castle lake ?????

[heavy hauler]

anybody been to castle lake yet this year? i know in years past the road was blocked into july by snow, but not always.any news would help

[jackelope]

hows the trek down into the lake, or maybe i should say up out of the lake? thats been on my list for years but never made it.

[heavy hauler]

o man......   steep is a understatement.. 

[jackelope]

i have talked to a guy who fished it once and said it was worth it till the guy he was with broke his leg or ankle somehow coming out of there. lots of snags and deadfall i guess...

[JoeVon]

Its steep, but not that bad.   You can't make it to the lake quite yet, there are a couple of snow drifts about a half mile away that are still limiting how far you can make it.  

In my opinion, the Castle Lake fishery has gone down hill quite a bit.  Not enough people make it to the lake and the fish get smaller and smaller every year due to over population.

[heavy hauler]

hey joe von, i think some years the snow is so deep it doesnt melt until fire danger has the place locked up. to me , that means there are years that no body fishes there. crazy.    thanks for the update

[jackelope]

i was just thinking it's been at least 7 years or more since i talked to that guy.

[JoeVon]

I think it gets fished every year.  Its just the fact that the amount of people that fish it don't keep many fish, so fish just keep breeding and over populating.  Still a cool place to take a hike to.

[bucklucky]

I think it gets fished every year.  Its just the fact that the amount of people that fish it don't keep many fish, so fish just keep breeding and over populating.  Still a cool place to take a hike to.

Sounds like the fish have the same problem the elk do 

[fishcrazy]

I drove to the trail head 2 weekends ago while scouting for elk.  Have been thinking of walking into the lake later this summer. Have never done it but it's on my wish list.


Kris

[heavy hauler]

sweet thanks.i am either going there or" no tell um lake" on sat

[Thenewguy]

how do you get there? I will go help with the over population issue.... in the name of protecting nature of course! 

[jackelope]

i've never been but it's down by st helens and i think you really need a good map to get to it. it's a maze of logging roads the way i understood it at the time.
i also seem to remember that you need a tube to fish it, not fishable from the bank...too much deadfall...i could be wrong there though.

[CastleRocker]

Haven't been up there yet this year, but it's not too bad to hike into/out of.  If you take your time and look, you can usually find a rubber raft or float tube to use that lazy people have stashed.  I also bring some para-cord and a hatchet to make a raft just in case I don't find one to use, we just make one the old fashioned way.  Good fishing, but JoeVon is right....lots of small ones the last several years.  I've fished it from the bank, it's do-able in places.

It's not hard to find, just get a Weyco map and follow the 4200/4250 to the 3000 line.  You will see it on the left, but we usually walk in either before that point or past it.

[heavy hauler]

if its windy all the floating logs go to one end of the lake.pretty unique area