Michelle Lakes

[Duster]

Hey everybody just finished booking our trip to Michelle Lakes for the great Golden Trout, there will be 14 of us going up August 19 for 3 days, Im sure the wall tent will come in handy up there at night. Has anybody ever been up here before? Heres some pics should be good I think..


Duster

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/BuckKrazy/michellelakes.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/BuckKrazy/?action=view&current=michellelakes.jpg)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/BuckKrazy/michellelakes2.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/BuckKrazy/?action=view&current=michellelakes2.jpg)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/BuckKrazy/michellelakes4.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t185/BuckKrazy/?action=view&current=michellelakes4.jpg)

[ULTRAlite]

Looks like a hell of a trip. Should be an adventure. What did you book? heli?

[Duster]

Yeah we went heli, dont wanna waste anytime getting up there lol.

[The Fisherman Guy]

Didja book me and buddy in?

[DuckBrat]

Prepare yourself for a little altitude sickness, headaches and nausea at some point during your stay. Prepare for snow and there is no wood for fires as you are high over the treeline with no access to it. Most of the fish are within 20 yards of the shoreline as it drops down to 70 or more feet that far out. Avoid the far end of the lake near the falls as it is long way down as you can see in the picture. Know your size limit and bring a ruler if you intend to keep a fish. The last time we went some jerk decided in his mind that a 13" fish was somehow 16". Then when he caught a 21" he kept that one as well.

The lower lake has more fish but gets more pressure and you will notice it in the attitudes of the fish towards you offerings.

14 people you'll need to deal with your poop accordingly as there are little creeks running into the lake all over the flats where you will most likely camp.
Have fun on your visit.

[thumper]

If you're going in with Icefields Helicopters, then I assume you're just going in for a day trip. We had success with small dark nymphs (prince & pheasant-tail) and although we brought 2 float tubes with us - we never used them - the fish were close to shore. The deepest reachable points were along the rock shoreline of the lower lake, towards the outlet (cliff) on the left side of your photos.
The golden colour of the fish is unreal, but difficult to capture on film. Take some time in setting up and taking a good shot (wish we had) - it might be a long time before you're back to do it again!

[Steven Noel]

Please, as always, be sure to take all of your garbage with you, would be a shame to taint such a beautiful place with scars of human existence. I plan to visit Michelle Lakes some day.... but I think I will walk.

[Rockyman]

I'm not being critical but 14 people is a lot to have at Michelle Lakes. I was there about 5 years ago and really enjoyed the trip. We went in via the helicopter route. I would hope that the helicopter company doesn't do any other bookings while you are there with the big group. I would hate to go up there and have that many people around the lake.

I also hiked into Lake of the Falls the year before I went to Michelle Lakes. That is a really nice trip but the land around the lake has been beaten up over the years (mainly from horse traffic from what I could see). While on my flight into Michelle Lakes the pilot told me that he had brought a large number of people into Lake of the Falls the week before for a big wedding party! Doesn't seem to be an appropriate use of this beautiful area.

Anyways, I'm not being critical. Enjoy your trip and please practice no-trace camping in all respects.

[perchie15]

Where did you go to book the helicopter ride??.. Me and buddy are planning to go this year to!

[perchie15]

And how much is the helicopter flight?

[Duster]

Hey everybody, thanks for the comments, the reason we have so many people going is its a company outing, we all take pride in our hunting and fishing and therefore know to clean up any little piece of evidence that we were there, We all respect the land and water.. We booked our trip through ice field heli tours, and the price is going to be about 350 for the ride in the helicopter to and from the lake and 2$ every pound of gear you bring in... I think it will be well worth it.. Thanks for watching out everybody..
Cheers Duster

[DuckBrat]

http://www.icefieldheli.com/fishing/unguided.htm

[Fishfinder]

Nice work my friend. Totally envious.
Poor Albertan here.
GL. May the fish b with u.
:)

[Rockyman]

Have a good trip and take some time to go hiking. Amazing country up there.

I'm not sure if there are any fish in the upper lake. I tried a few casts but didn't get anything.

[Buck Krazy]

Yup, duster is a good buddy, I can assure everyone that the place will be cleaner when he leaves!!

[Oasis]

Prepare yourself for a little altitude sickness, headaches and nausea at some point during your stay. Prepare for snow and there is no wood for fires as you are high over the treeline with no access to it. Most of the fish are within 20 yards of the shoreline as it drops down to 70 or more feet that far out. Avoid the far end of the lake near the falls as it is long way down as you can see in the picture. Know your size limit and bring a ruler if you intend to keep a fish. The last time we went some jerk decided in his mind that a 13" fish was somehow 16". Then when he caught a 21" he kept that one as well.

The lower lake has more fish but gets more pressure and you will notice it in the attitudes of the fish towards you offerings.

14 people you'll need to deal with your poop accordingly as there are little creeks running into the lake all over the flats where you will most likely camp.
Have fun on your visit.



If I had been there that guy would have got a chopper ride out, from Stars Ambulance. Keeping a golden if allowed is one thing (and one should give a lot of thought about it), but an undersized one is another story. Hopefully anybody who encounters a similiar situation will go to the authorities and report people like this as soon as they get back to the helicopter base so that the CO can deal with it. Fish like the golden need to be protected.

[NUK SOO KOW]

Those lakes are on my bucket list for sure! You will have an awesome time! I have fished all the golden trout lakes in southern Alberta, those trout are a gem and should be treated so. If you guys plan on keeping any so be it, I would just like to express my feelings of catch and release. Have a great trip!

[cmcclung]

If I had been there that guy would have got a chopper ride out, from Stars Ambulance. Keeping a golden if allowed is one thing (and one should give a lot of thought about it), but an undersized one is another story. Hopefully anybody who encounters a similiar situation will go to the authorities and report people like this as soon as they get back to the helicopter base so that the CO can deal with it. Fish like the golden need to be protected.

Couldn't agree more. If you want one to mount, just take lots of pictures, get the measurements and get a replica made. Goldens are way to precious in my opinion to be hauling them back down the mountain. Just my opinion though.

[BeeGuy]

If I had been there that guy would have got a chopper ride out, from Stars Ambulance. Keeping a golden if allowed is one thing (and one should give a lot of thought about it), but an undersized one is another story. Hopefully anybody who encounters a similiar situation will go to the authorities and report people like this as soon as they get back to the helicopter base so that the CO can deal with it. Fish like the golden need to be protected.

Can't we just stock some more?

[uplander]

Can't we just stock some more?

It's unbelievably expensive to get Goldens to those lakes. They have to acquire breeders first because I don't think we currently are stocking any (am I wrong?) Then you would have to do the whole process of raising them to a certain size then bringing them to the chopper company who's gonna fly them up there.

[NUK SOO KOW]

I think the goldens originally came from California. There are only a few lakes that are able to sustain them. I Only know of one lake that they reproduce in Alberta naturally, and they are transplanted to other lakes by Srd. They need the high elevation to survive. They grow very slowly due to the cold temps and the amount of food in those high up lakes . Any fish that is legal size has been around a few years. There hasn't been any imports from California since the 50's or 60's. They are very rare and we are lucky to have access to them in Alberta. I would like to see an effort in trying a few more alpine lakes stocked with goldens. C&R

[jrs]

They do produce a few fry at least in one of the lakes they're translpanted into down south. Ive seen them spawning in July (a few summers in a row) and did notice a couple itty bitty little fry in either late august or early september (can't remember exactly when). Very unique species we're lucky to have so easily accesible (hour walk). The government did assess other lakes for stocking just before the native species movement went bigtime. I think we need to take care of what we have as the chances of new lakes being stocked is pretty minimal. Last time i went up i was disgusted by the guys fishing it, lots of litter, poor fish handling, and 3 dead goldens in the shallows the next morning. Easy access to the lakes (trail improvements) and information (online) isn't necesarily good for a sensitive resource.

[NUK SOO KOW]

I agree jrs with access to certain lakes. My wife and I and another couple hiked 16km to a lake to camp three days. A grueling 6 hrs later we arrived at one of the most beautiful lakes I had ever seen! Trout abound cruising the shores! And then we spent the first hour. Cleaning up two campsites. And I have seen much litter at the golden trout lakes, as well as a pickerel rig caught in the rocks. I was angry.