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View Full Version : over due report from Virginia Lakes w/ pics....long post



troutdog
06-26-2007, 04:24 AM
I apologize in advance for not being able to post this report earlier, but I had some internet issues and finally found the time to put this together. Hope this one doesn't put you to sleep... :lol:

I packed the truck and left "the OC" Thursday the 7th around 9am, my final destination Little Virginia Lake to meet my long time friend Pat and his Dad. My buddy Jim unfortunately bailed out at the last minute due to the flu and I had a cabin to myself waiting for me. As I made my way up the 395 just South of Lone Pine,I nearly got side swiped by a blue XTerra and then watched in disbelief as he cut off a big rig while doing over 90mph...some people are just friggen clueless! At this point I needed to do two address two important necessities...eating and fishing. The Mount Whitney Cafe in Lone Pine has become one of my favorite pitstops, it has quite the menu at a decent price. A quick burger and a dash across the street for some crawlers and I was back on the road. I decided Independence Creek would be a good place to wet a line and satisfy the fish itch. The creek was running a little fast, but I don't think the 20 minutes I fished at the hottest part of the day should reflect how well it was fishing.

No luck on this nice little spot, but I enjoyed finally getting the line wet
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/IndyCreek.jpg

As I continued up North I was delighted to see that Johnny Law caught up to the idiot in the blue Xterra, the two police cars on scene and the tow truck pulling off the road did not bode well for RacerX :twisted:

The odometer and scenery was telling me that I was getting real close, I was thinking somewhere over those mountains....oh and nice hat too!
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/Themtharhills.jpg

One last stretch at Mono Lake before meeting up with the boyz
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/MonoLake.jpg

I arrived at Little V around 4 or so and checked into my room before metting the guys at the usual spot. I was looking at the recent pictures on the wall and recognized a guy named San I bumped into at The LongFin a few days earlier with an 8lb Alper caught back in May. There is also a great picture of the 1938 USC football team as well as a door signed by the team. I was so pumped and ready to fish this little piece of paradise in the high Sierras.
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/LilVshot.jpg

When I got to "the spot" Pat was talking to Timster and it was game on, trips that start with a fish on the first cast into a lake hafta be okay right? The stocker came on the old reliable rainbow pb. Word was that fishing was a little slow, perhaps because of the light storm that had just blown through, the mud snail closing a local hatchery or the fact that gas prices were supposedly limiting the amount of fish Alpers was stocking. It did not matter to me because I was fishing one of my favorite areas in all of the Sierras. I managed two fish before calling it quits for the night.

Pat knocked on my cabin door Friday at 4:30am and we were fishing an hour before sunrise. The bite was banging from 5 to 6:30 and it turned out to be the coldest morning of the trip, major ice in the rod tips while casting the hardware. The fire tiger bouyant put 4 fish in the C&R category, in addition to 5 bait fish the morning bite was a success in my books. I caught what I believe to be my pb brown trout...I wish I could tell you it was C&R on a #10 Olive Matuka, but truth be told he could not resist the chartreuse chromaglow with garlic bang scent and swallowed the hook.
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/MrBrownie.jpg

Decent limit by 7:30am
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/LimitatlilV.jpg

After a killer breakfast at the lodge I figured I might as well clean my limit
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/Cleaningtime.jpg

Fishing was slow after the morning bite, so I did a little hiking and took some pictures. The elevation here is no joke, it took me a couple days to get used to it. Bring extra chapstick and sunscreen in these parts. Aftrnoon fishing was only fair, but dinner that night made up for it...Italian sausages, rolls, tequila, beer and amaretto brownies. The group I met up with totaled about a dozen or so guys, most of which I either knew or heard legendary stories about. Some of these guys have been doing this trip for over 30 years, it was quite a cooking/drinking fest to say the least.

Up by 4:30am on day two for somewhat slow morning fishing, although I did manage 4 fish before heading in at 9 for breakfast. Nothing big for us, but I watched Timsters friend San lose a 5-6 lb Alper right at the net :cry: With the somewhat slow fishing and looking for a change of scenery I decided to fish Big V for the afternoon bite, caught a fish within 5 minutes and felt I had to pay homage to the trout gods
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/BigVcheers.jpg
The Big V fished very well the remainder of the day and after heading back for steaks and more tequila marinade, I fished the last 30 minutes of light for a couple more fish before calling it a night.

Sunday had Pat at my door at 4:30am, but I decided to sleep in until 5:30 and got the tail end of the "hot bite" he and his Dad had experienced.

Pat about to go bendo!
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/Gabouttogobendo.jpg

The fruits of labor
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/Gandhisbounty.jpg

The Sierra Reading Club...all joking aside this father/son combo was on the lake before 5am all three mornings ready to crush trout
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/seriousanglers.jpg

Had to take a picture of this lady angler casting her "lucky Z-Ray" while her little one rode shotgun on her back...I could tell by talking to her she was serious about her fishing, she grilled me for info!
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/FishinMom.jpg

Eventhough Jim was sick and could not make it, I figured he should at least be well represented while sitting by the cabin and gazing at the lake..."nice view eh Jimbo"
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/Jim.jpg

Our last full afternoon on Sunday was epic for me, I absolutely crushed em on the pink power worm/nitro egg/garlic bang combo. I caught 15 fish in about two and a half hours, in that time I may have seen 5 other fish caught by the two dozen anglers next to us...I ALMOST started feeling bad, well almost. I did help fill a few stringers and shared my "secret"(DID I MENTION PINK POWER WORMS?), with anyone who was interested in what I was using...it was great geting a thumbs up from the old guy and gal from Bakersfield when they got in the action. Also got to hand off a few fish to the youngster that had joined the group, nothing better than getting a kid hooked on fishing! After the hot action we hit Bridgeport for pizza and brew at Rhinos...good spot you may want to try if you haven't already.

Got back in time to fish Little V one last evening, caught a few more and lost a nice fish right at dark during a double hookup...oh well. What a neat place to watch the light fade to dark, except for the coyotes I bumped into on the way back to the cabin
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/Lastcast.jpg

Like all good things, the trip came to an end on Monday and the group said their good-byes until next time. Of course I had to stop and enjoy the ride back as much as possible. I hit Convict for a few pictures and a handful of casts with a kastmaster from the marina with no biters. That could not be said about Taboose Creek....my last stop before heading home. The creek was full of stockers and many of the pools were stuffed. I pulled on a quick limit and I saw one fish that probably pushed 5lbs, but he did not want any of what I had to offer.

I found this feather along the creek, any ornithology buffs care to take a stab at it? Hawk or owl perhaps?
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/coolfeather.jpg

This cloud formation was amazing...I think I missed my free car wash by about 15 minutes
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/Stormcloud.jpg

I saw some beautiful sites on my trip up North, but none better than the big smile I got from my daughter when I got home!
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/flowerchild.jpg

Thanks for reading and good luck out there!


TD

Cabodude
06-26-2007, 09:14 AM
Well said! Great report and pictures! :D

Beancounter
06-26-2007, 09:43 AM
Great report & pics :thumb:
Was this last weekend?
Need to get me some of them worms... :wink:
Can't wait to get up there myself...
4 days and counting :banana:

MikeinSB
06-26-2007, 10:22 AM
One of the best reports I've read! Excellent - almost felt like I was there!

mr. trout
06-26-2007, 10:35 AM
great report and pics

sounds like fun

-mr. trout

Wingnut
06-26-2007, 11:59 AM
Fabulous report, great trip! :wink:

troutdog
06-26-2007, 01:34 PM
Great report & pics :thumb:
Was this last weekend?
Need to get me some of them worms... :wink:
Can't wait to get up there myself...
4 days and counting :banana:


This was from the weeknd of the 9th, like I said...long overdue report cause of internet issues. Sorry about that. Thanks for the feedback, hope this helps someone land an extra fish or two!


TD

one_leg
06-26-2007, 01:55 PM
Very Nice report, TD.

Thanks,
One_Leg

DreStyle
06-26-2007, 04:17 PM
Nice report TD. Timster and San turned me onto Little V at the begining of May. I will never go back to the sierras without fishing that lake. Sounds like you had some pretty good results and a great trip. Next time you're in Bridgeport, try this place called the sportsman's inn, best damn porkchops ever.

by the way .... you're in my spot dude ... :lol:

olfishergal
06-26-2007, 11:22 PM
beautiful report TD......thanks for sharing. I notice u never get the skunk except when u fish with me...J/K...hehehhee....I am envious at not being up in that beauty. Hugs to the little miss...tell her I said hi, give her a hug. and, I am sporting hot pink nailpolish with purple flowers...she will understand.
OFG

troutdog
06-27-2007, 01:59 AM
beautiful report TD......thanks for sharing. I notice u never get the skunk except when u fish with me...J/K...hehehhee....I am envious at not being up in that beauty. Hugs to the little miss...tell her I said hi, give her a hug. and, I am sporting hot pink nailpolish with purple flowers...she will understand.
OFG


Hey OFG,
I'm sure my girl will be "tickled pink" to hear about the nails you're sporting! She is already pumped up for the Irvine event and can't wait to fish with you again, we better see you before that though!

You are never going to let me live this SARL skunk down are you...:lol:
http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/stringershot.jpg


TD

one_leg
06-27-2007, 09:20 PM
Hey TD, nice stringer.

One_Leg

Granny Fish
06-27-2007, 10:25 PM
Hey troutdog! Thanks for the late report. Loved the pictures with all that beautiful scenery and better yet the fish porn. :D

Those browns sure are pretty... seems a shame to eat them... but they taste so good! I've been to that cafe as well... good eats. On a hot day when I want to play some pool and enjoy some microbrew I like to visit the Faultline cafe in Independence (aka The Rhino Lounge). Great pizza, great beer and vive.

ryanerb
07-10-2007, 12:00 AM
troutdog, how are you fishing those pink power worms? jig head? bubble?

fishfinder
07-10-2007, 10:01 AM
Hawk feather.......see link
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... %26hl%3Den (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pamjohnsonbrickellart.com/images/featherbwhawkt.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.pamjohnsonbrickellart.com/prints1.html&h=127&w=174&sz=4&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=8LpQ3tugxJy8WM:&tbnh=73&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhawk%2Bfeather%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10 %26hl%3Den)

troutdog
07-10-2007, 03:46 PM
Thanks for the pics fishfinder...in looking at them it looks like the horned owl feather IMHO, as oppossed to the red tail feathers pictured. I was told that you are not allowed to have a bird of prey feather in your possesion...so for the record it is not in my hands at thsi time :shock:


Ryanerb I was fishing them primarily Carolina style with a 2-3ft leader, change up the leader length till you find the biting fish! Good luck to you.


TD

ryanerb
07-10-2007, 05:42 PM
thanks for the info. do you use a bubble or egg sinker for your weight behind the swivel? also, do you hook the worm texas style, or wacky or what?

troutdog
07-10-2007, 07:25 PM
I like using a sliding sinker behind a Carolina keeper, one less knot to worry about plus I just don't like swivels. Used a treble hook and hooked the worm near the tip on two of the barbs, the third barb got the amino egg. Now go get'm and show us some trout pics!


TD

Troutman65
07-10-2007, 09:17 PM
Troutdog, Truly awsome report with great photos !!!!!

:thumb:


Congrats on your nice Brown Trout and the rest of your catch !!!

Thanks for getting around to posting. It was worth the wait !!!!


Troutman65

ryanerb
07-17-2007, 10:46 PM
haha, one more, when you say pink, do you mean the bubblegum color, or the flourescent red? i dont think they just have a "pink" color. i'm just trying to figure out which one to buy at the store.

check this site : http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/store/Berkley_Micro_Trout_Worm.htm

troutdog
07-19-2007, 03:58 AM
Bubblegum is the color of choice Ryanerb....just fished them at Lake Isabella and there are less trout in the lake now because of it! Let me know how you do with them...plans anytime soon to fish them in the Sierras?


TD

ryanerb
07-19-2007, 06:52 AM
yes, I am leaving TODAY! That's why I have been asking so many questions! Thanks soooo much, I will for sure be posting a report after this weekend! Thanks again!!