K-Country backcountry camp and fish ideas

[bmckenney]

I'm 51 years old and looking to get back in to fly fishing (not exclusively though) in Alberta. It's been 25 years. My son is 15 now and ready to go. I took him coho fishing on a BC coastal river last fall and he loved it and he's primed for this.

My idea is to do a weekend back country camping trip where we hike in to one of the sites in K country where there is designated camping and you need a permit. I've done this once with my daughter 5 years ago in to Elbow lake and we loved it. We did not fish.

So I'm looking for ideas. I have a new copy of Fishing Alberta (its been a long time since I bought this mag). I've printed out the stocking data for all of Alberta. I'm working on getting a list of the KCountry back country camp sites. I just need to pick a spot and I'll make my reservation now for one of the weekends in August.

I'm looking for a place that is a moderate/medium challenge to hike in to. Not major difficult. Not easy either. And a place that is easy to fish. I am not sure if I'll get tubes for this or not. Not sure we'll be able to carry in the camping and tube/waders. So could need a spot that is easy to fish from shore. And is productive for fishing.

Thanks
Bryan

[JReed]

I'd recommend picklejar lakes. It's a fairly easy hike that takes about an hour and a half to two hours. It's a beautiful spot and has 3 seperate lakes, all within hiking distance. The lakes hold cutthroat but they usually dont exceed 12". You can easily sight fish and catch them almost every cast. I saw people camping their as well, it's a cool spot

[jpohlic]

Lillian Lake. It's been over 10 years since I've been out there and I can't remember how long the hike was, probably 3-4 hours, but it was a moderate hike, not super easy, lots of elevation gain. I hauled my float tube up there and fished for 3 days. I had much better luck on the lake than the scout troop who showed up a few days later and fished from shore. My kids are probably able to handle this trip now and I'd like to do it again.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by bmckenney

I'm 51 years old and looking to get back in to fly fishing (not exclusively though) in Alberta. It's been 25 years. My son is 15 now and ready to go. I took him coho fishing on a BC coastal river last fall and he loved it and he's primed for this.

My idea is to do a weekend back country camping trip where we hike in to one of the sites in K country where there is designated camping and you need a permit. I've done this once with my daughter 5 years ago in to Elbow lake and we loved it. We did not fish.

So I'm looking for ideas. I have a new copy of Fishing Alberta (its been a long time since I bought this mag). I've printed out the stocking data for all of Alberta. I'm working on getting a list of the KCountry back country camp sites. I just need to pick a spot and I'll make my reservation now for one of the weekends in August.

I'm looking for a place that is a moderate/medium challenge to hike in to. Not major difficult. Not easy either. And a place that is easy to fish. I am not sure if I'll get tubes for this or not. Not sure we'll be able to carry in the camping and tube/waders. So could need a spot that is easy to fish from shore. And is productive for fishing.

Thanks
Bryan

You've been to elbow lake. Head there but keep going a few more miles to Tombstone. There is a small wilderness campsite there and then you hike a couple k's up to tombstone lake to fish. I've done it a few times. Keep an eye out for grizz though.

[Flyfisher87]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

You've been to elbow lake. Head there but keep going a few more miles to Tombstone. There is a small wilderness campsite there and then you hike a couple k's up to tombstone lake to fish. I've done it a few times. Keep an eye out for grizz though.

I'll second Tombstone as it is on my list again. The last time I was there, I hiked in from the Little Elbow side. Made for a 38km 11 hour hike round trip. Believe me, come in from the Elbow lake side. It is shorter, which means more time for fishing.

[Flyfisher87]

Another lake on my radar is Three Isle Lake past the Upper K Lake. There is/ used to be a campground there according to the signs while out hiking. Anybody been there the last few years? I have no idea on fishability from shore, but it is another option to consider.

[Calgaryguy1977]

A couple questions
1. when do you plan on going
2. do you plan to catch and release or catch supper

Id say camp near upper and lower k
rawson lake is there as well and elbow is not to far off

[jpohlic]

Tombstone is a beautiful little lake but the fishing has been slow every time I've been there. I've mountain biked in from the Little Elbow side and then hiked the last bit up to the lake. It's much quicker to come in from the Elbow Lake side.

[Flieguy]

http://www.outdooralberta.com/burstall.php

lakes are listed on the left side.

I'll be hiking 9 of them if I have my way this summer (I think all are listed on that site but didn't check). Will post results as I go. I'm looking at starting with Headwall lakes at the end of June.

check your backcountry camping regs and whatnot before you go!

[Jayhad]

Tombstone

[JReed]

Originally Posted by Flyfisher87

Another lake on my radar is Three Isle Lake past the Upper K Lake. There is/ used to be a campground there according to the signs while out hiking. Anybody been there the last few years? I have no idea on fishability from shore, but it is another option to consider.

I was at three isle last August, they have a great back country campground! However I think that lake winterkills pretty hard,only saw one riser and I fly-fished for a couple hours without a bite. It's kinda tight tossing a fly in spots but spin fishing would be easily attainable. The weather was perfect when I was there too so if there were a good number of fish in there I would have saw them

[Calgaryguy1977]

Originally Posted by Flieguy

http://www.outdooralberta.com/burstall.php

lakes are listed on the left side.

I'll be hiking 9 of them if I have my way this summer (I think all are listed on that site but didn't check). Will post results as I go. I'm looking at starting with Headwall lakes at the end of June.

check your backcountry camping regs and whatnot before you go!

Its funny you mentioned that....Ive been planning the same for about 2 years.....drooling over the stuff on that site

[Flieguy]

Originally Posted by Calgaryguy1977

Its funny you mentioned that....Ive been planning the same for about 2 years.....drooling over the stuff on that site

haha I like hike-in lakes a lot because they don't have the whole army of anglers you find in easily accessible spots with good fishing (except Rawson, but it's pretty accessible..)

anyway, I've got some decent experience with alpine lakes. I'll try to post detailed descriptions of places after I try them.

[ÜberFly]

Please don't!

And whomever started/maintains that OutdoorAlberta site needs to be slapped!! Their fish handling skills SUCK!!

Originally Posted by Flieguy

I'll try to post detailed descriptions of places after I try them.

[JReed]

Originally Posted by ÜberFly

Please don't!

And whomever started/maintains that OutdoorAlberta site needs to be slapped!! Their fish handling skills SUCK!!

People will find about these lakes if they do enough research, posting detailed descriptions won't hurt anything. Not like these lakes have just been discovered by man and they've only ever been fished by a couple anglers.....

In regards to the fish handling skills, how do you know that guy didn't keep the fish that he shows in the picture? I agree it's poor handling skills but people do keep dinky fish like that, which I've never understood

[ÜberFly]

Your right, he most certainly could be keeping the fish, but many of regs for some of the lakes would indicate otherwise (hopefully he's complying with them)!

[jts1]

Marvell Lake is a wonderful fishery and the hike in is not too bad at all. There are a few camping spots and streams along the way to rest at. Use satellite view on map below for some information. If you want great fishing, a lake to yourself and a picture perfect view. This is the place to go.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=...e78c6be3&msa=0


A short Video of Marvell Lake.

[IMG][/IMG]

Happy to give you more information if you shoot me a PM.

[McLeod]

Each to their own ..BUT... I think you should work for it , earn it,, research and explore.. Don 't just give it away. Thankfully most of the GEMS involve hikes of 8 to 25 km and most people won't do that...