backpacking to treasure lakes

[sktruth]

Left wed morning at 7 and was at four jeffries by about 1:00 with all of our permits, bear boxes, etc. Set up camp and played some shoes. My sister and her boyfriend didn't arrive till 3:00 am thursday morning. We left camp at 7:00 and started hiking by 8:00am. Forgot to mention I'm a smoker and this was my first backpacking trip. The trip almost killed me. Took me approx 3 1/2hrs to get their approx 3 miles. Like i said it was my first trip so i way overpacked. My pack topped out at 67lbs. Arrived at one of the most beautifull places i had ever been. Thursday night was COLD and windy; it got down into the 20's. Friday got up and fished around treasure lakes #1. Between seven of us fishing we caught about 10-20 fish a piece. Saterday, the plan was to hike up to the third lake. When we got there, we found out by talking to some people that DFG had gillnetted? the fish from lake 3 on up. What a beautifull lake though. Hiked back down to the 2nd lake and fished around it. Must have caught 15-20 my self this day. Many fish caught on elkhair caddis, par. adams, chernoble ant, mosquito, hares ear, stone fly, and midges from 20-14. Some caught on kastmasters and thomas buoyants. Hiked out saterday only to find beers still in ice in the coooler in the back of the truck. AWESOME BEER and I caught my first golden woohoo

please enjoy the pics and feel free to comment.

My girlfriends brother-in-law is a freelance photographer. Please feel free to also check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprilandmike/sets/72157622031169272/

[sktruth]

more pics hope you all enjoy

[mth1997]

Cool pics. Congrats on your first successful backpack mission. How do your shoulders feel after hauling around 67 lbs? The more you go, the less you'll bring as you find out for yourself what you need.

[Trout-Slayer77]

awesome pics and report, looks like a great trip !!! beautiful fish you caught there !

[DCCTrouserTrout]

Yeah, you're a champ for hauling 67 pounds. That's quite a load... Beautiful pics too!!

[Bashman]

Just came back from a 3 1/2 day (53 mile) backpacking trip. My back pack weight was only 20 lbs. My brother carried the tent. I have all my essentials that are ultra light. The trip is a hell of a lot more enjoyable. That included the fishing pole and accessories.

Regarding the nettiing of the fish-spoke with a mule pack guide, he mentioned the Fish and Game are killing off many of the trout lakes in the backcountry of the Sierra's. Supposedly a different kind of trout is introduced into the lake that origianlly did not belong in there.
Just doesn't make sense to me. Why not just have people fish it without limits, or let nature take its course. So...instead, we pay millions to have Fish and Game go out and kill all the fish. Pretty soon, those same people will not allow people going to the backcountry. Because people don't belong there. I think they are a different kind of terrorist group.

Looking at the chair behind yor backpack made me laugh. You rather carry extra pounds like that then to sit on a log or rock?

Have a feeling you will go much lighter next time.

[bstolton]

That looks like an awesome trip and something you will look back on with a smile, even if it almost killed ya. LOL
Some day hope to try a back country hike like that. Awesome pics by the way.

Bill

[sktruth]

ty for all the replies. It was gorgeous up there. I know 67lbs was alot but i learned. When you mentioned essentials did you also have two boxes of wine and two flasks? lol
No my shoulders weren't so bad, but my hips were sore as all hell.

[teejay]

more pics hope you all enjoy

I sure did. Thanks for sharing


Regarding the netting of the fish-spoke with a mule pack guide, he mentioned the Fish and Game are killing off many of the trout lakes in the backcountry of the Sierra's. Supposedly a different kind of trout is introduced into the lake that originally did not belong in there.


I recall reading somewhere that the lakes were originally dedicated as a golden fishery but that a mix up at the hatchery allowed some rainbow fingerlings to be dumped into the lower lakes which resulted in a measure of hybridization. My experience at the lower lakes is that the majority of the fish indeed appear to be hybrids. However, the gill netting at Treasure was not done as a fix to the hybrid issue. I happened to be up there a few years back when DFG was doing an environmental survey of the lakes. They told me that they were considering gill netting the upper lakes to provide protection for the Mountain Yellow-leg Frog.
So apparently the study did result in a recommendation to remove the fish from the upper lakes.

[sktruth]

ty so much for the info, but one question. What exactly is gill netting? I don't understand the process or procedure... ty for the responses in advance :)

[teejay]

A good journal article by Knapp and Matthews explains the procedure well:
http://vesr.ucnrs.org/pages/knapp/pdfs/Knapp_RestorEcol_98.pdf

[Natural Lefty]

Teejay, I had pretty much the same comments as you. I went to Treasure Lakes many years ago with one of my brothers and my namesake cousin, and we all caught Golden Trout in lakes 1, 2 and up at lake 3. They were nothing but purebred Goldens, and all self-sustaining.

Then, a few years ago, I bought a book about dayhike fishing in the Sierras, and the author said that some misguided pilot from the DFG had a bunch of Rainbows dropped in the lakes, which then hybridized with the Goldens. He wasn't specific about where the Rainbows were dropped, but he was writing about the lower 2 lakes. Then, the upper lakes were gillnetted to make thema sanctuary for the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog. Considering how many fishless lakes and ponds there already are in the Sierras, which could support populations of the frogs, and the evidence that the real reasons for the decline in the frog population are funguses and pollution, gillnetting lakes with self-sustaining trout populations -- let along Golden Trout lakes -- makes no sense to me. However, I saw many Goldens in the creek just downstream from lake 3. I suspect that some probably survived the gillnetting. At least, I hope so.

What has happened to the Treasure Lakes seems a real shame.

So, Sktruth, I hate to be the second person to break it to you, but the fish in your photos appear to be Golden-Rainbow hybrids, not that there is anything wrong with those. At least they are doing well in the lower lakes. There may still be some purebred Goldens in there too, but mostly hybrids.