Chopaka Lake (Hosts - Peter Rubenstein & Vance Thompson)
This trip is designed to hit the peak of trout activity in this remote lake in Okanogan country. Chopaka Lake is where fly fishermen belong, and chironomid soakers put down roots. It just may be the hottest Callibaetis mayfly lake in the state. Located on a distant walled-in funnel at just under 3,000 feet elevation above the Sinlahekin Valley, Chopaka Lake is 148.8 acres of trout water squeezed into a narrow 1½ mile-long ladle. Depths in the southern half, the handle end, average less than 10 feet and support fertile nests of bottom vegetation that grow incredible insect fodder, especially mayfly nymphs. The bowl of the ladle is on the north end where the lake bottom plunges to more than 70 feet. A floating device is necessary to fish for the really large rainbows that cruise the lake.
WA DNR has a no fee campground with 2 vault toilets, questionable potable water, and a number of campsites with picnic tables. A few of the picnic tables have wooden canopies. You should have your WA Discovery Pass or WA DNR Pass with you for this campground.
The federal BLM has a no fee campground with 8 campsites with campfire rings and a vault toilet just passed the DNR campground. There has been camping outside of the defined campsites in the BLM campground area.
NFA usually establishes itself in the DNR campground.
What to Bring for Fishing:
• Washington state fishing license
• Raft, canoe, pontoon boat, kayak, or float tube.
• PFD is always recommended for wading and riding in boats.
• 4-6 weight rods and floating lines.
• 3x,4x, and maybe 5x tippet depending on which flies you use.
• Check the local fly shops on what is working. You may want to bring Hares Ear and Lightening Bugs.
What to Bring for Camping:
• WA Discovery Pass
• Tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad
• Bring clothes for warmish daytime temperatures and chilly nights.
• Rain gear
• Sun screen, hat, and dark glasses
• Flashlight(s)
• Folding Chair
• Camera (in Ziplock bag)
• Water Bottle with liquid
• Bring drinking water, approximately 1 gallon per person per day.
Food & Beverages:
• The outing fee only covers Friday and Saturday night dinners and Saturday and Sunday coffee.
• Bring your own food for breakfast and lunch.
• Bring your own wine, beer, or hard stuff.
Directions:
• Drive to Wenatchee and head north on Rte. 97 to Tonasket
• From Highway 97 at Tonasket, take the Loomis-Oroville Highway west through Loomis.
• Two miles past Loomis, turn left onto the Chopaka Mountain Road. Keep to the right and drive the steep grade up the mountain.
• After 3.5 miles, take the road to the right for two more miles to reach Chopaka Lake.
Cancellation Deadline: Deadline for cancellation is 8:00 p.m. the Sunday before the outing. If you need to cancel, please contact the Outing Host(s). There will be no refunds after the cancellation deadline.
Langlois Lake (Host - Marty Behnke)
Langlois Lake is one of only ten waters in King County managed with a seasonal fishing closure. The lake has stocked rainbow trout, kokanee and resident largemouth bass. Spring catch rates for trout are highest early in the season. Although the lake is stocked with trout there are carry over fish. Most trout are 10’-12” but 18” fish aren’t too unusual. This 39 acre lake has a maximum depth of 98 feet and a mean depth of 53 feet.
Langlois has a WDFW access at its east end with parking and an outhouse. A Discover Pass or WDFW Vehicle Access Pass should be displayed in any vehicle parked in the lot. There is no bank access for the public so fishing requires a vessel, i.e., float tube, personal pontoon boat, inflatable raft, canoe, etc. Two pole fishing is allowed. No gas engines are allowed.
Driving Instructions, From Carnation, WA:
What to Bring:
Flies
Rattlesnake Lake (Host - TBD)
Rattlesnake Lake is spring-fed by the Cedar River and is located just a few miles south of North Bend. At an elevation of 915 feet, this 107 acre lake is surrounded by forests and is stocked with rainbow trout. A well-developed access area managed by Seattle Public Utilities lies on the east shore and has ample parking, toilets and a small gravel boat ramp. Two-pole fishing is allowed. Anglers are permitted to use electric motors for propulsion.
With all the natural beauty in the area, it might surprise you to know that this is not a natural lake. When the Cedar River, to the south, was dammed to create Chester Morse Lake, the City of Seattle’s water supply, seepage from the rising waters filled the basin that is now Rattlesnake Lake. The lake water has perfectly preserved many old growth stumps from previous logging and they are very visible as you row around the lake.
Note: The water level of the lake fluctuates significantly during the summer months depending on the accumulated snowpack in the mountains. Rattlesnake Lake is still supplied from seepage from Chester Morse and will drastically change in volume and acreage as reservoir levels change.
Driving Instructions, From Seattle
Cedar River (Host - Tom Beaulaurier)
Specific meeting time & location TBD, based on fishing conditions as we get close to the outing date. To be announced ~2 weeks prior to the outing.
A favorite with Seattle locals, the Cedar River is a great, close-to-town option that offers exceptional fishing for feisty wild trout. Though the Cedar River is now a household name among anglers in the Seattle area, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, the Cedar River went largely unnoticed until it was opened for trout fishing during the summer of 2004. The river had been closed to fishing decades earlier because its salmon and steelhead runs had been devastated and still aren’t where they ought to be.
The Cedar River remains an important spawning ground for these anadromous fish. The river is still closed to any and all fishing for salmon and steelhead, and it’s also simply illegal to fish when most of these big species return and spawn. But during the years of closure, the Cedar River’s trout thrived. So, when it opened it quickly caught on, and it’s been a go-to spot for Puget Sound-area anglers ever since. You must release all of these wild trout unharmed, which helps preserve this fishery. You’ll find both rainbow trout and cutthroat trout in the Cedar River, though rainbow trout tend to be more common.
Trout 10” to 12” are very common. Trout 16” to 19” are not unusual. They are not present behind every good-looking rock however and to find them requires some diligence. The Cedar River is a walk-and-wade fishery, with an emphasis on the walk portion of that phrase. Most anglers access the river via the Cedar River Trail, which parallels the river for a large portion of the open stream. The river is open from the mouth at Lake Washington to the Landsburg Road Bridge a little more than 20 miles upstream. The season opens on the last Saturday in May and closes on August 31.
Specific meeting time and location TBD, based on fishing conditions as we get close to the outing date. To be announced ~2 weeks prior to the outing.
Clark Fork (Hosts - Carl & Maura Johnson)
Is 430 miles, one way, a long way to go for a weekend of fishing? It depends on where you are going and whom you are going to be with when you arrive. Many people come from all over the world to fish in Montana. We only have to cross eastern Washington and the panhandle of Idaho to get there. Once you arrive in Superior, MT (approximately an 8 hour drive from Seattle), you will be fishing with fellow NFA members and will be the guests of Carl and Maura Johnson.
Carl has a drift boat plus a big outdoor gas grill and he knows how to use it. Maura is a great cook. Tenting is on the Johnson's large lawn which has the softest green grass in the neighborhood. There is a big porch with chairs and lots of shade trees. The list of amenities goes on and on. Most of us will float the river but there are places to bank fish.
Saltwater Fishing, Camano Island (Host - Matt Moore)
Fishing the salt from the beach is one of the fastest growing facets of fly fishing because Puget Sound is blessed with so many miles of beach and so many willing fish. This year the NFA will meet on Camano Island in the early fall. Utsalady Bay will be the place where we will fish for feisty sea-run cutthroat.
What to Bring for Fishing :
Directions will be provided to registered attendees prior to the outing. Matt would like to talk with everyone a week before the outing to find out what folks would like to do, time, fishing and food.
Yakima River, Lower Canyon (Hosts - Peter Maunsell and Phil Friend)
The Lower Yakima Canyon, from Wilson Creek to Roza Dam, offers more than 20 miles of relatively easily floating. NFA will set up camp at either the Big Pines Campground or newly protected river front property, both right on the river. This is sagebrush country, a basalt and desert landscape home to Bighorn sheep, deer, and plentiful hatches of insects.
Your primary catch will be trout and whitefish. Almost all of the trout are rainbows. Many of our group will be floating from any of the several launch sites downstream to the Big Pines campground or from the Big Pines campground down to the Roza impoundment. If you don’t have a boat there is easy access via numerous pullouts on Canyon Road running alongside the river, state route WA-821. In the spring and at the end of the summer through the fall, wading is not difficult, When the river runs high during the summer due to upstream releases for irrigation, wading is more difficult.
• Suitable floating devices including pontoon boat, raft, or drift boat.
• It is very likely to be quite cool during the day and significantly colder at night. Bring clothes that will keep you warm. Although we are on the “dry” side of the Cascades it rains here too. Bring rain gear.
• Hat and sunglasses
• Camera (in a zip lock bag)
• 4-6 weight rods and floating lines
• Net
• 3x, 4x, and maybe 5x tippet, depending on which flies you use
• Check the local fly shops on what is working but bring a variety of nymphs including Stone, Copper Johns, and Bead head Prince Nymphs; streamers including buggers; and Caddis.
• Water bottle and drinking water for when you are on the river.
• Waders, wading boots and wading staff
What to Bring for Camping
• Change of clothes (You may get wet)
Getting There:
• East on I-90 to Ellensburg.
• Take exit 109 to Canyon Road
• Drive south ~20 miles,
• Your host will give more precise instructions as the date gets closer, depending on which campsite NFA will use.
Lone Lake (Host - TBD)
This 90 acre lake is managed as a quality fishing water where fish in excess of 16 inches can be regularly caught. The lake at its deepest is less than 20 feet. Fishing is best in the spring and the fall as warmer water temperatures and reduced water clarity in the summer can limit catch rates. Two pole fishing is allowed. Chironomid, leeches, and wooly bugger patterns are very successful. A bloodworm pattern is often effective February into April. Introduced warm water species (i.e. Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch and Brown Bullhead) are also present in the lake.
The access area on the north shore has a concrete boat ramp, parking area and pit toilet. The access is via a county park so there is no need for a Discovery Pass or WDFW Pass.
Driving Instructions, From Mukilteo:
• Take the Mukilteo – Clinton ferry to Clinton
• Drive ~ 6.3 miles on WA Hwy 525 to Bayview Road
• Turn Right on Bayview Road and drive ~1.5 miles to Andreason Road
• Turn Left on Andreason Road and drive ~0.75 mile to Lone Lake Road
• Turn Left on Lone Lake Road and follow it into the access area for the lake
• Raft, canoe, pontoon boat, kayak, or float tube
• 4-6 weight rods with floating line and/or sinking line. If you are so inclined it is recommended that one rod be rigged for chironomid fishing.
