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[cutthroat22]

I went to Latimer Lake (Surrey) 2 or 3 years ago to take a peek and it was a muddy pond holding hundreds of small carp and sunfish. 

Today i googled it and came up with this webpage from the City of Surrey http://www.surrey.ca/Visiting+Surrey/What+to+Do/Best+Places+to+Go+For....htm

which states

Try your luck at the stocked ponds at Green Timbers Park (148th Street and 100th Ave) or Latimer Lake (192nd/28th Ave.)

Does anyone know if it is still dried up?  I had heard it was drained to develop the area..?

Or is it still stocked on occasion?  Used to be a nice pleasant place 10 years ago..

[glx]

I havent seen it in years, so I cant comment on its status as of now.  Grew up fishing there. 

[Rodney]

A couple of weeks ago, I brought up Latimer Lake at a meeting to toy with the idea of bringing it back as part of the urban lake fishery program. It currently does not receive stockings from the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery. Since the area has been developed, the problem has always been the fluctuation of the water level, which leads to poor water quality so there are no plans for future stockings unless these problems are fixed by the City of Surrey.

[purple monster]

the only plan the city has is to develop it some more.  There is a new development sign just south of the lake (if you can call it that).   the City has made good profit turning this area over to industrial zoning.  Specially when you consider that the land across the street from the lake was almost all owed by the City.  The surrounding development allowed the City to cash in on their share of the land transferred to industrial zoning.

The damages done to that area were well documented and declared an disaster.  It still is a disaster area.  Lots of us enjoyed fishing there, not so many years ago.  It is the only place my sons and I used to go fishing. It was near by, easy, affordable and nice and quiet.  Now, with all the truck traffic, you can barely heard the birds singing there.

there is more industrial development planned for the area, resident neighbors are all worried about their local creeks. 

[Rp3Flyfisher]

Not sure if there are any fish left in it, but there was water there 2 weeks back when I took my dogs for a walk there.

Rick

[clarki]

I know that many mourn the loss of Latimer Lake, however I find it difficult to get up in arms over a man-made lake that is a flooded gravel pit.

[cutthroat22]

Thanx for the replies guys.  I was just surprised to see the City of Surrey has it on their web page as a fishing destination with stocked trout.  The last time I was there (few years ago) I watched a guy catch dozens of 2-4inch carp out of there but it was a puddle not a lake and he said there were no more trout.

Flooded gravel pit or not it was a safe place for many to learn how to fish and i don't know if "mourn" is the right word but I certainly have memories of it.

I just started thinking about it because I took my son for a walk around Green Timbers in Surrey and it brought back a few memories.  There were frogs, turtles, crayfish and all sorts of other critters at Latimer and it had a bit more of a wild feel to it then Green Timbers.

I remember some water quality issues in late July-September but those would disappear with the cooler weather and rains.

Seems I will have to go for a drive and check it out, thanx again for the replies.

[HOOK]

I also used to fish Latimer and really enjoyed my time there more then Green Timbers for the simple fact i could throw my float tube in it and fly fish around the sunken weeds/trees and the small islands and stuff. Now to fish out of my pontoon(upgrade from float tube) i have to drive all the way to Coquitlam to fish Lafarge which is a really nice lake to fish for stocked trout so i dont mind that much  I did however love the feel at Latimer because you couldnt hear the traffic/sirens and other ambient noise of city life.


Im not sure if they should bother trying to bring it back now that its so developed around it, Im pretty sure it has lost its intimate little lake feel 

[Rodney]

The loss of Latimer Lake is not devastating, but it certainly is a disappointment. In the Lower Mainland, we lack accessable entry-level freshwater fisheries where parents can bring their kids to fish with the expectation to catch fish easily. For Richmond, Delta and Surrey residents, Green Timbers Lake is the cloest one where they can go to but the amount of fishing space is limited. It'd be nice to have a couple other similar lakes in the area.

If people wish to see Latimer Lake being brought back as part of the catchable rainbow trout fishery program, then contacting the City of Surrey would be the best approach. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC works with municipalities to produce accessible fisheries. If the City is made aware of the demand, then perhaps we can make some changes.

[HOOK]

Rodney - do you know the reasons why they dont stock Surrey lake on 152nd street, you know the one by the golf course. Im guessing because it has the creek entering and exiting but why cant they fance it like they did at Green Timbers. Its a nice and could handle small watercraft i think. I have seen chum in there before after that year we had the big flood down there 

[bbronswyk2000]

Growing up in Surrey I always thought they should have made a man made lake in Bear Creek Park. The best place would be under the power lines. They could re route some of the water from Bear Creek to give the lake an inflow and outflow. I dont see how this would be so tough.

[HOOK]

Bryan - the people of surrey just recently won a small battle that stopped them from devoloping 84 street to continue through Bear creek park. Im not sure if its final about it but i doubt its over. I dont think the city really cares much about that park to be honest as you can tell with wanting to put a road through 

I think they could put a small put/take fishery in Tynehead park. there is plenty of room and the Serpentine river runs through there. Also has a hatchery that primarily raises chinook. I have gone there to do the salmon fry release more then once 

I do agree though that we need a couple more of these urban lakes.

[fishstick]

I grew up fishing the little campbell and latimer pit, and while it sucks the campbell heights development wrecked the pit, the far more worrying and important part is that it has hurt the LC as well and continued development of this kind will only further harm this sensitive watershed of which a lot of the neighbouring creeks are tributaries to and spawning grounds for slamon, steelhead and cutthroat. Latimer hasn't been stocked since '03 and has water in it but it is quite low, and no diverting or channelizing other sensitive salmon/steelhead/trout streams such as bear creek and the serp for a put and take fishery is a very bad idea