Where to Fish - Mountain Lakes, Hood River County

Part of our series on fishing locally in the Hood River/Columbia Gorge area. Species:  Brook, cutthroat trout. Seasons: Year-round, but June...

Part of our series on fishing locally in the Hood River/Columbia Gorge area.

Species:  Brook, cutthroat trout.

Seasons: Year-round, but June-October

Links:  Lost Lake Resort (permit for parking at some of these lakes)

Be sure to stop and eat some huckleberries

There is a series of little lakes along the ridge that rises on the west side of the Hood River Valley and runs south to Mount Hood.  There are a dozen or so lakes that dot the landscape.  About half of them are accessible directly by car, the other half require a hike.  None of the hikes are terribly long or hard.  These lakes typically have very few anglers over a year, especially the smaller lakes that require hiking. 

Look at a map of the area and you will find a bunch of lakes in the area between Lost Lake and Kingsley Reservoir.  The most popular ones are Rainy, Whatum, Black and North Lakes, although there are more than a dozen to explore. 

Several of the small lakes near Lost Lake require a parking fee administered by Lost Lake Resort.

Quiet, gray and full of trout.

These lakes host mostly brook trout in typical small sizes.  A 10" brookie is a good fish around here. Not all of the lakes have fish in them all of the time.  Some drought years can make them uninhabitable.  Some of them do not have fish in them at all right now.  I fished almost all of them this year and there are at least three that are void of trout right now (2021).  Figuring it out is part of the adventure.

While these lakes are typically not stocked on a yearly basis, most of these lakes do receive an occasional planting of fish to keep the ecosystem moving, even if the trout will inevitably succumb to a drought.

A boat is not required on any of these lakes to access the fish.  Whatum and Rainy are the bigger lakes in the area.  A boat would be nice if you wanted to take the effort to get one onto Rainy Lake, but I think that is a lot of effort for little extra reward. 

These pretty little lakes have one thing going for them; solitude.  I have yet to see anyone else at any of the hike-in lakes this year.  Occasionally, someone else is on the trail, headed to another destination, but it's pretty nice to get off the grid for a half day without seeing another human.