I'm glad you asked. Don't let word get out, though. I don't know how much pressure this lake can handle.
It's called Chambers lake, and it's up off Highway 12 by White Pass, just before you hit Packwood. Take Forest Service Road 21 about 12-14 miles straight up into the Goat Rocks wilderness. The road is steep and pretty rough, so a truck is advised, but 4-wheel drive is not necessary. There's a turnoff up there right past Hugo Lake (which doesn't look like much to me, so ignore it) It's pretty well marked. You need a float tube or something you can carry in, like your pontoon boat. I think elevation is around 4200 feet, but it may be higher. It's a small lake , so you can work every inch of it in a day with a float tube. The brookies were hanging around the edges in the woody debris and weeds. Cast an elk hair caddis right to the shore and work your way around, particularly the end where the inlet is. They were also taking a size 10 Doc Spratley and my green utility bug in size 10. The browns were out farther in the lake, even right out in the middle, and they were taking the doc Spratley. Mooch (paddle backwards/ troll, whatever you want to call it) with it until you find where they are hanging out, then cast into them. The outlet channel is the narrow portion of the lake, and it was red hot. I probably caught half my fish there. An intermediate sinking line should work, but they fed on the surface also while we were there, so a floating line will work as well. Look out for caddis and mayfly hatches and have some dries ready. The fly of the day was the Doc Spratley. I wore one completely out. It's ruined. Trust me, I'm not complaining. I tie it with pheasant tail fibers for the tail and wing, generic black dubbing, kind of fuzzy for the body, three or four wraps of silver ribbing, and a peacock herl head. It was weighted as well, but I don't think that's necessary. It's a pretty basic fly. I'm sure there's a picture on the VFB website. Good luck, and if you go, go soon. I don't think there's much of a window of opportunity in this lake. maybe another week or two. There's also a pretty decent campground right there. Nothing fancy, but if you want to make it an overnight, you can. You need some sort of forest pass to park there or camp. I can nether confirm nor deny that I had one, but in any event, I didn't get a ticket. Dan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill P." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 12:35 AM Subject: RE: [VFB] What a day!!! > OK, Dan... it's killing me "where?" & What where you using. I don't know > where to catch browns and I've been itching for a year now... We didn't even > catch any over in Yellowstone this year.... Oh please, please tell... I > promise to release all I catch as I always do... BTW, we'll have to get > together again. I went out for a bit today for sea run and all I got was two > small perch, ha, ha... > > Bill
