Has anyone fished Boardman? This is a Lake I'd love to fish. As for Pratt and Talapus. These lakes were much better back in the 60's and 70's but the fishery management team netted many ill looking trout out of these lakes and I'm wondering if anyone is planning a trip up to that area in June. Lake Pratt is heavily traveled and for this reason I assume it's not such great fishing.
Also, Grace Lakes, by Steven's Pass. I have never been there, but am wondering if the fishing would be good up there? Anyone tried or going soon? Coal Lake is sweet and by the sound of it, this year the cutties are hitting pretty hard toward the north end. I'd like more information about Grace Lakes and the update of Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus. Tight Lines All.
Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
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littleriver
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RE:Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
If you're talking about the boardman lake that's sort of east and south of the Mt. Pilchuck summit, I have fished it a few times but it's been many years..... There are a few small brookies in it.. not that great..... not familiar with pratt and talapus, but some of the other lakes in that particular neck of the woods are beaver, pinnacle, ashland, twin falls, and upper boardman or Island lake....
pinnacle is pretty good... I fished it about a year ago and it's got lots of very aggressive brookies in it.. not real big, but good fighters... Beaver (I think it's called beaver) is just off to the right as you start up the steep grade to pinnacle... never fished that one but it looks like a good bet.. one that I will get to some cool fall morning when all the mosquitos are gone....
twin falls is small but deep and it looks fishy... been there twice but never with a fishing rod....
ashland lakes are sort of like boardman.. a few small brookies......
I go into these particular lakes mostly for the excercise and the scenery.. IMHO the best fishing in that area is in the twin lakes (lots of "twin lakes" in this state but these ones are special) just south of Monte Cristo.... it's about an 8 mile hike one way.. you park at barlow pass and walk the 4 miles of road to monte cristo and then up over poodle dog pass and along the ridge to twin lakes.... incredible scenery and great trout fishing... if you want to get the really bigs ones though you will approach the outlet of the furthest twin lake very slowly and carefully .. the big boys like to sit in the current and use the logs for cover....
must be very stealthful to have any luck with them.... I always ended up scaring them away, but they do get big and they do hang in that outlet current....
pinnacle is pretty good... I fished it about a year ago and it's got lots of very aggressive brookies in it.. not real big, but good fighters... Beaver (I think it's called beaver) is just off to the right as you start up the steep grade to pinnacle... never fished that one but it looks like a good bet.. one that I will get to some cool fall morning when all the mosquitos are gone....
twin falls is small but deep and it looks fishy... been there twice but never with a fishing rod....
ashland lakes are sort of like boardman.. a few small brookies......
I go into these particular lakes mostly for the excercise and the scenery.. IMHO the best fishing in that area is in the twin lakes (lots of "twin lakes" in this state but these ones are special) just south of Monte Cristo.... it's about an 8 mile hike one way.. you park at barlow pass and walk the 4 miles of road to monte cristo and then up over poodle dog pass and along the ridge to twin lakes.... incredible scenery and great trout fishing... if you want to get the really bigs ones though you will approach the outlet of the furthest twin lake very slowly and carefully .. the big boys like to sit in the current and use the logs for cover....
must be very stealthful to have any luck with them.... I always ended up scaring them away, but they do get big and they do hang in that outlet current....
Fish doesn't smell "fishy" because it's fish. Fish smells "fishy" when it's rotten.
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RE:Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
Thanks a bunch! You seem to have a lot of experience with these lakes. Are you planning any trips this summer? Thanks for all the great information!!
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littleriver
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RE:Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
yeah.. I would love to get my float tube on beaver sometime in Sept or October... but you want to avoid beaver and
pinnacle in July and August because of the abundant mosquitos..
and Island Lake (upper boardman) has fascinated me ever since I first bushwhacked in when I was a kid (about 40 years ago)...
was more interested in swimming than fishing on that particular trip but while checking out the swimming spots I noticed some nice trout in the water.......
There's no real trail into this one though...... you have to find the game and informal fishing trails going around boardman and then sort of bushwhack to the sw staying on the left side of the inlet stream.. you will eventually hit a rock bluff but I found a way up.. you only have to use your hands to pull yourself up onto one shelf and then it's a fairly easy walk in...
I checked out the terrain around boardman a few years ago and it's even more overgrown now than when I was a kid... definitely no trail into Island lake yet
pinnacle in July and August because of the abundant mosquitos..
and Island Lake (upper boardman) has fascinated me ever since I first bushwhacked in when I was a kid (about 40 years ago)...
was more interested in swimming than fishing on that particular trip but while checking out the swimming spots I noticed some nice trout in the water.......
There's no real trail into this one though...... you have to find the game and informal fishing trails going around boardman and then sort of bushwhack to the sw staying on the left side of the inlet stream.. you will eventually hit a rock bluff but I found a way up.. you only have to use your hands to pull yourself up onto one shelf and then it's a fairly easy walk in...
I checked out the terrain around boardman a few years ago and it's even more overgrown now than when I was a kid... definitely no trail into Island lake yet
Fish doesn't smell "fishy" because it's fish. Fish smells "fishy" when it's rotten.
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littleriver
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RE:Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
just checked my green trail maps and where I was talking about "Beaver" lake, I really meant "Bear" lake...
I still can't find Talapus or Pratt or that other one you mentioned.....
Should also note that it was the trail to "Pinnacle" lake where the mother and daughter team were shot and killed a little over a year ago.. this trail is still part of that crime scene... I've followed the case rather closely because my wife and I were actually on the trail a few months before the shooting incident...... I know that trail very well and from the news reports of the shooting I think I even know the exact spot where it occurred.. at least I know the spot I would have used if I were to commit that kind of crime... not that I ever would.. I mean.. I'm just too nice a guy.... but I still feel very badly for the two women.. apparently investigators are starting to look more closely at the husband who was supposed to have been hiking into ashland lakes while his wife and daughter were hiking into pinnacle......
anyways.... my last memory of the trail was looking down at Bear Lake... there wasn't any fish rising but the lake just looked very calm and very fishy.. definitely got to get back and get my float tube on that one.....
I still can't find Talapus or Pratt or that other one you mentioned.....
Should also note that it was the trail to "Pinnacle" lake where the mother and daughter team were shot and killed a little over a year ago.. this trail is still part of that crime scene... I've followed the case rather closely because my wife and I were actually on the trail a few months before the shooting incident...... I know that trail very well and from the news reports of the shooting I think I even know the exact spot where it occurred.. at least I know the spot I would have used if I were to commit that kind of crime... not that I ever would.. I mean.. I'm just too nice a guy.... but I still feel very badly for the two women.. apparently investigators are starting to look more closely at the husband who was supposed to have been hiking into ashland lakes while his wife and daughter were hiking into pinnacle......
anyways.... my last memory of the trail was looking down at Bear Lake... there wasn't any fish rising but the lake just looked very calm and very fishy.. definitely got to get back and get my float tube on that one.....
Fish doesn't smell "fishy" because it's fish. Fish smells "fishy" when it's rotten.
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cole steffens
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RE:Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
im planning on a trip to coal lake havent been up there in a while heard the fishing was ok
if we are good to are lakes and streams they will be good to us
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zen leecher aka Bill W
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RE:Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
Talapus and Pratt are down off of I-90 around the Bandera exit. They are north of the highway.littleriver wrote:just checked my green trail maps and where I was talking about "Beaver" lake, I really meant "Bear" lake...
I still can't find Talapus or Pratt or that other one you mentioned.....
Should also note that it was the trail to "Pinnacle" lake where the mother and daughter team were shot and killed a little over a year ago.. this trail is still part of that crime scene... I've followed the case rather closely because my wife and I were actually on the trail a few months before the shooting incident...... I know that trail very well and from the news reports of the shooting I think I even know the exact spot where it occurred.. at least I know the spot I would have used if I were to commit that kind of crime... not that I ever would.. I mean.. I'm just too nice a guy.... but I still feel very badly for the two women.. apparently investigators are starting to look more closely at the husband who was supposed to have been hiking into ashland lakes while his wife and daughter were hiking into pinnacle......
anyways.... my last memory of the trail was looking down at Bear Lake... there wasn't any fish rising but the lake just looked very calm and very fishy.. definitely got to get back and get my float tube on that one.....
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littleriver
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RE:Grace Lakes, Boardman, Pratt, and Talapus
OK.. I know where you mean now... I avoid that particular neck of the woods because it really gets hammered
by the seattle based granolas..... i mean the trailhead parking lots at that exit are jammed even when there's 3 feet of snow on the ground.... unbelievable...
the lake I usually go to when I'm in that area is "Sunday Lake"... you turn off at "snoqualmie falls" and follow the north fork road up past the spur 10 gate and about a mile or so past the bridge over sunday creek you'll see a parking area for 3 or 4 cars.. follow the blocked logging road (blocked to automobile traffic) 4 miles to sunday lake.... this is the best fishing hike in lake I've ever found in this state.. elevation is low and the growing season is long and fishing pressure is limited......... any smallish fly seems to work.....
another good lake there is "philippa"... you park at the gate you go by just before crossing sunday creek... a grueling 5 mile hike but this lake and the one upstream of it (forget the name of that one right now) has a lot of trout in it...
another good one in that area is "Snow Lake" up by snoqualmie pass..... take the first snoqualmie pass exit and follow the signs back west and north of I-90 to "alpental".. (I think it's alpental)... anyways there's another skiing area near the end of the road and the parking lot for the ski lodge serves as the parking lot for the trail to snow lake.... it's a short 2 or 3 mile hike on an easy trail up to the lake....
a word of caution though.. this lake takes a lot of traffic.... The alpental parking area fills up during weekends and most of the cars are for people headed up to snow lake and the lakes and ridges above....
the good news is that virtually all these hikers are vegetarian greenies who despise even the thought of catch and release fishing....
I hiked in there twice last summer and passed dozens upon dozens of other hikers and didn't see even one fishing rod....
I'll probably get into this one with my float tube sometime this summer or fall....
by the seattle based granolas..... i mean the trailhead parking lots at that exit are jammed even when there's 3 feet of snow on the ground.... unbelievable...
the lake I usually go to when I'm in that area is "Sunday Lake"... you turn off at "snoqualmie falls" and follow the north fork road up past the spur 10 gate and about a mile or so past the bridge over sunday creek you'll see a parking area for 3 or 4 cars.. follow the blocked logging road (blocked to automobile traffic) 4 miles to sunday lake.... this is the best fishing hike in lake I've ever found in this state.. elevation is low and the growing season is long and fishing pressure is limited......... any smallish fly seems to work.....
another good lake there is "philippa"... you park at the gate you go by just before crossing sunday creek... a grueling 5 mile hike but this lake and the one upstream of it (forget the name of that one right now) has a lot of trout in it...
another good one in that area is "Snow Lake" up by snoqualmie pass..... take the first snoqualmie pass exit and follow the signs back west and north of I-90 to "alpental".. (I think it's alpental)... anyways there's another skiing area near the end of the road and the parking lot for the ski lodge serves as the parking lot for the trail to snow lake.... it's a short 2 or 3 mile hike on an easy trail up to the lake....
a word of caution though.. this lake takes a lot of traffic.... The alpental parking area fills up during weekends and most of the cars are for people headed up to snow lake and the lakes and ridges above....
the good news is that virtually all these hikers are vegetarian greenies who despise even the thought of catch and release fishing....
I hiked in there twice last summer and passed dozens upon dozens of other hikers and didn't see even one fishing rod....
I'll probably get into this one with my float tube sometime this summer or fall....
Fish doesn't smell "fishy" because it's fish. Fish smells "fishy" when it's rotten.