Fishing Stanley Lake Stanley Lake

This week's blog is not a photograph of a sunset nor a lighthouse with a mysterious history, but rather as something a little different, just a soothing pastoral image of Stanley Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho with both 9,860 foot high McGown Peak and the smaller Elk Peak in the background. These fishermen were enjoying a calm Saturday morning in early spring out on the Lake. While campgrounds are located all around the north and west sides of the lake, campers were sparse that morning due to the chilly early spring conditions. Stanley Lake is stocked by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game with cutthroat, rainbow and lake trout. Steelhead is seasonal but abundant depending on the year. Snake River sockeye salmon were once present as well but downstream dams on the river now prevent any return of the salmon to the Lake. 

Located in Custer County Idaho, about 7 miles from the town of Stanley, the Lake is nestled at the fringe of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains. The lake is about 1 mile long, 1/2 mile across and is at a surface elevation of 6,513 feet above sea level.

Photo image was taken with a Nikon D800, 35mm lens at 1/100, f/16 to help intensify the clouds, used with flash to highlight the tree bark to the left and with an ISO of 250.