PDA

View Full Version : Silence is Golden (pics)...



Skyler
08-09-2009, 05:30 PM
Sorry for the week-late report here. Been busy with school lately. Anyways, finally convinced these two to come up to the sierras with me last weekend for a little peace, quiet, and R&R (for me, a little C&R, he he he)...

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3087/1001322d.jpg

Spent three days up in native golden country without a rainbow or brown as far as the eye could see. Had an awesome time with my wife, daughter and dog. Eating food cooked over an open fire, sleeping in tents, and stalking wild trout!

After a few days of spending all my free time doing this, I was ready to go, he he:

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5655/1001263s.jpg

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6884/1001268p.jpg

Got up there friday night and set up camp after the 4 hour drive. Cooked up some BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, and corn on the cobb, and put back a few drinks...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4858/1001275s.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7664/1001278drl.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4453/1001279z.jpg

My daughter and I headed down on a midnight hike to a beaver dam I spotted a fat beaver at. Got there and the beaver wasn't out, but we did catch this little guy, which we used to scare the bejesus out of my wife, lol. Here he is hopping around the tent...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1213/1001281c.jpg

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/3267/1001283i.jpg

Next day came and I was up at 7 am breaking camp. I soaked in the view, and bid farewell to our sweet river side campsite...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4669/1001285h.jpg

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5192/1001287p.jpg

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4521/1001288v.jpg

We headed up to the actual fishing grounds and secured our next camp by 9 am...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3412/1001289f.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1752/1001290n.jpg

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4615/1001291c.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5924/1001293s.jpg

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/5995/1001307c.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3789/1001310r.jpg

I spent half of the day chasing goldens. My wife and daughter spent it at camp playing a Nintendo DS, lol. I caught about a dozen or so of these guys after finally finding out where they were holding and what they were eating (took almost two hours for me to catch my first fish, then it was WIDE OPEN!). The water was VERY low, and there were few fishable pools, but luckily I tryed some slingshot casts through the most hellish of cover, and found them! They were all in slow shady log-jam type areas with overhanging braches. When I say low, I mean LOW! I normally wouldn't fish water this low, for the fish's sake, but I had already spent enough time and money just getting up there, and I wasn't about to go home with a skunk! This pic will give you an idea. This is the exact spot I caught my first golden. It was 3 feet deep then!

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4931/1001297z.jpg

No more long casting across open meadows for golden trout. Time for ninja stalking through thick brush and belly-crawling over logjams...My specialty, he he he...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9214/1001299yxm.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4435/1001300g.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/5632/1001301w.jpg

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4869/1001302r.jpg

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3200/1001303b.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9800/1001304g.jpg

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9822/1001305rtr.jpg

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6131/1001306w.jpg

While fishing, I somehow managed to lose a fly box somewhere on the way (see attached pic. It had far more flies in it than the pic shows though. 28 to be exact, all hand tied, lol) with about 15 hours of my work in it!!!! Well worth it though IMO. I'd tie 30 dry flies any day to catch a couple of these beautiful 10" native Goldens, he he. If anybody comes across it, don't worry about returning it. Enjoy the flies. They work quite well up there, he he...

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3450/1001272b.jpg

That night, we had a nice dinner of hot dogs and baked beans, lol. Caught this guy attacking my flashlight:

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4079/1001312n.jpg

Next day, we woke up to the beautiful sierra mist, packed up camp and headed to a different stretch of stream...

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/6033/1001317h.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3371/1001318o.jpg

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/6209/1001320qdd.jpg

The goal? To get my six-year-old daughter on her first golden trout. Well, it didn't take long. After about 15 minutes, the mission was accomplished, and fought over a 5 foot tall beaver dam to boot! My daughter can slaughter! A nice 10"er! Caught on a brown Berkely trout worm...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9595/1001321y.jpg

At this point I set my camera down and unhooked her fish for her. My wife and her headed back toward the truck to eat lunch, and I headed upstream (SANS CAMERA!!!) Caught a few dinks then found a HUGE golden sitting in a pool upstream. In fact, he measured right at 12"! I cast for about 5 minutes with an irresistable dry fly, creating my own hatch from all dirrections (If a fish isn't biting, I can MAKE him bite now, he he he), and got a few missed rises before I hit the fly with the Zink and sunk it below the surface film.

Well, after about 5 wet casts, he couldn't take the fly floating right past his face anymore and munched it with a vengance. WHAM! Fish on! He fought as hard as any two pound bass I've ever hooked, and made three awesome leaps out of the water, one of which got him 5 feet of air! I stripped him in and landed him, reached for my camera, and my heart sank as I realized the camera case on my belt was empty! Apparently I spent all that time teasing the fish, and yet the only pic of my PB Golden is in my head!

At that point, I started the hike back along my own footsteps. I'm glad I do a lot of hunting, cause I was pretty easy to track, lol. Well, I got back to the beaver dam where the rugrat caught her fish and found the camera sitting right where I left it! Thank GOD!! I was happy enough just to have found it, and since my wife, kid, and dog were waiting for me at the truck, I took it as a sign and decided to cut the day short (mainly to beat the southbound traffic on sunday). I was just happy enough to get Sakura's first Golden on film. My PB was inconsequential. So I headed back to the car, told my tale, and we took the long trek southbound to hell. We arrived in San Bernardino at around 4:00 pm, much earlier than planned, which was nice, and took our first shower in three days (always welcome after sleeping in the dirt, lol). Anyways, spooky fish were caught, zen was found, and a good time was had by all. Hope you guys enjoyed the report. Tight lines.

-Skyler

DCCTrouserTrout
08-09-2009, 05:53 PM
Cool pics dude. Nice work on the goldens... You tie some nice flies too...

Skyler
08-09-2009, 06:28 PM
Cool pics dude. Nice work on the goldens... You tie some nice flies too...

Thanks, bro. I had a blast. Those were all size #18 (with a few #14's thrown in). I'm down to a size #20 hook now. Amazing what some fine diameter thread can do for your tying skills, he he he. My next goal is to pick up some size #20 long shanks and see how good a realistic caddis imitataion I can come up with.

tacklejunkie
08-09-2009, 07:33 PM
Nice fishies. Good to see Sakura on the fishes and your wife out having some fun in the hills. Sakura has a smile to light up the world.

Your tying skills are definitely getting good. Looks like you just need you a good selection of colors of dubbing. My favorite part of fly tying :LOL: Let's you almost tint the fly any color you want. Be selective about what type you chose. I got some sparkle antron dubbing in a 10 pack or whatever that covers naturals AND brights. Pretty cool fly addition for not major bucks!

Sorry to hear you lost some fly work. I do it too. I lost a fly box one day and then decided to get those floating compartment allotted ones and put my bright orange indicators in there. The box is clear so if I lose my flies I should see a floating clear thing with bright orange in it hanging around. Too much money though. I think it's called system X fly box or something. Saved my butt a few times. You could always lanyard the fly box to the vest too I suppose?

Good work up there. I missed this whole summer for trout and halibut so far. But then again I also missed the LMB spawn. (Don't tell anyone that part was on purpose :Wink: )

DccFISHerMan
08-09-2009, 07:43 PM
nice going bro, way to get the lil one the goldens... At least u got a pic of her first golden!!!

smokinflies
08-09-2009, 09:06 PM
speechless!!!


thanks for sharing.

rotto84
08-09-2009, 09:11 PM
Sounds like you all had fun.

Great report and pictures.

fishntoss
08-09-2009, 09:34 PM
Beautiful Pics.. Looks like an awesome trip. Did the daughter actually sleep in her own little tent.??Mine never would. Put all her stuff in it,but always slept with us..Great she caught the fish.. Smiles say it all....

Marley
08-09-2009, 09:53 PM
Cool pics dude. Nice work on the goldens... You tie some nice flies too...

I'm thinking those flies look pretty doggoned good!
All you guys getting gold is just killing me. I HAVE to get up there!

Trout-Slayer77
08-10-2009, 09:53 AM
good job getting on some nice goldens, looks like a great time with the family !!! thanks for the pics

Skyler
08-10-2009, 03:28 PM
Thanks, guys.


Beautiful Pics.. Looks like an awesome trip. Did the daughter actually sleep in her own little tent.??Mine never would. Put all her stuff in it,but always slept with us..Great she caught the fish.. Smiles say it all....

The first night we all slept together cause I didn't feel like pitching both tents. The next night, the dog and the midget slept in the small tent, and my wife and I took the big one. I slept much better the second night, lol.

Skyler
08-10-2009, 03:39 PM
Nice fishies. Good to see Sakura on the fishes and your wife out having some fun in the hills. Sakura has a smile to light up the world.

Your tying skills are definitely getting good. Looks like you just need you a good selection of colors of dubbing. My favorite part of fly tying :LOL: Let's you almost tint the fly any color you want. Be selective about what type you chose. I got some sparkle antron dubbing in a 10 pack or whatever that covers naturals AND brights. Pretty cool fly addition for not major bucks!

Sorry to hear you lost some fly work. I do it too. I lost a fly box one day and then decided to get those floating compartment allotted ones and put my bright orange indicators in there. The box is clear so if I lose my flies I should see a floating clear thing with bright orange in it hanging around. Too much money though. I think it's called system X fly box or something. Saved my butt a few times. You could always lanyard the fly box to the vest too I suppose?

Good work up there. I missed this whole summer for trout and halibut so far. But then again I also missed the LMB spawn. (Don't tell anyone that part was on purpose :Wink: )

You know what I've been using for dubbing? Cat hair, lol! Dog hair for tails, and cigarette filter wings/parachute posts, ha ha ha! Also been using pheasant and duck quills for wings, as well as the standard hackle-tip wings. Used some antelope squirrel hair to dub a couple of 'em this last batch, and they looked hella nice. Being a hunter is definitely an advantage when it comes to your collection of tying materials, he he. I was planning on picking up one of those Antron variety packs next time I head to BPS for hackle (Almost out of brown, and I need more grizzly). In the mean time, I've been experimenting with anything fuzzy (q-tip cotton works pretty well, so does carpet fuzz and pigeon down, lol).

As for the lanyard, yeah, definitely. I'm not even about to let this happen again, lol. Normally I would have been pretty pissed about it, but there's something about the Sierras that puts everything into perspective. "Things" seem to lose their value when compared to experiences...

Hometown
08-10-2009, 10:52 PM
Did you see the article of the 7 1/2 lbr in western outdoor news i didnt know they got that big way to have a great time with the family

Loco
08-10-2009, 11:15 PM
Man... Skyler... what a great post. Nice work on the flies. 10" Golden for the daughter, that is so cool. I fish the high country a lot and a 10" golden is something to be proud of. Sounds like great fishing, climbing over stuff and sneaking up on them. Beats lake fishing any day. Good work!

Skyler
08-11-2009, 06:48 AM
Did you see the article of the 7 1/2 lbr in western outdoor news i didnt know they got that big way to have a great time with the family

Yeah, I saw that. They generally don't get that big, at least not within their native range. In their native drainages they max out at like 14" or so. Those huge ones people catch up in the lakes in the Eastern Sierras were all planted by the DFG.

Sierra_Smitty
08-11-2009, 07:51 AM
Rock on - great family getaway!

steve092
08-11-2009, 01:59 PM
Congrats on the PB, and thanks for sharing the pics!

Wingnut
08-12-2009, 09:33 PM
Quality time away with the family, love it. Nice report Skyler. :Cool:

Greg Madrigal
08-27-2009, 02:42 AM
Excellent report there Skyler! I thouroughly enjoyed the read and the pics. Nice work on the tie flying. I want to do it so bad, but no tiiimmmeeeee. Sux that u lost those, but I like your attitude about hoping someone who can use it finds it! LOL! Thanks for taking the time to share. GM<><

PS, This was my 1000th post! LOL!!!! Does that mean I'm a veteran FNNer???