So my brother and I decided to make a spur of the moment trip to Wallace Lake to check out the fishing. We'd seen pictures and it looked gorgeous, and WDFW site said that thier were lake trout thier, and it's a 45 minute drive from home. So we hiked in the rain through the forest, on some muddy but very well kept trails by Wallace Falls. Gorgeous! Even in the rain and fog it was 70 degrees in the woods, and we scared some bunnies off the trail. So the hike was 6 miles, and pretty steep, not for kids. But very scenic.

On to the lake. When we got there at about four, we geared up and had about 15 minutes to fish before we had to head back. The Lake was rather high, and we couldn't see the fish rise on account of the rain, but it was pristine. We worked our way out near the log jam at the west side of the lake and first cast with a gold spinner I caught a ten inch cutthroat. My brothers second cast and he caught a fourteen inch cutthroat. Every cast you could see through the crystal clear water the sides of trout as they chased the spinner. It was amazing. I hooked into a 20 + inch fish, probably bigger, and tried to fight it on the surface so as to not get him lost in some of the logs nearby, but alas I slipped and fell waist deep in the water and he did tangle himself up under a log. So with time for about 10 to 15 casts I caught three fish, in about ten minutes, I'd say the fishing was grand. If you're fishing from shore I'd definately pack in my waders next time on account of the shore being so far back. On the way back we decided to try the railroad grade trail by the dnr road. Definately a lot easier than the Greg Ball trail we took up, we made it back in an hour, rather than the two hours it took to get up, even though it's a mile longer than the other trail, the sunset in the skykomish valley was amazing! We're definately going back when it's not raining, even though the water was fine for swimming after the fall. Really fun.

The Quadfather

5/30/2010 9:26:00 AM

Now THAT is my kind of report and fishing. We definetly don't get enough alpine lake reports. I love to fish this kind of lake..
Clear water, no weeds, (trout) weeds are cool for bass fishing of course,, fish are very fiesty active because the ice is off and they're hungry, top it off with solitude and nice scenery. If you do any more hike-in fishing, please post up a report on what you do.

natetreat

5/30/2010 1:05:00 PM

Definitely. We're set to hike in again when the weather gets better. This time we're going to take the inflatable, to get off the west side. This is my favorite type of fishing, we constantly look for new obscure places to fish. I think the fish appreciate the extra effort that's required to just get to the lakes, and they respond with lots of visits and happily return to the water after a quick hello!

MotoBoat

5/31/2010 12:16:00 PM

Unbelievable!....................your story brings back memories of a time gone by for me anyway. This is a incredible adventure. Hike 6 miles in the rain to fish whatever time was left in the day (in this case 15 blazing fast minutes) and hike out the same day? Wow. Most might consider the weather endured while on your 6 mile speed walk / run / hike misery, not you. Your not wet enough, so in the lake you go! Glad you survived the dip in the lake, and that your planning a return journey............with a raft this time. Looking forward to that fishing report.

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