There is now a public access site on the lake. I was surprised to see the gate gone and moved down the road about 200 ft. There's a minimal launching spot and small parking area that went in last Fall. There looks to be a spot for a bathroom at a later time??? They dug up and blocked off the last 2 lakeside camping spots that didn't require a long walk to access. The only decent spot left was rocked, but only a short carry in and you can actually see the lake! The upper plateau is blocked off and the 4-5 view campsites are no longer accessable via vehicle. I'm puzzled by this as the Forest Service and WDFW last spring said the upper plateau would be left open for camping as it posed no environmental threat to the lake. You can still walk in I guess, but who wants to park their vehicle 300 ft. away in the woods and worry about it getting vandalized.

Most of the snow is gone now with a few patches left on the road. Several large trees are down across the road and campsites from last weeks wind storm. I had my chainsaw, so was able to clear the road. Fishing was excellent as always in the calm conditions, but the fish were much smaller than years past. I saw at least a dozen ospreys fishing durring the calm mornings and evenings. Many bald eagles now too, so the eagle population has really exploded. 3 otters popped up next to my pontoon boat that was cool to see. I didn't know they got so large.

The boat launch will only handle small cartoppers. Huge rocks prevent anything trailered which is a shame and the launch is quite steep. They could have moved it down the shore where it wouldn't have been a big hassle dragging a boat out. There is next to zero shore fishing here, so don't plan on a new spot to bank fish. The large nice campspot and bank fishing has been dug up and large rocks/logs have been pushed up blocking access. Maybe they'll come back in and do something there, but it doesn't look like it. Considering how many fish they stock in this lake it looks like a very minimal effort to satisfy the screaming horde that don't care to spend $$$ launching at the resort. Sometimes I just have to scratch my head and say huh!......

Opps, I should have mentioned the access is on FS 6202 on the north side of the lake. Access via 62 Chiwawa Rd. at the east end of the lake. The Hideaway Resort went private and there is no longer access through that gate. Interesting how that went private 6 months after the road was permanently closed......Makes you want to go hmmmmmmm!....

Excellent scouting report.

It's been a long time since fishing there. It was always good and worth paying the launch fee.

Thanks

Mike

Yes, thank you. I've added this info to the Fish lake overview.