Hike-in Lakes in Washington or Oregon

[Stickswinger]

I want to take my teen brother-in-laws on a backpacking trip that would include some flyfishing lakes for a weekend. They have not done a lot of backpacking or flyfishing for that matter. I was thinking of the Indian Heaven area, but I have never been there and heard the mosquitoes can be bad until late summer or early Fall. Any ideas on hike in lakes with brook trout or trout in general would be helpful. Looking at around 6 miles hike in but much more than that I think would ruin my in-laws. Any ideas? What time of year? Hoping to avoid swarms of mosquitoes at all costs.

[sothereiwas]

You plan on fishing from shore, or packing tubes or a small inflatable raft in? You got a 4wd? A buddy and I hiked into a lake last Friday on the south side of Mt Hood and had a great time catching brookies with the lake completely to ourselves. Bank fishing some of the hike in lakes can be tough with a fly rod.

The best way to avoid the mosquitos is to be out on the lake. They are hard to avoid on the way there but once we got in our tubes and were out on the water we didn't see a single one. There are some on the hike but most of them were swarming at the edge of the lake.

[Stickswinger]

Originally Posted by sothereiwas

You plan on fishing from shore, or packing tubes or a small inflatable raft in? You got a 4wd? A buddy and I hiked into a lake last Friday on the south side of Mt Hood and had a great time catching brookies with the lake completely to ourselves. Bank fishing some of the hike in lakes can be tough with a fly rod.

I have 4wd but only one belly-boat. Can bring waders as well. Which lake? That would be ideal as the in-laws live in Hood River. How many miles in?

Thanks in advance.

[sothereiwas]

Pm sent

[Bob4BVM]

Originally Posted by Stickswinger

I want to take my teen brother-in-laws on a backpacking trip that would include some flyfishing lakes for a weekend. They have not done a lot of backpacking or flyfishing for that matter. I was thinking of the Indian Heaven area, but I have never been there and heard the mosquitoes can be bad until late summer or early Fall. Any ideas on hike in lakes with brook trout or trout in general would be helpful. Looking at around 6 miles hike in but much more than that I think would ruin my in-laws. Any ideas? What time of year? Hoping to avoid swarms of mosquitoes at all costs.

Which lake ?
Too many good ones to list!
Get yourself a map program like TOPO, or study some USGS maps at your library. Many great places in the Oregon Cascades where I'm at.
As much as I love these lakes, my hard and fast rule is to wait til August 1 due to the mosquitoes. Even if you can keep them from biting, you still have to breate the air, pretty hard to do with 1000 M/CI (Mosquitoes per Cubic Inch).
Cheers,
Bob
****
"...Adventure is not in the guidebook and Beauty is not on the map. Seek and ye shall find." Walt Whitman
****

[uhmw]

6 miles in the cascades can be brutal on novice hikers. I like to do 2-4 miles with heavey packs. I allways like to bring one pack raft and share it. They are well worth the extra weight and you will catch fish. As for the bugs. I just take a repelant bath making sure to soak my clothes and hat good each morning when I get up this has allways worked for me. Get the high% deet I use the military stuff probably took 10 years off my life but the bugs steer clear of it. Marion(no permit needed) and Pamila lakes past Detroit are easy hikes about 4miles and offer exelent fishing (you need to reserve a permit for pamilia @ the detroit ranger station you can call ahead and do this it gets booked by the weekend).

[shorthair]

Originally Posted by Stickswinger

I want to take my teen brother-in-laws on a backpacking trip that would include some flyfishing lakes for a weekend. They have not done a lot of backpacking or flyfishing for that matter. I was thinking of the Indian Heaven area, but I have never been there and heard the mosquitoes can be bad until late summer or early Fall. Any ideas on hike in lakes with brook trout or trout in general would be helpful. Looking at around 6 miles hike in but much more than that I think would ruin my in-laws. Any ideas? What time of year? Hoping to avoid swarms of mosquitoes at all costs.

You got something against your brother since I don't see any mention of bringing him back ???????

[TakeEm]

I just came back from an awesome 3 day backpacking/fishing trip. I must have fished 10 or so lakes and caught fish in all of them. Brookies/Rainbows. I was up near mink lake. I started at Lucky lake and made a huge loop on a trail that took me by several lakes and even hiked on the P.C.T. All my fishing was done from shore with little or no problems.