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This report is only 2 months late, but better late than never. Couldn't find the Cathedral Lakes on this site, so I'll just report on the Chewuch River which my friend and I also fished. My buddy and I did a 50+ mile hike through the Pasayten Wilderness this past August, and I had a chance to fish some alpine lakes and the Chewuch River. Saw several small trout, including one on the trail! Yes, ON THE TRAIL! A small stream cut through the trail and it was apparently deep enough for a small trout to dart through it as we walked past it. That little guy was fast! I didn't see any larger fish in the main river, but there were plenty of riffles, rocks and undercut banks where trout might have been hiding. You have to be careful if you walk down to the river. I fell in after jumping onto a wet rock. Fortunately it was like 90 degrees out that day. Nice peaceful little river to fly fish on, even if you don't catch anything.

Didn't catch any fish out of the Chewuch River, but did manage to C&R 12 nice cutthroats out of the Cathedral Lakes. At the lake, I fly fished from large boulder which allowed long visibility under the water and also the ability to fly cast out to 80 feet with easy. The fish seemed to bite just about anything as the lack of food at the higher altitudes seemed to make them less picky. I did a dead drift alternating with a couple of short stripes with prince nymphs, flashback nymph, black stonefly nymph and woolly buggers. The most exciting strike was one I could sight-fish from my vantage point. I casted a black woolly bugger just above and beyond a submerged rock. I let it sink for 3 seconds before giving it a couple of quick, short strips. Immediately, an 8 inch cutthroat darted out from under the rock and snatched the fly. Another exciting one was almost a dry fly take, but not quite. I casted a size 16 prince nymph out about 30 feet from my rock and a cutthroat immediately exploded on the surface and took the fly! Not a legit dry fly strike, but sure was exciting!..a heart stopper for sure. Great hike and even greater fishing! Now if only there weren't a billion mosquitoes eating me alive, this would've been perfect.

Mike Carey

10/4/2011 8:16:00 AM

wow, what a great backpacking trip! A+++ scenery and fishing. I'm sure you have a bunch of nice pictures of the lakes. If you want to share them on the site send them to me, mike@washingtonlakes.com and I'll add them to the Lake Overview (and I'll add CAthedral Lake to the overview as well). Thanks for the report!

Lord Of The Fly

10/4/2011 10:08:00 AM

Thanks Mike, I'll do that sometime this week. Also, there should be a distinction between Upper and Lower Cathedral Lakes, as they are two different lakes.

knotabassturd

10/4/2011 10:13:00 AM

WOW! I love these kinds of reports, although the mosquitoes part ruined the daydream just a tad LOL. If that little stream were in say central or SE Idaho or Montana, it'd have some pretty trout ready to grab at a dry fly. I'm sure the Chewuch has some as well. Regardless, that is a beautiful fish and a 50 mile trek in that country has to be something made memorable for decades to come...

knotabassturd

10/4/2011 10:14:00 AM

BTW, nice touch having fireweed pic in the post-fire area (at least it looks like a burned out area from trees) :-)

mwdehaan

10/4/2011 7:25:00 PM

Thanks for the report. I'm always interested in more places to fish in the Okanogan. I think I've drove by this river a few times and wondered about it, shame you didn't have better luck there, would have loved to hear about it.

Lord Of The Fly

10/5/2011 6:18:00 PM

@knotabassturd: Thanks man! It truly was a memorable experience. Though the fishing was good, don't know if I'd make the trip back any time soon, due to the distance from home and mosquitoes. I've always wanted to try fly fishing in Montana, or Wyoming. Maybe Alaska or New Zealand too someday!

@mwdehaan: No prob man. Yeah, it would've been cool to get at least one fish out of the river, but oh well. A lot to look forward to next time! I have yet to pull one out of a river. My buddy caught a small brownie out of here about 10 years ago. Have you tried Omak Lake?

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