06-26-2008, 02:56 AM
Hello everyone,
I posted a thread last week about the conditions at the higher elevation lakes.....thanks you for your responses.....NOW here is my report!!!!
I camped at Smith and Morehouse with three of my close friends from work on Monday (June 23). Smith and Morehouse is full and the water coming out is RAGING....the water was murky from the runoff but the fishing was good for tiger trout with gold spinners and small gold spoons. Surface activity was very slow given the muddier water. Forest Service personnel said the water has gone down a lot since last week when much of the Ledgefork Camprgound was wet. In the three hours that we fished Smith and Morehouse we caught probably 24 fish between the three of us who fished....biggest tiger trout was about 10 inches.
After lunch we drove up to Mirror lake. The entrance to Mirror was still blocked by a 5 foot tall wall of snow from previous plow passes. Sooo we parked on the main road and walked down the road to the lake. The lake had very little ice on the East side. The lake was probably 94% ice free. The fishing at Mirror Lake was fast and furious. The fish were incredibly healthy and good size as they are holdovers from last year. We fished it for about 3 hours and caught approximately 70 fish between the four of us. The fish were taking everything but the kitchen table. We caught them on Jakes, Super Dupes, nymphs, salmon eggs, power bait. There was no surface activity so the dry flies stayed that way (dry in the fly box).....It was an amazing experience to have the whole lake by ourselves! That probably wont happen again this summer. We caught rainbows, albinos, and a few brookies.
On Tuesday we braved the hike to Round Lake. The hike was much worse than last year and the rivers were pumping horribly. There were several crossings that we had to put our common sense aside to cross them. The hike was even harder as we got near the top due to the snow and mud. Once we got to the top I saw very little surface activity on the lake but observed that the little inlet was stacked with grayling....I didn't know when they spawned before I went up there but I think I know now. The spawn is on! The grayling nailed streamers and nymphs but they were not as easy to catch as they were last year when they sucked up dry flies like they were going out of style. The fish ranged from 7 to 13 inches which was a great surprise as last year's catches were between 5-9 inches. The spawning adults were a great shade of purple and they wanted nothing to do with the flies but the lighter colored grayling were great participants. Between the 4 of us we probably caught 20 grayling out of the inlet and 6 out of the lake. I managed two small (9 inch) cutthroat as well. The hike back down was slippery and wet. The rivers rose several inches during the day. The lakes are defintely accessible but be prepared for muddy and wet conditions.....not safe enough for the scouts or the faint of heart.
Lip em and rip em.
BigBlueGill
My wife is going to try to resize the pics so I can post some. Hope the work week has a good end for everybody!
[#ff0000]PICTURE EDITED FOR SIZE.[/#ff0000]
[signature]
I posted a thread last week about the conditions at the higher elevation lakes.....thanks you for your responses.....NOW here is my report!!!!
I camped at Smith and Morehouse with three of my close friends from work on Monday (June 23). Smith and Morehouse is full and the water coming out is RAGING....the water was murky from the runoff but the fishing was good for tiger trout with gold spinners and small gold spoons. Surface activity was very slow given the muddier water. Forest Service personnel said the water has gone down a lot since last week when much of the Ledgefork Camprgound was wet. In the three hours that we fished Smith and Morehouse we caught probably 24 fish between the three of us who fished....biggest tiger trout was about 10 inches.
After lunch we drove up to Mirror lake. The entrance to Mirror was still blocked by a 5 foot tall wall of snow from previous plow passes. Sooo we parked on the main road and walked down the road to the lake. The lake had very little ice on the East side. The lake was probably 94% ice free. The fishing at Mirror Lake was fast and furious. The fish were incredibly healthy and good size as they are holdovers from last year. We fished it for about 3 hours and caught approximately 70 fish between the four of us. The fish were taking everything but the kitchen table. We caught them on Jakes, Super Dupes, nymphs, salmon eggs, power bait. There was no surface activity so the dry flies stayed that way (dry in the fly box).....It was an amazing experience to have the whole lake by ourselves! That probably wont happen again this summer. We caught rainbows, albinos, and a few brookies.
On Tuesday we braved the hike to Round Lake. The hike was much worse than last year and the rivers were pumping horribly. There were several crossings that we had to put our common sense aside to cross them. The hike was even harder as we got near the top due to the snow and mud. Once we got to the top I saw very little surface activity on the lake but observed that the little inlet was stacked with grayling....I didn't know when they spawned before I went up there but I think I know now. The spawn is on! The grayling nailed streamers and nymphs but they were not as easy to catch as they were last year when they sucked up dry flies like they were going out of style. The fish ranged from 7 to 13 inches which was a great surprise as last year's catches were between 5-9 inches. The spawning adults were a great shade of purple and they wanted nothing to do with the flies but the lighter colored grayling were great participants. Between the 4 of us we probably caught 20 grayling out of the inlet and 6 out of the lake. I managed two small (9 inch) cutthroat as well. The hike back down was slippery and wet. The rivers rose several inches during the day. The lakes are defintely accessible but be prepared for muddy and wet conditions.....not safe enough for the scouts or the faint of heart.
Lip em and rip em.
BigBlueGill
My wife is going to try to resize the pics so I can post some. Hope the work week has a good end for everybody!
[#ff0000]PICTURE EDITED FOR SIZE.[/#ff0000]
[signature]
] I am glad you hiked up all over there to find out for yourself. I have yet to catch a grayling over 6 inches, and I am honestly extremely jealous that you found so many of them. I wish I can get into some yearly action, but we will see how that works. I know of one place that was stalked last year with grayling. I would like to see just how much they have grown. I hope I can get me a 14 incher or bigger. Thanks.