rotto84
08-18-2009, 10:54 AM
Before I begin: all fish CPR!
Went up the 395 last week with the idea of quick 2 nights of camping in Rock Creek as a base camp, and going on a golden trout adventure. I went with my brother-in-law and he has never caught a golden, and it has been a couple of years since I have landed one myself. Well, no surprise, the Rock Creek sites were almost all gone, so it was a change of plans, we would camp in Lee Vining. Before we left we ate at Tom's Place, and I took a picture of the disabled parking sign, which I thought was funny.
Had a fantastic campsite in LV, right next to a waterfall. The bathroom nearby had a sign that said 'dumping illegal' which I also thought was a little ironic. Took pictures of our campsite and even the bathroom, the sign might be hard to distinguish. Then it was time to fish. We caught some stocked rainbows in Lee Vining, and some more in other nearby streams. The next day, it was off for goldens.
I know catching goldens can be extremely difficult, especially since they are usually at 10,000+ feet elevation, but I really wanted my brother-in-law to catch one without hiking in. I have had luck hiking in, and also off the Saddlebag Lake loop. We went to Saddlebag, went across the lake, and walked (it is not hiking) to one of the lakes that had goldens. I will be the first to say they were small, but it was fun. I used a small spinner, and they were released undamaged. The scenery of Saddlebag, the small lake where we fished, and all of the sierra splendor made it quite a day.
We returned to Lee Vining, and drove back home the next day. It was a great trip.
If you want more details on catching a golden where we went, PM me, there are many, many in the lake.
Went up the 395 last week with the idea of quick 2 nights of camping in Rock Creek as a base camp, and going on a golden trout adventure. I went with my brother-in-law and he has never caught a golden, and it has been a couple of years since I have landed one myself. Well, no surprise, the Rock Creek sites were almost all gone, so it was a change of plans, we would camp in Lee Vining. Before we left we ate at Tom's Place, and I took a picture of the disabled parking sign, which I thought was funny.
Had a fantastic campsite in LV, right next to a waterfall. The bathroom nearby had a sign that said 'dumping illegal' which I also thought was a little ironic. Took pictures of our campsite and even the bathroom, the sign might be hard to distinguish. Then it was time to fish. We caught some stocked rainbows in Lee Vining, and some more in other nearby streams. The next day, it was off for goldens.
I know catching goldens can be extremely difficult, especially since they are usually at 10,000+ feet elevation, but I really wanted my brother-in-law to catch one without hiking in. I have had luck hiking in, and also off the Saddlebag Lake loop. We went to Saddlebag, went across the lake, and walked (it is not hiking) to one of the lakes that had goldens. I will be the first to say they were small, but it was fun. I used a small spinner, and they were released undamaged. The scenery of Saddlebag, the small lake where we fished, and all of the sierra splendor made it quite a day.
We returned to Lee Vining, and drove back home the next day. It was a great trip.
If you want more details on catching a golden where we went, PM me, there are many, many in the lake.