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Blue Lake

3K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  toadthedry 
#1 ·
Hi,
I will be heading over to Blue lake to fish Thursday night for a few days with two of my teenagers. They are OK at fly fishing lakes. (I know there are a bunch of blue lakes. I have never been to this one but it is the one by Tonasket that has rainbows and browns- not the one with lohontan cutts)

I would dearly like a heads up on what is going on at the lake: how has it been fishing, what has been hatching, what the water temp is and any other info that would help make the experience for my kids better. Feel free to PM me if that feels better for you.

Thanks
Mike
 
#3 ·
Last time was a week ago with surface temp at 67 degrees! Please be careful when releasing fish and even more careful not to exhaust fish. I would greatly recommend going above 3,000 ft for cooler temps.
 
#10 ·
Last time was a week ago with surface temp at 67 degrees! Please be careful when releasing fish and even more careful not to exhaust fish. I would greatly recommend going above 3,000 ft for cooler temps.
Surface temperature has little to do with trout survival in stillwaters, and I will debate this again with you GT. The studies that have shown survival issues with warmer temperatures are applied consistently to moving water situations and yes they have found that an extended exposure to 70 degree water will have a negative impact on survival rates of trout. In lakes with any stratification, a trouts exposure to higher temps is limited to the amount of time you have the fish at the surface and conservatively you don't want to expose a rainbow trout (depending on strain) to any more than an hour at 70 degrees or more at the surface. I hope guys can do a decent enough job of releasing their fish before this conservative thresh hold is met.

Where temps in lakes can really be a problem though is in shallow lakes with little to no stratification, little to no inlets and outlets, and no fresh water springs to cool the water temps at different depths. This holds true to a lot of Western Washington lakes thus the reason many of them hold so few holdovers.
 
#5 ·
I definitely agree if the surface water temp is 67 it is best to fish elsewhere. But I notice that the weather channel temps for tonasket have the highs in the mid to low 60's and the lows in the low 50's to upper 40's for the next 4 days with a good chance of rain. I am thinking it will cool down the surface temps. If not we will go fish chopaka. I am just thinking Blue will be easier for the kids as long as the temps allow us to fish it. So if any one has a heads up on what has been hatching at the lake and how the fishing is or anything else that would improve the kids experience, I would still appreciate it.
Thanks
Mike
 
#8 ·
I definitely agree if the surface water temp is 67 it is best to fish elsewhere. But I notice that the weather channel temps for tonasket have the highs in the mid to low 60's and the lows in the low 50's to upper 40's for the next 4 days with a good chance of rain. I am thinking it will cool down the surface temps. If not we will go fish chopaka. I am just thinking Blue will be easier for the kids as long as the temps allow us to fish it. So if any one has a heads up on what has been hatching at the lake and how the fishing is or anything else that would improve the kids experience, I would still appreciate it.
Thanks
Mike
Mike, I have noticed the last couple of summers, when Aeneas has shut down to too warm of water that Blue in the Sin has been a bit cooler and the fish are still active and near the surface. Maybe burried between the hills doesn't allow as much sun to heat it up. Top
 
#6 ·
Damsels and some mayfly's should be hatching along with chirono's of all sizes. I've had limited success catching fish there on dries but I catch a lot on nymphs in the shallows and leaches on a full sink in the deeper water.
I hope the water stays cool, planing on fishing it on the 4th of July weekend. Good luck
 
#9 ·
Top,
I was goingto take off on Wed and fish for 5 days but my GF got Fri off and wants to fish with me. We will leave early of Thur morning and camp at the Conconully CG. Probably hit blue or green on that day and do at least one day at Chopaka. She want to camp there but I'm not sure we can get a site on thur and the the CCG would get full. Maybe we can still meet up one of those days. Give me your cell # and maybe we can hook up.
 
#11 ·
Ira:

I would prefer to err on the conservative side when it comes to C & R, I won't fish with the higher surface temps - especially on the quality waters. Just me I guess. I can fish year round, except for mid June through August for trout on the dry side. I make my choice based on what I think is best for the fishery.

There are a lot of other options for 70 degree surface temps.

No debate from me, just my conservative approach, others can do as they wish.

MB
 
#12 ·
No problem with me Scott, I feel it is a bit conservative in most stillwaters. My problem is being preached to not to do it myself with no anecdotal evidence that I shouldn't. Let's take Grimes as an example, when is that lake open? Only during the summer months, hmmm. Stillwaters and rivers are two very different beasts.
 
#13 ·
I've heard of rivers being closed due to temps, but never lakes. You'd think if water temps in lakes were much of an issue, they'd shut them down in summer.
 
#15 ·
IF: Sounds like you are convinced that it is OK to fish lakes with surface temps above 65. That is your right. Consider yourself "unpreached" and have had it. I will continue to take, what I consider, the safer route. I have witnessed "summer kill" on lakes and am reminded that salmonids are fragile creatures. My greatest hope is that the anecdotal evidence that you seek will soon be published so this topic can be put to rest.
 
#16 ·
IF: Sounds like you are convinced that it is OK to fish lakes with surface temps above 65. That is your right. Consider yourself "unpreached" and have had it. I will continue to take, what I consider, the safer route. I have witnessed "summer kill" on lakes and am reminded that salmonids are fragile creatures. My greatest hope is that the anecdotal evidence that you seek will soon be published so this topic can be put to rest.
What did the summer kill look like? Why do you think it was heat related? What body of water or waters was it? Did the waters have adequate stratification? Did the waters have springs? Did the waters have inlets and outlets? If the information hasn't been published yet, why do you believe the way you do? Do you just feel it in your gut? I tend to lean toward proof versus emotion and I believe wholeheartedly that my initial instincts and what others would consider common sense ends up being downright wrong. (Which is safer, letting your child visit the home of someone that you know has a loaded handgun in the house or letting your child swim in the pool of someone you know? Is it better to keep your child up later so they will sleep through the night better or is it better to have them take naps more frequently during the day so they sleep better through the night?) Have you considered the possibility that you are wrong on this GT? Is it possible that you have missed out on fishing opportunities for years based on a misrepresentation of information? I don't doubt for a second that you feel you are doing right by the fish but in truth the only way to do right by the fish is to not poke them in the first place and that is simply not something I'm willing to do.
 
#20 ·
I don't doubt for a second that you feel you are doing right by the fish but in truth the only way to do right by the fish is to not poke them in the first place and that is simply not something I'm willing to do.
Fishermen feel better harassing fish having their personal preset conditions or standards. C/R - barbless - rubber nets - single hooks - stronger gear to get fish in faster - leaving juveniles alone -keeping away from spawning areas- no bait- water temp limits- using smaller hooks -following regs - etc etc

Leaving the fish alone and not sticking a hook in their face and pulling them through the water is the only way to trump this dialogue...

NOW get the gear loaded up, pick up your friend, drive to the lake or river and HARASS the hell out of some fish!
 
#21 ·
Fishermen feel better harassing fish having their personal preset conditions or standards. C/R - barbless - rubber nets - single hooks - stronger gear to get fish in faster - leaving juveniles alone -keeping away from spawning areas- no bait- water temp limits- using smaller hooks -following regs - etc etc

Leaving the fish alone and not sticking a hook in their face and pulling them through the water is the only way to trump this dialogue...

NOW get the gear loaded up, pick up your friend, drive to the lake or river and HARASS the hell out of some fish!
I have two or three lakes in mind to do just that this weekend and the next.
 
#18 ·
IF/Do you hope I am wrong?

Top/
"(I haven't fished it all week due to the temperature)[/quote]"
Thank you.
 
#22 ·
have had the same thoughts about a certain Idaho stream that is small and is close enough to a population center that it gets a consistent tube hatch. but the fish find the small creeks and deep holes to hid in.
so is everyone's favorite lake in Skagit county in danger of being too warm ?
been told there are springs in that lake. but i don't if that's true or not.
 
#25 ·
I fished both Blue Lakes plus Green and Lost two weeks ago. Not one of them was under 65 on the surface. Lost Lake should have been called "Lost Cause" except for the two loons that escorted their babies around the lake all day. Really fun to watch. Green was okay but it is infested with koi and bluegill now. Little Blue produced a few nice Lahontans but they are like reeling in a bucket. Blue in the Sin fished real well both on top and below. Lots of nice fish eating damsels right in the brush and reeds. Lost is fairly shallow ( 30' at the deepest) but the others are deep and the fish have plenty of water to patrol when the surface temps get too high for them.
 
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