
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[quote Flyfishinglover]2006 ford taurus. I've heard it's not a good idea to take it.[/quote]

Yep, bad idea.
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I second that, ive taken my 98 tacoma up there a few times, sheared off a shock once and busted 2 leaf springs on 2 separate occasions.
The road is rough but it gets worse when you get to the pyramid lake/ echo turnoff for about a mile or so to the lakes.
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Man I hate getting stuck behind a pickup on that road. With no weight in back they bounce all other the place at 1 mph once the road gets rough. Not sure why you wouldn't park and walk to save time[]. And seriously if you drive a pick up let those behind you pass. Nothing like a 25 minute drive being stretched into a hour because someone won't spend 10 secs to let you buy.
FFL with the taurus you could drive in and then park when it gets rough.You can now probable get in within 2-3 miles if you're used to driving rough roads. If you have a mtn bike you could ride it the rest of the way or just hike. The other option is just to hike the FSH (Fehr Shephard Hoover lake) trail into the the road in Murdock Basin and then hike back toward Echo in the opposite direction that you can drive in on.
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Waders? It's summer time all you need is some wading shoes![]
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[quote riverdog]Man I hate getting stuck behind a pickup on that road. With no weight in back they bounce all other the place at 1 mph once the road gets rough. Not sure why you wouldn't park and walk to save time[:p]. And seriously if you drive a pick up let those behind you pass. Nothing like a 25 minute drive being stretched into a hour because someone won't spend 10 secs to let you buy. [/quote]


I know just what you mean. I think it is not just pickup trucks though. I think folks with limited experience driving on jeep trails drive up there in moms urban assault SUV or the pickup used for cruising State Street and reach the last mile and a half rock piles and simply do not know what to do on such a road. They then freeze up, go extra slow and indecisively and bash their oil pan and rear differential on twice as many rocks as an experienced off road driver would. Oh well.

The suggestion of parking an ill equipped vehicle (or inexperienced driver) 2 miles before the end of the road is a sound one for many.
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That road is nuthin! Head up to Ironmine if you want a challenge. And where can't a 4-wheeler or ATV not get around a truck? I agree though, some folks just go waaay to slow. I always let ATVs pass as long as they have fishing rods with them.[]
There's much better fishing in Murdock Basin than Echo, IMO, unless you really need one of those goldens.
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Just got back the fishing was good but not as big as last years fish. The road sucks its the worst part espically coming back.
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