Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey everyone, question here on late season high lakes. By late season, I mean September and October, and by high I mean in the vicinity of 2000' to 3000' elevation. In general, with the salmon closures everywhere this year I am going to be doing some late season hike in days to higher elevation lakes and want to know your thoughts on the opportunities up at those lakes at the times of year noted above. Obviously, I understand that some lakes are great, and some are not, but in general, how do higher elevation lakes fish in the early/mid fall? I have never fished lakes at elevations like these this late in the year and am looking for a bit of info as to what to expect before I go. In particular, two that I would like to get up to before it gets too cold are Wallace (Hwy 2) and Goat (mt. loop hwy.).

Hey, just found this, I know you posted a while back. I have been asking this same question for a while now. I have been going to Trailblazers meetings and they seem to have mixed success. A couple of guys at work have done quite a bit of it, and they tell me that this time of year is usually pretty good because the bugs are dying off and they are trying to eat before winter. One guy in particular who fished a lot of alpine lakes back in the day has told me that they like flies, or anything shiny, silvery. I haven't had a chance to do much yet. Tomorrow I am taking my wife up to Bench and Snow lakes, we will see how it goes. Good luck my friend!

Thanks for the reply.i have gotten out to a couple sub-alpine/alpine lakes recently; Royal Lake on the OP at the end of September and Wallace Lake just last weekend. Both times I had good success using a 1/8oz gold and crimson kastmaster. In general, I was able to answer my question that lakes such as those still fish well during the fall. I'll have to keep trying as the seasons go on though. The only time I have fished Bench and Snow was in August I believe, so I would be interested to know how you do this time of year.

Well, I didn't make it out. My wife had a rough night the night before so we didn't venture out. It would have been a great day for it too :(