You can still get to Lake Harriet, you just have to go the long way around Lake Timothy. NF-57 is open from Timothy Dam to the Lake Harriet turnoff. Beyond that, there is a three mile section of road that was washed out by a landslide. The route via 224 will remain closed indefinitely until cleanup is funded. Weather dependent, the 26 to skyline road route stays open until December 1.
Part of the reason you’re not finding any browns on Mount Hood is because they only exist in Harriet and Lost Lake, which is closed for the season. The population in Lost Lake is very small. The population in Lake Harriet is robust, but they’re rarely caught by spin anglers and even more rarely caught from the bank. I fly fish from a small raft, and catch browns on every single outing.
Brook trout live in most of the lakes you mentioned above, but they’re best established in Clear Lake and Lake Timothy. At Timothy, target the north arm and don’t bother with the rest of the lake. The campground is closed, so you’ll have to hike down from the road with a float tube. It takes about 10 minutes. If you don’t have a float tube, you won’t be able to reach the fish. They congregate in the old river inlet channels.
Clear Lake experienced a partial fish kill last winter that severely damaged the Brook trout population, and it’s too low to ethically fish at the moment anyway. Brook trout also prefer flies to spinners or dough bait (all wild trout do), but they’ve got a reputation for hitting silver spinners on the drop while they’re stacking up to spawn. Which they’re currently doing.
The Oak Grove Fork of the clackamas does contain all four species, but in countless trips over the years I’ve only encountered two browns and one brook trout in the stretch between Timothy and Harriet. It’s also only open for six more days and is blown out from all this rain.
Given the forecast, your search for Brook and brown trout on the mountain might have to wait until next year. The roads already have snow on them, and the fish are going to be very difficult to catch as the weather changes. I fish these lakes religiously, and most summer days yield 50-100 fish. When the weather starts to shift, I’m happy to hook a half dozen.
