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View Full Version : Fishing South Lake/visiting Parchers (Smitty’s place)6-30



Carrie
07-01-2007, 12:02 AM
Well today was quite a day!!! Where to begin….I guess at the beginning…haha.

Today I had a really hard time getting up from being soooo tired from the work week and running errands. Although I really wanted to get up to Bishop and fish at South Lake so I fell out of bed, threw all my gear in the car (what a load!!) and drove up to South Lake.

The first thing I did when I got there was visit Parchers to go and say hi to Smitty. Plus, I explored the store and met some nice people. Since he wasn’t in I was told about a BBQ that would be there that night so I figured I would come back later that day and visit.

I made my way up to South Lake and now the craziness begins. I really don’t know what it was I was thinking when it comes to tubing. Maybe that it would be easy but that would be the wrong answer by far!!

I drove past the lake (missing the section where I could pull my car into the launching dock) and parked right above it. Now that was a walk getting down there!! Woooo! I decided to ditch the float tube for the time being seeing as how I wasn’t sure if I would use it until later.

I found a nice spot right by where I could actually get into the water on the side of the lake.

Nice view of South Lake:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630070832.jpg

I threw my poles together and immediately put on my waders, fishing jacket to hold all my stuff and my fishing shoes to go with the waders.

Me:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630070844.jpg

I decided to just get in the water waist high with all my stuff and start trying all kinds of different things.

In the water waist high:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071308.jpg


I tried different things: dry flies, wooly buggers, and spinners. I was getting a few bites but didn’t seem to be catching anything. One fish I actually caught and right as I reeled it in it got off….grrr! Sooo…..after playing around in the water I decided it was tubing time.

Well I walked all the way up the steps (which leave one absolutely breathless) and went and dragged my float tube down. What a mess! I was falling all over the place. Honestly I am sure people were laughing at me. I looked like a spaz! Haha.

After falling in the rocks who knows how many times I finally got the tube over to my spot. I was ready and put all my stuff together. Well….in the middle of pumping the tube up the pump just broke and stopped working. I kind of sat there trying to figure it out. The night before I tested it and it seemed to work okay. Ohhh…..what a mess! I had filled it up some and put it in the water to get a feeling for it but the pump was done. I was tired!!

After walking up the hill like 3 times and falling all over myself my pump breaks.

My float tube:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071019a.jpg

Ohhh…and a lovely pic of the flippers I bought that lace around ur wading shoes….rather different!

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0629071843.jpg

I didn’t really have much energy left at that point. I decided to try and fix the pump being determined to tube. Soo…I set out a few poles with some craws, gulp eggs and bang and of course in the middle of trying to figure out my mess I catch a fish.

My little 6 in rainbow:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071019.jpg

Then I go back to trying to fix my mess but once again I catch a fish.

Here are a few more fishes:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071320.jpg

Funny that many fisherman were not catching much and here I was…chaos and all catching fish while multi-tasking. Many of them weren’t fishing near me….probably cuz they saw me eat it in the dirt and were afraid I would fall on them….haha!

Anyways, my float tube didn’t work out, and I used all my other gear. I loved sitting in the water and absolutely loved fishing here!!!

After awhile from fishing for 6 or 7 hrs I got really tired. Between walking, getting gear together and moving around so much I was done. I had nearly fallen over in the water several times, my keys almost floated away, and I felt really annoyed with the tube incident. I spent several trips trying to put away all my gear on a long hike…haha!

Finally at the end I saw the tackle shop and realized what I could’ve done differently.

I actually went exploring after the fishing and hiked part of John Muir’s trail.

Here is a view from the trail:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071508.jpg

After exhausting myself once again I drove down to Parchers. I found Smitty and introduced myself. What a nice place and what a nice family he has got! I ran into his mom and his dad as I found out later. Anyways, I had some time to kill before the BBQ started so I went and explored their resort.

I definitely recommend anyone to come and camp here! It is very nice. Cabins to stay in and the lakes and streams are right next to it.

The entrance to Parchers:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071743.jpg

Some of the cabins people can stay in:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071743a.jpg

Later I went over to Sabrina just to see that. What a beauty! Too many places here to see and fish at!! People were walking away with their limit easily from here!

I went back over for the BBQ and ended up eating with a lady who lives in Bishop. As luck would have it she was an Anthropology/Archaeology prof. as I found out after telling her what I do. What are the odss?!! Haha! Right after meeting Nancy I had a talk with Smittys grandma. She is a real fun lady!

Anyways, afterwards on Saturdays there is usually something goin on at night at Parchers. This time Smitty’s dad was performing. He played guitar for us and was definitely some kind of a stand up comedian. What a sense of humor…haha!

Smitty’s dad:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z121/cjhearn_photos/0630071923.jpg


Basically, this day was great! I would def. love to bring my friends up here and camp sometime soon! This is probably my fav place to fish. Feels very homey and is a great deal of fun!

Ohhh…and as far as float tubing goes….I need a better pump. Anyone got any recommendations?? (haha….next time I want it to work).

one_leg
07-01-2007, 04:01 AM
Hey Carrie, Hope this message finds you doing well.
Sounds like you have had some real adventures up that way.

I went fishing today and boy are my arms tired. You'll see later.

Thanks for showing us all the neat pics.

I hope I get to fish up there with you someday too.

One_Leg

DreStyle
07-01-2007, 04:13 AM
What did you do to my pump !!??

Glad to see you punked the skunk and got up to parchers. Now you're connected with some 57 peeps up there. Sorry I didn't get back to you the other day ... you wanted to know when we were coming up there and I'm not sure when it's goign to happen at this point.

olfishergal
07-01-2007, 04:50 PM
Even with all the pump problems, etc, looks like u r in heaven. Glad to see you are getting some fishing in....c u soon

KaliDawgFan
07-01-2007, 06:20 PM
I think I'd be too distracted with the scenery to fish that spot!

strippin' fool
07-01-2007, 09:17 PM
Carrie, glad to see that you were able to fish and at least catch something in between dealing with the tube. You can get a nice dual action pump from Walmart for around 20.00. It is a cylinder type pump with a handle, it pumps on both the upstroke and downstroke. It fills the tubes up fast!!

Also, it appears that you have a Water Skeeter float tube, that tube is easily carried on your back with a pair of backpack straps. Just make sure you inflate it first. You can pick the backpack straps up at Sports Chalet, just look in their backpacking dept. The straps I have are approx. 2" wide, it spreads the weight of the tube out a bit more.

Another thing that you will encounter when fishing the high, alpine lakes in a float tube is when you first fill the tube, the air is warm and the tube may appear full. Once the tube is in the water the air begins to condense from the water temp and your tube kind of goes soft. I paddle over to the shore and by using lung power I can fill it back up.

Enjoy tubing, I surely do!!

troutdog
07-02-2007, 12:09 AM
Hopefully no major bumps or bruises as a result of your adventures, based on your pics it was well worth the efforts....hey and no skunk to top it off! Keep those reports coming :D


TD

MikeinSB
07-02-2007, 08:49 AM
Thanks, Carrie. Really enjoying your posts. This last one sounded a lot like some of mine (falling all over myself...). It's amazing how what I think's going to happen is so different from what actually happens...

Wingnut
07-02-2007, 10:20 AM
Sounds like you had an interesting adventure. Nice job on the catching despite the minor problems! :wink:

Granny Fish
07-12-2007, 04:49 PM
Carrie - you are just blending right in to the group up there. Bet your winning thier hearts like you did with us. We miss you! Hope to come up your way soon and do some fishing with you.

Indo-angler
07-20-2007, 09:24 AM
Great report, thanks :thumb: I know those stairs at South Lake well.