On October 26, 2011, engineers blew a hole in the Condit Dam in Southwest Washington and emptied Northwestern Lake into the lower White Salmon River in order to remove the dam from the river and allow salmon and steelhead to migrate upstream to spawn. Northwestern Lake, the reservoir created upstream from the Condit Dam when it was built in 1913, ceased to exist. If you are a fisherman, white water enthusiast or just like free flowing rivers, the removal of Condit Dam is a good thing; restoring the White Salmon River to a more natural state.
Northwestern Lake was a nice fishing and kayaking spot, popular with the White Salmon locals because it was kind of off the beaten path. A small lake, tucked away in the Klickitat County hills, it was fairly well protected from the notorious Columbia Gorge wind, never crowded, had two easy launch areas and a nice park to have a family picnic by the river. The lake was stocked with rainbow trout and the fishing was pretty good at times if you knew how to fish the narrow lake.
The White Salmon River originates on the southwest slope of Mt. Adams. Rattlesnake, Trout Lake, Mill and Buck Creeks all empty into the White Salmon above the Condit Dam location, creating small waterfalls all around the perimeter of Northwestern Lake, now the lower White Salmon River.
Since this is the Pacific Northwest, the weather goes from sunny to rain and warm to cold; sometimes all in the same day. Northwestern Lake always looked a little different depending on the time of year and what the weather was like. It could be sunny and clear one day…
Cloudy and raining the next.
Northwestern Lake was a perfect spot for kayak fishing; protected from the wind, not much of a current and the fishing was pretty good. Regularly stocked with rainbow trout, you could get lucky and land a bigger fish that was a holdover from the previous year or beyond.
Even though there won’t be any more fishing in Northwestern Lake, hopefully the restoration of the river will allow salmon and steelhead to swim far up the White Salmon River and create an even better fishery.
So, farewell to Northwestern Lake and hello to a new chapter in the natural history of the White Salmon River.
Northwestern Lake is nothing but memories now.