Independence lake is located at the end of Coal Lake Road off Mountain loop Hwy. I used to fish it a lot around 1980-82. At that time it produced many rainbows in the 12-15" range. Alpine lakes aren't nearly as well stocked/managed as they used to be, but that being said there is a small stocking program. I found data that listed Independence as receiving 200 fish per year from the mid 90's through 2013.

Anyway... my friend and I packed out float tubes into the lake. trail is about .6 mile length. 20 min. walk.
We covered the whole lake trolling woolly buggers mostly in black with gold. Sinking tip fly line. Saw only 2 small surface disturbances that were fish. Caught just one small 7" rainbow. It was the fattest 7" bow I've seen in some time, but of course was a bit of a disappointment. Caught the bow on a green nymph.
This lake gets no pressure at all, maybe a couple hikers throwing a spinner now and then.

First chance to use my new setup for sonar on float tube. I am going to make a demo. video and post it here soon.
floattubefanatics.com is an amazing company that allows you to secure literally any sonar unit you can imagine to your float tube. Comes with a proprietary battery, and attachments for the transducer. This takes float tube sonar WAY beyond the dipstick sonar that you usually see on a float tube. I was using a Humminbird Helix 7, with side imaging, gps, etc.

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