Getting There

Island Lake is located just inside the Desolation Wilderness boundary in El Dorado County. It can be reached by taking Wrights Lake Road off of Highway 50. Follow Wrights Lake Road until you reach Wrights Lake. IF the recreation area is open, at the junction by the stop sign, turn right and follow it to the end where you will find a parking lot. If the Wrights Lake recreation area is closed, you will have to park at the overflow parking lot about a quarter mile from the gate. Remember to go here to get your Desolation Wilderness permit if you plan on staying at Island Lake.

The Hike

The hike to Island Lake is a moderate hike that is mostly uphill. In late May and early June, the hillside has rivers of water cascading down the granite and makes for some great photographs. The trail in some areas, looks more like a creek than a trail. The last ascent to Twin Lakes is notably the most difficult while the remaining leg from Twin Lakes to Island Lake is quite easy. I will say that the trail segment from Twin Lakes to Island Lake gets fuzzy at times but if you stay to the right of Boomerang Lake you should be fine. Once you have arrived, you may find that locating decent camping spots takes some work. Better camping areas are located closer to the Twin Lakes.

The Fishing

Fishing Island Lake in Desolation Wilderness has been on my hit list for a couple of years now and it did not disappoint. I started by crossing the outlet creek and fishing the first point. I could see plenty of fish rising on the water in the area close to the outlet so I figured that would be a good place to start. I landed and released my first fish at Island Lake using a orange puffball and a piece of night crawler that I retrieved slowly along the bottom with a sliding egg sinker.

I observed a number of fish rising on the north-west corner of Island Lake near the outlet so I put my spinning rod down and grabbed my fly setup and walked over to see what I could drum up. I followed the rises with a beaded Brassie and failed to get the attention of any fish. There appeared to be a number of winged insects similar to Blue Wing Olives floating the surface so I switched over to a yellow Humpy but still had no luck. Finally, I tied on a Hare's Ear and dead drifted it which caught the attention of a couple more fish which I landed and released.

I walked the north side of Island Lake until I reached the big open water on the east side. I did not see any fish rising or otherwise in this area so I turned back as I was hoping to drop into Grouse Lake on my hike out.