Fly-Fishing the Rocky Mountain Backcountry by Rich Osthoff

Author:Rich Osthoff [Osthoff, Rich]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780811727662
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 1999-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

THE WEST SLOPE—CENTRAL REGION

Elkhart Park is the most popular trailhead for fishing the central third of the Bridger Wilderness. The Boulder Lake Trailhead, 20 miles to the southeast, is closer to lakes in the southern portion of this region, but it’s almost 2,000 feet lower than Elkhart, so it’s not used as heavily. To reach the Boulder Lake Trailhead and forest service campground, take the main highway (U.S. 191) south from Pinedale for 12 miles. Turn left on Wyoming 353. Watch the signs for a left turn onto a good dirt road that runs 8 miles to the trailhead and a forest service campground at the head of Boulder Lake. The trailhead is at 7,300 feet, so it’s a long, steady 3,200-foot climb to timberline.

Heading east out of Elkhart Park, you’ll hit Pole Creek in 9 miles. Several lakes along Pole have mostly small brook trout, with a few goldens and cutthroats. At Pole Creek you can swing south on the Highline Trail; this runs right by Chain Lakes, where I’ve taken some nice cutthroats to 17 inches. The three Chain Lakes, along with nearby Spruce, Junction, and Barnes, are all sizable waters that range from 20 to 100 acres and are at about 9,800 feet. All see a lot of traffic but offer good fishing for nice cutts, rainbows, and hybrids.

East of Chain Lakes are numerous brook trout lakes. I’ve caught solid brook trout of better than a foot in some of the small lakes scattered throughout the drainage.

From Chain Lakes you can continue south on either the Highline or Fremont Trail. The Fremont stays higher, but either trail takes you to North Fork Lake in less than 10 miles. North Fork (163 acres, 9,754 feet) was the first lake in the region to be stocked: It received cutthroats in 1907. North Fork is a big lake in the timber, but much of the shoreline is meadow and very fishable. Both North Fork and Victor Lake (139 acres, 9,834 feet) just to the north are loaded with cutthroats. I’ve taken a few trout to 19 inches in North Fork, but the average fish in both lakes is about a foot long.

From Victor a trail runs north to cross the divide at Hay Pass before descending to a flock of golden lakes (which I’ll describe with the east-slope waters). The trail over Hay Pass follows the North Fork of Boulder Creek, which is large enough to be fun fishing when spawning cutthroats run up it from Victor. Several small lakes in the upper drainage just shy of the pass have good action for small cutts.

A few miles northwest of Victor are Long Lake (55 acres, 10,683 feet) and several more cutthroat lakes above timber in Europe Canyon. There aren’t loads offish in these lakes, but there are some nice ones. The trail up Europe Canyon passes right by Prue Lake (38 acres, 10,157 feet). Way back, Finis Mitchell reported 8-pound cutthroats from Prue. I checked this lake out in the late 1970s and caught some 20-inch fish, but they lacked heft.

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