Hiked into Josephine last weekend. We had originally planned to hit Swimming Deer Lake, but couldn't find the cutoff trail and Josephine looked nicer anyway, so we doubled back. It's just off the Icicle Creek trail, which is a turn east(?) from the PCT. We saw maybe ten camp sites, but there may be more. There's a box toilet (prop up the lid with a stick!)
Even on an August weekend, there was only one other group, and they weren't fishing.
Caught my first rainbow on the second cast, and three more within the hour. Used a small Dick Nite - silver with an orange tip and single hook. I'm relatively new to Washington and this was the first try with a Dick Nite. Awesome! I even brought Powerbait as a backup, but the one lure slayed them all. The water is extremely clear, so I could often see them hit my lure, even from pretty far from the bank. The wind came up in the early evening, but it got very still right at dusk. The fish weren't huge, but large enough to grill up. Had to let a few small upstarts go. Super-fun to catch on light gear and delicious eating after a pretty decent hike.

The Quadfather

8/24/2014 9:55:00 PM

Oh man... Lake Josephine..
I spent many a time hiking into that lake with pops and brother in about 1974-1980. I haven't heard anyone mention it in years. I remember catching oodles of fish up there as a kid. Love those lakes with some logs at the mouth of the creek. great to climb and fish from. The place that probably got me hooked on fishing as a kid.
Thanks for your report!

swayner23

8/25/2014 7:56:00 AM

Nice report Seth! Sounds like a super nice trip.

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