Chambers Lake

[tlarwa]

Anyone been to Chambers lately?  Curious if anyone had an ice report and/or fishing report?  Don't need specific spots just curious about the bite/ice in general.  Also, do any of you know where I could pick up a contour map for this lake? Can't find any online...  Any help would be much appreciated.

[SLAYERFISH]

Deep snow, Brutal winds, Tough access, skinny fish. Who cares?

[tlarwa]

I'll give it one last try since I'm heading there Saturday.  Anyone have anything to help me out, ice conditions, contour map, etc?  Anything would be great!  Thanks.

[fishslap]

Ice is probably thick, snow is probably deep.  You'll most likely need snow shoes, x-country skis or a snow machine.  I've iced it a few seasons.  When you get on the lake, head toward the other side (North?) until you get to where it starts to narrow up (quite a walk).  Then, drill off of the shore about 25-75yards I guess.  Basically, not right on shore but not out in the middle either.  Use dark tubes off the bottom in the 2-2 3/4" size, spoons, & 1/8 - 1/4 oz roadrunner jig heads with 3-5" curly tail grubs in white and green.  Tip with sucker meat.  Fish will be anywhere from on bottom to suspended 15-25' off bottom, so move up and down the bottom half of the water column.  Look for 40 - 80 FOW.

Post up a report of how you do.  I'll be passing through that way tomorrow.

[tlarwa]

Thanks, appreciate the reply, I'll try to get a report up tomorrow afternoon when we're done fishing.

[Shoe]

It has been a while since I did it.  Follow someone else's trail from the campground road - you might not need snowshoes but who knows - I pulled my smitty-like sled/bench.  To the NW end of the lake for the deepest water.  It is a very long walk from the south to the north end.  No contour map available that I know of, you might find 80 FOW but not much deeper than that.  Fishslap is right about 25-50 yards off that west shore up on the north end.  Seems like I found fish in 30-40'.  There should be other people around I suspect.  They are notoriously small and thin from what I have seen and heard.

s

[tlarwa]

Sorry guys, didn't have service up in the mountains.  Fishing went well, caught 15 lake trout and a few small bows, nothing huge all in the 20" range.  Consistent bite for most of the day though.  Windy but still warm outside and the lake was easy to get on and off for the most part, definitely didn't need snowshoes.  Did you get out at all fishslap?

[Shoe]

Sounds like a good day, thanks for the report.  I went north of the border instead.  20" is about what I caught there the last time.  By chance did you eat any?  They were not good at all for me; but maybe I got a bad one or did't know how to cook lakers.

s

[tlarwa]

Did keep some, haven't eaten them yet, I'll let you know when I do though.  Where north of the border did you go?

[fishslap]

Sorry guys, didn't have service up in the mountains.  Fishing went well, caught 15 lake trout and a few small bows, nothing huge all in the 20" range.  Consistent bite for most of the day though.  Windy but still warm outside and the lake was easy to get on and off for the most part, definitely didn't need snowshoes.  Did you get out at all fishslap?

Yea, I hit north park.  Caught around 15:  3 browns 13-15", 3 cutbows at 19", and the rest were cutbows 13-17".  Not a bad day but not great either.  I did notice that there wasn't as much snow up there as I thought.  I haven't been that way in a while.  Good to hear access wasn't too bad.  I've seen it both ways.

[Shoe]

I went to plains lakes around Laramie.  There was hardly any wind...less than 30 mph, anyway.

s

[Wifes folly]

Sorry guys, didn't have service up in the mountains.  Fishing went well, caught 15 lake trout and a few small bows, nothing huge all in the 20" range.  Consistent bite for most of the day though.  Windy but still warm outside and the lake was easy to get on and off for the most part, definitely didn't need snowshoes.  Did you get out at all fishslap?

I was up there Sunday as well, didn't do nearly as well but did catch two kokanee.  We were sitting over 30 feet of water and had a small school of kokanee swim under the holes with fins literally touching the ice.  Dropped an ice jig and waxworm and caught two, literally popped them into the house when we set the hook.  Anyone else had that experience?  We caught a couple of lake trout on the bottom, but had a waxworm on a small jig on a bobber 10 feet down and caught a 17-inch laker on it.  Suggests fish are using the entire water column to some extent.  I was told lake trout are too oily to cook normally, so I soaked a couple fillets in brine overnight and smoked them.  They were very good.

[Wifes folly]

Ran up today to see what the conditions were like.  Very little snow in the canyon until you get to the fish hatchery, then the snowpack really starts building as you get higher.  Parking area at the Highway (entrance to campground) had been cleared by the Highway Department with a blower.  Road into lake is either packed or blown clear, so that is a pretty easy pull.  Lake surface is highly variable, bare ice in a couple spots, well over a foot of snow on it in others.  I tried snowshoes but didn't sink in enough to make those worthwhile, but boots were sinking in 3-6 inches.  Ski's would have worked well.  A foot of slushy ice sitting on top of at least 18 inches of good hard ice.  Fished from about 9 until 1:00 when I got chased off by a snowstorm and swirling winds.  Two rainbows, 1 lake trout.  Fished 12-30 feet on the west end but most of the activity was shallow.

[Sawtooth]

Every time I drive over the pass I think about stopping.  Thanks for the report.  It would be fun to try some other species.

[Wifes folly]

That's kind of why I tried it.  My third trip, and getting a bit more difficult to get to the fish each time and fish activity seems to be slowing which is typical I guess over the winter as oxygen content lowers.  This is a nice little lake, but fish tend to run small and skinny because it is not very productive.  Wind blows and swirls a lot also, but it is close to FC so not a lot invested.  Was using it as practice to go chase lake trout in Granby, Williams Fork or Blue Mesa where lake trout are more plentiful and run bigger.