With the snow levels rising an the weather looking better all the time, I have been thinking about backpacking and trout fishing in the alpine lakes wilderness. In your opinion, what would the most effective, lightweight, and straightforward (simple) setup look like? I'm not married to any type of fishing, bait, fly--all options are on the table.
Thanks!
KH

7.5' 4 wt fly/spin combo with reversible cork so you can flip it around with seat forward for a spinning real and seat back for fly real. 7.5 may seem short but for small brushy trout streams and brushy lake banks it works well.

If not a combo like that then I'd go with a ultra-light spin outfit and use casting bubbles to fish flies when appropriate.

When I was a kid we grew up backpacking the north cascades and I always snuck into my pack a metal fly box with flies leader hooks and split shot. Never had a problem catching hi-lakes trout by cutting a willow pole and going all huck finn with it. Good times!

Light, long leaders and a good selection of small flies usually does the trick but my favorite is fishing terrestrials. Love splatting down a hopper or ant next to the brush and have a couple fish crash the fly immediately. With the short growing seasons up high they never pass an opportunity for a larger meal making them prime candidates for my meal. {;>)

I used to use a 4 piece Wright & McGill, 7' rod, Mitchell 300 spinning reel. Pack a jar of eggs, small spinners, and worms. Leader material was 2 or 4 pound.

Stevens Pass.....walk into Icicle Lake, lots of fish but not very big.....mmmmmm

wow, that takes me back 55+ years

Floating ANT! Casting bubble, or fly line.

Spinners.

Crystal river spin fly combo in the padded case, $30 work fine...

Please leave the bait at home. If you can't work a fly rod, do what Dogfish recommends....a light spinning rod, casting bubbles and an assortment of flies (especially small Wooly Buggers in black, purple, green and brown). Toss in some small spinners (Mepps, Roosertails) and you'll be just fine. Good luck...

Agree with Nick. Bait and hardware will certainly catch fish, but you'll get more action out of mountain trout on bugs, and if you fish them barbless, you'll spend less time pulling hooks out. I like a small soft hackle or dry terrestrials (ants, beetles, etc.) Later in the summer, hoppers will give you all the fun you can stand.

As suggested, a clear bubble off a spinning rod is a great way to fish flies if you aren't an experienced fly caster. Heck, even an experienced fly caster has trouble when the trees come right up to the water, as they so often do in our lakes (unless you're above timber line, of course).

Don't forget to bring some beetle and bee patterns.

Flies as everyone has suggested, but also bring small dick nites (try the frog pattern) and small mepps spinners. For me, the larger fish went for the hardware but the flies got the most fish particularly in the evening.

I have a 4 piece-4 weight and bring both a fly and spinning reel... small spinners and a good assortment of nymphs and drys is all you need...

Many of the lakes are not condusive to fly casting, so bring a few split shot and a clear bobber and you have everything you need to fish any place around the lake...

The stuff mentioned above will work well.

But it may take some time before the trails and lakes are snow and ice free, for a few of them it can be well into August some years. Didn't they stop planting many/or most of the high mountain lakes due to native amphibians eaten by the planted fish? I used to go to this area frequently and the fishing was great, my last few trips (they were a while ago) I didn't catch or see a sign of any fish at my normal lakes. I would check to see which lakes may still have fish in them before venturing up there.

I always carry a raft like this when hiking to alpine lakes...

http://www.amazon.com/Sevylor-HF160-Inflatable-Trail-Boat/dp/B000K8UX1I/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Opens up a lot of access and allows for trolling deeper in the center of lakes where some bigger fish hang out. Only 3.5 pounds. Inflates quick.

+1

As I've gotten older I've made a lot of changes to lighten the weight of my pack. That includes the fishing gear. I try to fit all of it except the rod and Curtis raft into a small waist/fanny pack and keep it to less than one pound. I have a 4 piece 8' 5 wt fly rod I made for this application, even making the reel seat of just cork and 2 sliding bands. I went totally weight weenie on this. Then I have a tiny old fly reel that I load with shooting line so that instead of carrying extra reel spools and lines, I carry floating and sinking shooting heads. One small box of wet flies and one small box of dry flies. I've intended to buy the smallest lightest spinning reel I can find to cast Dick Nite spoons from lake shores that are too brushy to fly cast from. I usually find one or two places I can fly cast, so I have yet to follow up on this part. But other backpackers have said that it works to use a small spinning reel on their fly rod, and some Dick Nites, BB split shot, and a few swivels only adds a couple ounces to the pack weight and can make the difference between fishing or not fishing at some lakes. However, with the Curtis raft (total weight in the bag = 32 oz. with paddles) I can get away from brushy lake shores. However, I've seldom felt so completely vulnerable paddling out over 48* water in what feels like a balloon, it's so light and feels so fragile.

As for what flies to carry, I mostly use soft hackles in green or orange, chironomids, Carey Special, black and olive woolley buggers, and a dragonfly imitation. For dries, ants are #1, beetles, hoppers, parachute Adams.

Sg

It's fun to find a good spot and watch for awhile for the fish to come out of the deep water and cruise a small half circle in the shallows. You'll want to fish with the wind at your back so the terrestials will be blown into the water on that shore.

that was the only way I fished as a kid - spinning reels on a fly rod; it was the only rod my dad had in the garage that was long enough to dapple in the lilly pads with and limber enough to make lake fishing fun... it helped that my dad didn't fly fish so he never even knew I was using it... still love fishing it this way to this day...

But, I like the idea of the rings on the cork so you can postion a reel anywhere you want...

Thank you all for such detailed suggestions. I'll take some time, try and internalize all your advice, and I'll post what kit I end up putting together. Thanks again!
KH

don't forget the tiny creeks that connect lakes etc.. they often hold many many fish

I pretty much agree with everything said so far.

Although when I'm looking for a fryer I will put one Pautzke egg in the deepest part of the lake I can reach. This will usually result in a bigger fish in the 9 to 12" range. And yes I do keep any fish I hook on bait because that's when I'm fishing for dinner.

A 5 wt to buck the alpine winds.

Sit and watch for a spell with polarized glasses before knotting on a bug.

Reconnoiter the leeward end on a lake to see what bugs the wind has pushed that way and proffer something similar.

Waking a CS or other soft hackle will oft produce pouncing grabs.

Repeated roll casts will oft attract suspended trout toward the surface.

If nothing rises to your dry after a spell, give the rod tip a bounce or short strip the line to make your offering give off a ring or two on the surface film. Hang on.

Shortly after the surface ice breaks up, big bugs = Big Mac for hungry trout.

Nothing I've proffered above will work for a practicing attorney. A trout will be able to immediately discern the soulless deception.....