Ok, I am a "why" person, so I have gotten no answers yet besides "why do you ask?". I am searching for some alpine rivers to hike into and fish. I just can see these huge trout just waiting for me. But wait, where do they come from? Are all lakes stocked if they don't run to the sea? How do I know there are fish there ( I imagine them). No one seems to know if all lakes are stocked or can I still find beautiful catches in remote lakes that are not in the book? And how did they get there? This, I am sure is a very basic question to some, but am I just imagining fat fish in remote alpine lakes? If not, who put them there, us or GOD? Not a religious question, just wanting to know before I hike in with gear and why, oh why and how did those huge fish in my dreams get there.

Not a fish bio, but I have friends with with the forest service who told me that on stocking lakes, usually it's by chopper. They used to drop brookies in those remote lakes with no outlet. One time I horsepacked some trout into a lake in the high country near the town of Merritt BC. Had a pretty good survival rate since the water sloshed around a lot in the boxes we were using. Since it was a relatively short pack, it didn't get too warm.

I understand there are other species that do well in some of those lakes as well. I found the best way to catch those trout is to cast a a dry fly or small rooster tail with a clear casting bobber as far out as you can. I have seen big trout caught by guys who brought small rafts up on their pack horses. Most of the brookies I have caught up there were pretty small. There is an excellent lake system in the Cascades that can be accessed from the Pacific Crest trail.

This area is called the William O. Douglas wilderness. Go north from the white pass trailhead at Leach Lake. Between White Pass and Chinnok Pass, there are a lot of great lakes and good hiking. The trails should be accessible by early to mid July. I hope this helps.

Because of the cool temps and short "growing season" high elevation fish are smaller. Sorry.
Check your PM.

Thank you for the fishing advice, and I will indeed follow it with my creative twists, but, are all fish in lakes planted by us? I actually thought that native fish meant they were there before us. I actually thought the big fat fish in Canadas beautiful outback were swimming before I was born. So, is it true that no alpine lake has GOD given fish? We made them? Ok, just lie to me now as I am dissapointed! I guess I have a lot to learn!

Most new species of fish are brought in by birds who ingest fertilized fish eggs in one body of water and deposit them via feces in another. This mode of transplant has a very low success rate, but over thousands of years, healthy populations of fish can evolve. It is also possible that bodies of water were connected many years ago, and geological transformations have isolated a lake or stream from its original watershed, this could in essence create a lake "in the middle of nowhere". Generally speaking, deeper lakes have bigger fish, so if the lake of your dreams is deep, it might just hold the fish of your dreams as well.

at last, a use for biology classes

david

Thank you for the fishing advice, and I will indeed follow it with my creative twists, but, are all fish in lakes planted by us? I actually thought that native fish meant they were there before us. I actually thought the big fat fish in Canadas beautiful outback were swimming before I was born. So, is it true that no alpine lake has GOD given fish? We made them? Ok, just lie to me now as I am dissapointed! I guess I have a lot to learn!

Small size at higher elevations isn't entirely true. I will grant that your statment about shorter growing seasons is accurate. It also depends on the food source. I know a zipper high lake that has fish in it that make 15" fish look like their food!

some are stocked by chopper, but most lakes are stocked by these guys...
Trailblazers

what area are you looking at fishing?

High lakes were stocked by helicopters and the hard way.........dedicated anglers and outdoorsmen who actually hiked into the lakes with trout fry in water containers. Their efforts have made the high lake fishery. Some lakes that are connected by creeks and streams have had trout migrate to other lakes which has helped in the growth of the fishery.

I've done a lot of "high lake" fishing and there is a ton of things to know. This fishery is effected by:

Snow pack: Are the lakes accessible by trail and has the ice melted from the surface.

Species of fish: Some lakes have brook trout which tend to spawn easily and stunt themselves out. Others have golden cutts, which are rare and a little tougher to catch.

Size of the lake: Small lakes have smaller fish. Larger lakes usually have bigger fish and are better fished with a inflatable raft.

The difficulty of the hike-in: The harder and longer the hike, the more chance you have in being rewarded with better fishing in solitude.

I need to get on my soapbox for this next part. Leave the bait at home. Barbless flies, spinners, and spoons will do the job. Release everything except one or two for dinner if you plan to stay overnight. It is an extremely delicate fishery. It can be awesome at times.

Good luck!

Generally true. Another factor is those lakes and streams have very little food available for the fish. Very very pretty to look at but some are nearly sterile.

I have a pic some where of a 5+lb cutt that I caught in a high alpine lake between Stehekin and Cascade pass in the early 80's. I cast an Elk hair caddis about 15 feet from shore and watched the big one chase off some 16 inchers ( that I later caught) on his way from the boulders on the bottom maybe 30' 40' feet down. One of the best times fishing I ever had except I broke my Fenwick on the hike out.

As a Zoologist, I am impressed with all of your knowledge.

I have backpacked fry into numerous alpine lakes (and hopefully C&R'd them later) and seen many others do the same.

natural populations occur by connection of waterways, sometimes thousands of years ago.

Sorry to ruin the myth here, but fish eggs cannot survive the digestive tract of a bird....not even under the best circumstances.

Nearly all of the fish you will catch will be small and will either be plants or the offspring of plants.

-gottago

Well, I indeed learned a lesson today! My 'why and how" question has been answered. I imagined pristine alpine lakes with hungry fat fish. I never thought someone else had provided this opportunity for me other than the land. So, a big thank you to all that have planted fish and have gotten me into the search for something other than a combat hole.

I am still dissapointed that the fish aren't just there because they are(probably explains why the logging road lakes in Canada never granted me even a bite) but it puts a whole different appreciation for those that packed those fish in.

I will be starting my hike -ins mostly along the I-90 corridor as I love the scenery and it's quiet at this early point. It's close and will work my legs out for some of those more intense trips. I appreciate the pm's and hiking-fishing advice. I have checked the govs site on alpine lakes and it is lacking a lot of the most remote lakes that I'd like to see. So, I will have to contact a ranger to hear more about the great spots this state has to offer. Canada comes later this year, but the relatives know all the back holes to send me out into. If anyone has a great hike in fishing spot to offer up, I promise, my lips will be shut. Now, just have to get the bear mace!

Well, I indeed learned a lesson today! My 'why and how" question has been answered. I imagined pristine alpine lakes with hungry fat fish. I never thought someone else had provided this opportunity for me other than the land. So, a big thank you to all that have planted fish and have gotten me into the search for something other than a combat hole.

I am still dissapointed that the fish aren't just there because they are(probably explains why the logging road lakes in Canada never granted me even a bite) but it puts a whole different appreciation for those that packed those fish in.

I will be starting my hike -ins mostly along the I-90 corridor as I love the scenery and it's quiet at this early point. It's close and will work my legs out for some of those more intense trips. I appreciate the pm's and hiking-fishing advice. I have checked the govs site on alpine lakes and it is lacking a lot of the most remote lakes that I'd like to see. So, I will have to contact a ranger to hear more about the great spots this state has to offer. Canada comes later this year, but the relatives know all the back holes to send me out into. If anyone has a great hike in fishing spot to offer up, I promise, my lips will be shut. Now, just have to get the bear mace!

The fish weight calculator for Alpine lakes doesn't let you enter a fish length greater than 6" I wonder why!

Try the Apental hike. Go to Apental ski area (I90) and follow the road to trail head. Sharp rocks (no tennis shoe) You hike up and down to a beautiful lake. We fished it (CNR w/ small barbless hook) 10-15 years ago and it was fun. Check the regs.

The vast majority of high lakes were naturally fishless. There are a handful of exceptions all of which are large, relatively low elevation valley bottom lakes that have native fish.

The rest of the lakes either have an introduced naturally reproducing population, or they are periodically stocked. The largest lakes are stocked by aircraft. Most is done by fixed wing aircraft. The state has a Beaver that has been fitted with a custom made drop tank. Some lakes are stocked with a helicopter. Most of the lakes in the Olympic National Forest are stocked with a chopper these days but almost everything in the Cascades is done with the Beaver. Smaller lakes are stocked by hand. Someone puts the fry on their back and carries them in. The Trail Blazers are the primary volunteers for the WDFW. They stock over 100 lakes per year generally from Lewis County north on the west side and Kittitas County north on the east side. The Backcountry Horsemen pack some fish in in Yakima County and there are various other volunteers and WDFW personnel who are working in Skamania County. There was a Forest Service backcountry ranger who was packing fishing into Gifford Pinchot NF lakes for the WDFW, but he passed away last year.

It used to be that people hoped the fish they put in the lakes would reproduce by themselves. Now we try to do everything we can to avoid having fish reproduce. Most of the time, if they are able to spawn on their own they will overpopulate the lake and wipe out their food supply. This is horrible for the fishing, you get a lake where you can catch a fish every cast, but they are all small and there is no way they can grow larger. Worse, that many fish in the lake can severely impact the native flora and fauna in the lake including amphibians (mainly salamanders) and smaller invertebrates like copepods. The key to avoiding those harmful situations is to plant fish in low numbers. Studies in the North Cascades have shown that fish planted periodically do not compromise the native biota. So when you get to one of these overpopulated lakes don't feel guilty about keeping a bunch of fish.

So, most of the lakes are stocked with low numbers of fish on a periodic basis. That means the lake that is hot one year may not be hot the next year or the year after. One important thing to take away from this is that you should always take your fishing rod to every high lake. The fish are there no matter how remote the lake.

And be sure to fill out a survey form for all your high lake trips. All surveys filled out on the Trail Blazer site are strictly confidential and are distributed to the appropriate WDFW biologist at the end of the season.

High Lake Angling Survey

That was probably a lot more then you wanted to know...

Brian

No, that was a perfect reply. It was much more than I ever knew, and I was hoping that people would help out with the info I was looking for. Thank you for the great info!

A couple notes to add:

Brook trout do tend to over-populate and stunt...unless there is little fishing pressure and the lake gets a population of large fish to eat the smaller ones. Same as a bass pond or low-land reservoir.

Cuts and goldens tend not to over-populate and stunt but if everyone keeps the big fish, the only remaining fish will be small.

The nutrient levels in the water are the single most important factor in how big the fish will grow. Even golden trout have trouble growing big on just midges. Since the nutrient level depends on the rocks and soils, different areas will have lakes of different nutrient concentrations. For example, in Idaho the White Clouds tend to have bigger fish than the Sawtooth Mountains even though they are close to one another. Reason being is that the White Clouds have more sedimentary rock.

Keep those dreams of big, fat, stupid trout just waiting for you after a hard hike. The truth is the harder the hike, the less fishing pressure and the better the chance of big fish. Just combine that with reseach of what areas are known for bigger fish.

i have planted high mountain lakes for years, using a chopper, and some of them have huge fish today. the biggest factor for the size of the planted fish seems to be the amount of feed available. some of the lakes have a species of fresh water shrimp in them and the trout get over 28" in these lakes. where feed is lacking they dont grow nearly as fast. also the number of fish planted per acre makes a difference. i had a friend that used to haul fry up into the olympics via a 10 gallon milk can on horses. ( back in the 40's)

Kanetok,

You know of the lake or it it a Trap?