A gorgeous mountain rainbow trout that Michael T. Williams found as it cruised along weedbeds looking for scuds and damsel nymphs. Photo by David Williams.

Is your favorite lake filled with water-skiers and annoying personal watercraft? Is there a fisherman perched on every rock along every well-known trout stream? Do you long for solitude and clear mountain water filled with trout that rarely see a hook? If so, lace up your boots, grab your rod, shoulder your pack and hit the trail for some high-altitude adventure this summer.

You have myriad choices for a day trip, a weekend overnighter that allows deeper access into the wilds, or a weeklong backpacking trip where you can sample different lakes and streams. California boasts 14 million acres of wilderness. Oregon has 37 wilderness areas. Washington lists 2,600 lakes in the Cascades alone. You could spend a lifetime exploring gorgeous country and never fish the same water twice.

With so many choices, narrowing the options may seem daunting. The good news is there are plenty of hiking and fishing guidebooks that target specific areas. Dave Shorett has written three guides focusing on Washington alpine waters, and Terry Rudnick penned a statewide guide. Chris Shaffer has written a similar series covering California waters. And Madelynne Diness Sheehan wrote a fishing guidebook for Oregon. Go to your local library or Google these authors to find their books.

Clubs like the Washington Hi-Lakers and Trailblazers whose purpose is to preserve, protect and enhance the alpine fishing experience, are wonderful sources of information, but plan on pitching in to help. A Google search will uncover clubs in your area.

Someone once said that the best time to go fishing is when you can. That certainly applies to mountain fishing. Look for lower-elevation lakes, since they lose their winter snow first. Topographic maps tell much about when a lake will be fishable. The ice on a lake with an open shoreline at 5,000 feet may melt sooner than a lower lake sitting in a bowl with limited sun exposure. As the season progresses and the snow level moves higher, you can set your sights on more and more lakes.

THE FISH & FISHERY
High lakes offer rainbow, coastal cutthroat, West Slope cutthroat, eastern brook, brown, mackinaw, Dolly Varden and the fisher's prize, golden trout. Originally stocked in the early 1900s by individuals carrying milk buckets filled with hundreds of fry, many large, heavily used lakes are now planted via air drops from planes or helicopters carrying thousands of fry. Smaller or inaccessible lakes still get stocked the old-fashioned way: by someone -- usually a volunteer -- grunting and sweating up steep trails with fish tied to their back or on a horse.

Stocking cycles affect the size of fish you catch. A self-sustaining lake will have fish of all age-classes. In stocked lakes, particularly remote or inaccessible ones, you may have one or two age-classes. You may hit the big-fish bonanza if your visit coincides when fish numbers have been reduced by predation and the survivors have pigged out on the resulting abundant food supply. As in all things, proper timing can result in catching beautifully colored trophy-sized fish.

Brookies and West Slope cutthroat readily adapt to mountain life and are most likely to reproduce, since they don't require flowing water to spawn, as do rainbows. The bad news is that their ability to reproduce may soon exceed their food supply, resulting in stunted fish. Exceptions exist, and only through time and dedicated effort will you identify them.