Conquered Mildred Lakes for my 4th time, 1st time for this summer 2016. She's truly an Alpine Lake gem. Talked with hikers at the trailhead who said they only caught a few small rainbow trout and it was hit and miss.

Wasn't the case for us and never has been the case at Mildred Lakes. We caught between 15-20 rainbow trout in the 3rd lake. Caught and released everything safely except for a few for dinner/breakfast.

Fish were jumping everywhere all around us. Not just surfacing, but 1ft. airborne for flies. Big (16in+) and little guys jumping. Everyone was jumping. Could hardly look anywhere on the lake for more than 30 seconds without an airborne trout.

We used nightcrawlers, powerbait, and a few different rooster tails. We made sure to be extremely careful with C&R these alpine lake fish. We cut the line of more than five embedded hooks and safely released the fish to swim away.

I hooked into a big fish (guessing 2lb. range) in a cove on a rooster tail. It instantly starting spinning my drag and 6lb. test and dove deep into a hole of rock. It tangled me up and spit the lure after about 30 seconds of fight. It hit like a semi-truck compared to the rest of the fish. I'm convinced there are big fish in these alpine lakes.

I challenged myself and brought up my buddy's inflatable 2 man kayak. Tough workout but well worth the reward of exploring every cove and hotspot of the 3rd lake. We found really great hotspots that I'll share with anyone willing to pack up a raft :)

If you love alpine lake fishing, solitude, and a phenomenal workout that will push you to your limit and beyond, put Mildred Lakes in the Olympic National Forest on your list.

For those of you who lace up the boots to conquer Mildred, good luck...the fish are waiting!

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