VISITOR’S GUIDE
Much of Ross Lake’s charm is in the logistics. Even though it isn’t accessible by road, the lake can be reached by foot or by tugboat.
If you’re planning to bring a hardshell kayak, you have two
options.The easy program is to paddle across at Diablo and hook up with the flat bed truck sent down from the resort.
The second is to wheel or carry the boats down a trail. Two trails lend themselves to this. Ross Dam Trail is a steep mile leading down from Route 20. Diablo Lake Trail to East Bank Trail is less rugged and starts at a trailhead five miles further east on Route 20. This old mining road crosses the gorgeous Ruby Creek and delivers you to the lake a mile up Ruby Arm; it’s a beautiful route.
Get a map of the area from www.
amazingmaps.us. Ask for the Ross Lake National Recreation Area Map and Guide.
For info and lake related services, contact: ROSS LAKE RESORT
www.rosslakeresort.com May to November: 206-386-4437 January to May: 206-708-3980
The resort has boat rentals and a water taxi service but no food for sale.
After our first day on the lake, windy was
the word. It was so windy that several parties of canoeists took refuge on our little island. With the population swelling, we fired up the Cole- man to brew up some coffee for the refugees. We even ran the skiff to check on two teenag- ers grinding out the last half mile to the beach in building waves. But the beauty of any island is that there is al-
surf and turf style—grilled prawns and vennie steaks—and while Steve and I cleaned up the kitchen that evening, the cooks went out to fish. We caught our share of bulls and ‘bows over
the next few days. Each of our kayaks worked best as a tandem in the big winds. If I went out single and hooked up to a fish, I might be in B.C. by the time I landed it! Avery was defi- nitely a sea captain’s son, and he would fire up the skiff and take us out. Then he would jockey the boat on a sweet line just off the bank so we could fish in a hurricane.
74…KAYAK ANGLER
ways a lee shore. Steve took his big TFO switch rod out to work a long line off a shelving corner. He caught fish even while white caps rolled by. Temperatures had reached 100ºF a week ear-
lier and it was still hot on the lake. We’d made a run up to the Chuckanut Brewery in Bell- ingham and filled half a dozen growlers full of fresh lager, BPA and Kolsch. By late afternoon that day, we had them bobbing in the shade under the dock. When it was just too damned blowy to wave a line in the air, we either trolled shiner patters using Rio Deep 6 line with Ave at the helm or played Pétanque around camp while sipping the beer.
LOCAL PRAWNS AND FRESH VENISON ARE ON THE
MENU AT ROSS LAKE. PHOTO: STEVE THOMSEN
The book on how to best catch these Ross
lunkers has very few pages. Park Service sci- entist and avid fly angler, Ashley Rawhouser, had simple advice: “Find the shiners and you’ll find the fish.” At the resort, Tom’s best tip is to fish early and late in the day. We al- most always fish close to shore where preda- tors can corral shiners against the bank. Tom added that pop-gear fisherman trolling flashers and spoons are doing just as well as fly fishermen. My own two cents is that there are so many
shiners scattered around the lake now that the ‘find the shiners and you find the fish’ advice is not as helpful as it once was. It’s hard to fish where there aren’t schools of bait. The best bet is to find bait schooled near structure where predators can corral and ambush their victims. With so much bait in Ross Lake, the fish don’t go hungry for long. •• Rob Lyon is a long-time adventure journalist
and author. He lives in the San Juan Islands with his artist wife, Pamela.
‘BOWSon
ROSS LAKE BULLS
and
PHOTO: ROBYN MINKLER
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