Headwall/Chester lake?

[Adamd]

Hey all I'm heading up to headwall lakes and maybe Chester lake as well and am wondering if anyone has been up to these lakes. If so how's the trails up and how's the fishing? I will be bringing spin and fly rod does anyone have any suggestions on lures or flys to bring along? Any info/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Adam

[brianscott]

Chester is closed right now because of bears in the area, well at least it was last week anyways , check the parks site and it will update you if the trail is open.

Chester is a gongshow, i was up there once and here was about 20 ppl fishing and probably another 30 or so day trippers up there.
Mind you did catch a few small cuttys.
Easy trail with a decent elevation gain, very popular.

Head wall trail can be a grind if you arent ready for it but it also is relatively easy up till the last 1.5 km or so. Fishing can be hot or miss and the fish arent very big, upper lake is supposed to be the better of the two lakes.
Wind can kick up there in a hurry, and put whitecaps on the lake in no time .


Overall i like the chester hike better and the lake is easier to fish as well

[dave99]

Go to Headwall Lake. Great hike in an amazing mountain setting. Took us 1:45hr to get the upper lake, but we were cruising pretty good. Saw 15 bighorn rams, and 2 mountain goats.

Did well on the cutties on both dry and wet flies. My suggestion is to get there early, or stay late into the afternoon, as to allow the wind to calm down. That way you can see rising trout and chuck dry flies at them. Been there twice this summer and did great both times. My cousin tried spin-casting and surprisingly got skunked the second time we went out. I'd strongly suggest using flies.

As mentioned in the above post, Chester is closed because of grizz. Headwall is a more fun day in either case!

Enjoy!