Got to the lake (we thought,) about 8 a.m. We were really only at the Lake Valley Loop N/Jack Brown Rd N parking lot. It's about a 1 3/4 mile walk from here. Having never been to the lake, a couple of detours, a call to BLM and two hours later (10 a.m.) we arrived via the northwest rim. Not one to give up, my buddy wasn't going home without putting a line in the water and hopefully some fish. He started out with a worm and a hook, went to a Swedish Pimple with salmon eggs, nothing on that hole. My Humminbird SmartCast said there was fish at another hole so he moved. Went back to a worm and hook, no flasher, just the hook. 'Wham,' he took a nice 14" Rainbow, then a 10" from that hole. (We were midway down the lake on the east side.) Luckily I didn't get skunked and pulled out an 8" 'bow. It was kinda time to head for the truck (1 p.m.,) so we went to the south end looking for an easier way out. Hit a couple of holes and took two more. The SmartCast never went over 10' from the middle of the lake to the east shore. West shore 30 feet out hit 13'+. 'Cept for all that hikin' it was a great day of fishing. A high pressure cell cleare the sky and we got sunburnt. The ice looks like it's at 10-12" thick. Wear cleated or spiked boots, the trail's slippery. Snowshoes would be helpful.

Getting to Hog Lake:

I-90 West, take the Fish Trap exit, turn left onto Old State Hwy, take the second left (Lake Valley Loop N), the entrance to the BLM land is just over the railroad crossing, across Jack Brown Rd N. If the gate is closed due to winter conditions, you'll have to park in this parking lot and walk in. There is a pedestrian gate to the right of the information board (with also displays a BLM map of the area.

The walk into Hog Lake from the Jack Brown Rd (winter) parking area is about 1 3/4 miles. After about a mile you'll come to a parking area that over looks a pond/natural area. To continue to Hog Lake, don't walk into the parking lot, stay right and, if you can discern it through the snow, follow the road to the south end of the lake where the parking lot and boat launch are located. If not, follow the tracks that veer right, not over the wire fence (that cost us two hours of fishing.)

Hog Canyon Creek follows south from the lake and creates another small lake about 3/4 mile downstream. A hiking trail to the west of the creek (recognizable after the winter snow melts,) leads you past the lake to Fish Trap road, about 1.7 south miles of Hog Lake.

For more on the Fishtrap Recreation area, including a map, see: http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/Fishtrap_Brochure.pdf

Here are the Lat/Long for the lake: 472226N 1174834W
Need Lat/Long for other outtings? Try: http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=115:1:4570473513567441495

T-Bone

2/16/2008 9:12:00 AM

Thank you for the detailed directions; the map by itself is somewhat confusing.

fortenbr

2/18/2008 4:48:00 PM

Sorry, the BLM brochure with the map is laid out a little strange. If you open it with Adobe Acrobat, go to the second page and use the Rotate Counterclockwise feature in Acrobat, the map will display poperly (with I-90 to the west.) Admittedly, I'm not terribly impressed with BLM's map either, but, if you can locate R40E, Block 30 on the map, you'll find the parking area, boat launch and dam at the south end of the lake. Good luck and great fishing.

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