Elk Lake near Detroit Res.

[Heron]

Can anyone give me a heads up about this place, went and had a look in mid June. Looked great, pretty place, now want to go back for the fishing.

Anyone ever fished it?

[mkwerx]

Elk or Elkhorn?

[Heron]

Definately Elk Lake, located approx. 8 miles NNW of Detroit.

All the fishing guide books mention it has Brookies, Rainbow, and even Kokanee.

Just interested in if anybody has had any experience up there.

[mkwerx]

Ah, never fished Elk, but have fished Elkhorn before, and Elkhorn is kind of close to Detroit also, outside Mehama.

[flybob]

I've been there the last two summers and have never seen a fish rise. There probably are fish but i find that kind of weird. The outlet is full of small brookies (5 or 6 inches). I guess I would try fishing down deep out in the middle of the lake???

[Heron]

Well, I went back and fished it. What a complete disappointment, only one fish hooked (7" Brookie) for 4 hours of fishing. I fished everything and everyway possible, edges, down deep, damsels, callibaetis, buggers, midges, streamers, etc... Never saw a rise, and only thing hatching were a few midges.

While I am not the best lake fisherman, surely if there were fish to be caught more would have been hooked.

A beautiful lake and just the right size and make up for the fly angler. Just needs some fish.

Anybody have a different take on this place?

[AndyK]

Originally Posted by Heron

Anybody have a different take on this place?

Never fished the lake.

Some of the lakes in the Cascade Range are too shallow for trout. They get too warm in the summer for trout survival; the trout in the outlet might suggest the lake is too warm. Did you check water temperature?

[cityfisher]

I threw spinners there 3 summers ago - about 8 fish in an hour - nothing big. It was in late June I'd think.
I always thought it'd be a good fly lake. And, yes, it is a pretty place.
How about that road in there...wow. Unless they fixed it, it was pretty rough.

[OSUsmokey]

The lake is pretty deep for a cascade lake. Fished there for about 4 hours last year. Only caught two fish and it came on a salmon sized rooster tail that i was just jigging off the bottom. Both fish though were pretty nice sized brookies about 14 inches. I dont think I saw a fish rise that whole time i was there either

[Salmonid]

How bad is the road getting in there? I hear the last two miles are rough and a 4x4 is needed.

[Heron]

Elk Lake has a max. depth of 30', while most of the lake is a 10-12' avg. So I don't think winter kill or high summer temp is the problem. I did look over the outlet creek and saw a couple of very small brookies in it. I do not think that it can be used as an indicator for the lake being to warm, as the outflow all comes off the surface of the lake and thus the warmest water.

The only thing I can think of is it has not been planted in awhile and just needs to be restocked again. All the guide books talk about a population of kokanee, which would have to be naturally reproducing somehow, so why not other species?

The road in is a rough one, but driving within reason and not being in a hurry makes a big difference. I did see a mini-van in the campground, but not something I would recommend as your transportation in.

[Newbs]

I used to fish it a lot. We would pack in in early June when it was still snowed/iced in. Near the outlet with a float tube I always did well. Lot's of nice rainbows. But that was in the 70's.... Things might have changed.

[cubsfan]

Originally Posted by Salmonid

How bad is the road getting in there? I hear the last two miles are rough and a 4x4 is needed.

I've done it in an Olds Alero. That was 3 years ago, some sinking may have occured since

[eightball]

Was there yesterday 7-20-09. Just went to look, didn't have time to fish. The water was warm enough to swim in along the shore. The road is rough, just went slow and dodged rocks. I drove a small car and it is low, just took it easy. The flies were out in force and really hungry. Didn't see the skeeters in the afternoon but I bet they are bad. Talked to one person that went in friday and she said the campground was full and they had to wait for a spot. We were camped at another lake some miles from there and talked to 2 ladies that camped at Elk lake and they said it was noisy and rowdy saturday night.
Tried fishing another lake earlier and fish were jumping everywhere. With the fly pole at home they would not touch any hardware.

[morelk]

I'm more of a hunter than fisherman, but I remember reading that they do not stock the lake like they used to They have big problems with the area being overused. They also are not going to do anything about the road.