hey hashbaz. i have alot of spots you can hike into with specific info on them because i have hiked to them myself. if you want more info just pm me.
Got a PM from him this weekend, will follow up on info about.
I wouldn’t mind hiking 20 miles for a chance to catch a 5lb brookie. I have been looking for a 50 mile or so round trip hike to do this summer. MRJ please post it or shoot me an email.
I TOTALLY second what MRJ has said! I’ve backpacked in to the Fox/Crescent Lakes like 4 times now! It’s a blast!
You can hike the first day to Queant Lake, which is only 1/2 mile from Cleveland Lake also. Both can be anywhere from good to great fishing. Then, you can hike the next day over the Fox/Queant Pass to Fox or Crescent Lakes. Even if someone else is camping in the same basin, you can find complete solitude there. There are plenty of great camping areas around fox, and one or two around Crescent too. The stream out of Fox IS dynamite! I remember catching 100+ fish in one afternoon using small size 0 Mepps spinners on the stream.
Queant is about 4 1/2 miles in from the Trailhead, then another 4 1/2 to Fox/Crescent. There are several other small lakes nearby as well,such as Dime Lake, Brook Lake, and Ogden Lake.
All the lakes and streams have beautiful brookies (in July in BRILLIANT spawning colors), and Fox and Crescent both have a good healthy population of beautiful Cutthroats too.
It’s definitely one of my favorite places on earth!
For big big bookies try the 4th chain lake (U-4). Often it appears to be almost void of fish, but the ones in there can be huge. It was the favorite of old man Allred from the U-Bar Ranch. You have to be patient to catch the lunkers that come out of there. They are hard to catch anytime, but very early and very late in the day is best. Another good bet for big brookies is Verlie Lake (U-41) by the Kidney Lakes. You don’t catch many but they are big. Pretty tough getting there though because of the boulder field you have to cross. My favorite is B-29 (U-18). Old man Allred for whom Allred Lake(U-14)is named after, said "it was named B-29 because "the fish in there are as big as a B-29. A bit overstated but the Brookies there are big. I consistantly have caught them in the 2-2.5 lb. range two at a time with flies. Another favorite in the area with an occasional good size fish is Lilly Pad Lake
(U-8) and the stream that enters it on the right just before you get to the 1st chain lake. The north side of the lake is a floating solid moss & grass bed that you can walk on. Towards the edge it is quite deep and casting a lure parallel to the edge and let it sink below the bottom of the (floating shore) can yield some nice ones. Go get em.
I think we may have to leave the catfish bait at home one weekend and head up there and catch some little trout.
Wow! Thanks for all the responses guys. So many lakes - I wish I had more time. Now I’m really itchin to get out. I’d like to hit one of the lower lakes - I just need to convince my wife that she does too.
There is another lake that holds HUGE Cutts. It doesn’t have a name on the map that I have, but supposedly it’s named Ogden Lake. It’s about 1 mile above Queant Lake, to the North-NorthWest. The lake also doesn’t have very many fish, and I think they may not stock it anymore, but a few years ago my Dad’s co-scout leader caught a 5 lb. cutt out of it, packed it in snow and packed it out and all the way home. When he got home he weighed it and it was 5 lbs!!! I saw the fish, it was a beaut.
Yea that is Ogden Lake (WR5). That is one of those lakes that can produce big trout and then winter kill in a severe winter. Any of those lakes just off the beaten path can be good.