Greg Madrigal
06-26-2010, 12:00 AM
I spent the last 4 days relaxing, fishing, enjoying life with family & friends in the company of downright good people! Here’s how it went….
My nephew, Scotty the Lurker, left the O.C. around 7pm Thursday after my last day in corporate America! I was ready for a break!!!!! We arrived at the El Rancho Motel (of Beercuda & Farmy fame) at 2am. We headed up the hill as soon as we woke up, well, right after b-fast at Jacks!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010013.jpg
I forgot one important ingredient though. I hope by mentioning it here, it will help another unsuspecting soul in the future- Gas. Yep, I realized half way up the 22 mile climb to 10000 feet that I was on a quarter tank. There are no fueling facilities of any kind up at altitude, so make sure you fuel up in Bishop.
We arrived at Parchers Friday morning and headed right for the lake to get our reserved Rental boat.
Scotty manning the bow.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010021.jpg
We headed for the inlet, but the late winter has the lake way down. The lake actually ends at the island. The inlet is to the left and there is still snow on the banks in places.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010023.jpg
Fishing the inlet strangely devoid of fish (seemingly)
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010025.jpg
First cast was this holdover stocker
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010028.jpg
After fishing from shore and the boat for a couple of holdover ‘bows, I decided to hike the streams feeding the lake.
It was weird walking in the bottom of what is usually a pristine alpine lake. The multiple winding streams meandered their way east.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010029.jpg
Most were too shallow for fish and I only spotted a few small browns in one sections. A bald eagle flew between trees at the back of the empty lake.
I hiked over to the North side and came across a lure stranded on a rock. It was a rainbow pattern Panther Martin and it was all mine now! Almost to the Northwest inlet now, I came across a landlocked pond.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010042.jpg
I tied on the lure I just found and tossed it to the other side. I got bumped almost immediately! A couple more casts and I was bit! The fish surfaced and writhed and I landed this pretty Brown.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010031.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010034.jpg
Nice looking feesh!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010037.jpg
There were other smaller browns in it, but they seemed to wise up pretty quick.
View to the SW from the Northwest inlet
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010040.jpg
I headed back to the boat where we tried everything (flies, bait, lures, plastics) to get the fish to bite, and I found my old standby Panther Martin yellow w/ red spots to be the only ticket. Two beautiful wild bows were the result.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010049.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010044.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010053.jpg
Unfortunately, they both took the lure in the gills and I had to keep them. All other fish on this post were CPR’d.
The wind started howling, and it got pretty cold, but this lil fellow decided to come for a visit.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010061.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010057.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010054.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010067.jpg
It was strange, he came right down the steep bank next to our anchored boat and began eating the wet mud at the edge of the lake.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010070.jpg
I did some research and decided he is a yellow-bellied marmot and that he was seeking minerals by licking the mud. This guy comes up later on in the post! You won’t want to miss it!
We called it a day around 4pm when the wind overtook our desire to fish.
Score: me 5, Scotty 0.
We head back to Parchers to find the place bristling with Team 57 members. I finally found Wingnut and hand-delivered his new custom net. Solid curly maple & Wenge handle with a Wenge rim.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Trout%20Net/AAAWingnutNet2Complete022.jpg
Here, you can see the custom lanyard with a rare earth magnet embedded solid teak retaining clip that I also made.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Trout%20Net/aaaWingnutNet2Complete049.jpg
He was stoked, as was I to have my first client! Thanks Wingy-You now own #0001 serialized net buddy! Hang onto it!
Dana, yours is in the making!
I found Dana fishing the creek by my cabin with Donna and others. Dana is a true class act. After I invited him over to dinner at our cabin, he invited me n Scotty to join some other T-57ers at the Bishop Creek Lodge for dinner. Man, that was a good time and good food! Thanks for the invite Dana!
Day 2, we headed down the hill to get gas. Let’s just say, u don’t need much gas to get down that mountain! Since we were there, we decided to hit up the wild section of the Owen’s below PVR. I met a really nice local who shared with me one of his hand-tied midges. I tied it on and got bit right from the bridge! I only landed 1 or 2 browns during the ľ mile trek, but Scotty fared better with his green on black Panther Martin. I think he landed 4-5 browns.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010063.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010074.jpg
A view of the Sierras from our fishing spot. Ahhh, Paradise!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010077.jpg
Oh, and the ticks were out in force. We each found 2 on us so check yerself GOOD!
After that, we hit up the canal south of town off Warm Springs Rd. I caught a rainbow, and 1 brown. Scotty got bit but caught zero.
The sun & wind were taking there toll and we knew the Team 57 dinner awaited us, so we headed back up the hill around 6pm.
Dinner was excellent per the usual. Tri-tip, mashed potatoes, biscuits, salad, and pazookies for dessert! Thanks mama Smith! The raffle was a HUGE hit! Thanks to all of the great donations by members! Bob gave us all cozies, Dana gave those of us wearing T-57 stuff a jar of Powerbait, Koshaw donated a kick butt knife sharpener that I used to sharpen every knife in our cabin! My nephew and I also won sweet new bluetooths thanks to the generosity of Wingnut & Phoung. The rod combos went over like candy at daycare. And I also won a sweet new T57 beanie for my bald head! Thanks you all!
After that we hit the big fireplace at Parchers for a great fireside get together. What fun we had with Phoung thinking, oh wait, he DID manage to stuff a WHOLE pallet into the fireplace. (Please don’t try this at home!)
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010086.jpg
Yes, that IS Firemarshall Phoung inside the fireplace!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010085.jpg
But the thing burned! Whaddya know!?
Michelle & Steve
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010088.jpg
The Gang…
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010081.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010082.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010083.jpg
The next day, we met up with Michelle & Steve to make the 3 mile hike up and over the mountain behind Parchers to 11,700 feet to Green Lake. Monsters supposedly lurk there.
The hike was unusual in that we hiked on top of a steel water pipe for about a mile!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010099.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010097.jpg
Pretty nice on the feet compared to ankle-bending dirt w/stones! It was strange to here the water pulsing thru the pipe as we walked atop through otherwise dry landscape.
Looking down on Owens Valley
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010108.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010100.jpg
We got to Brown Lake and it seemed barren of life. I saw some winter kill, so I hope it was only our skills lacking.
Brown Lake
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010111.jpg
We then hiked up and over a field of boulders which sat atop a rushing creek. Tho u could not see any water at all, the sound was coming from just under our feet. How cool that sounded! Michelle mentioned that someone did an awful good job hiding the “speakers” under the boulders! LOL!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010115.jpg
A view of Brown from above with the hidden boulder creek in the foreground.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010117.jpg
We also hike thru some snow…
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010110.jpg
We made it to Green after a few “breathers”, and fished atop an evermelting snowbank on the Western shore.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010123.jpg
We saw several cruisers that were at least two lb rainbows! I hiked away from the group targeting the kamloops trout that reside here.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010122.jpg
Steve was first on and quickly caught another. After a few hours here, we decided to call it quits round 3:00. The wind picked up and the cold started biting. We hiked down in friggin 45 minutes, but it took what seemed like hours to go up!
It was a great hike, and I am happy that Steve caught his first high country wilds up there.
I’ve been there done that, so I’ll just get em next time, but this is Steve’s undoing for the rest of his life! LOL! He’ll think every back country lake is full of 2-4lb fish! LOL!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010093.jpg
Par 2 is on its way and is SHORTER!LOL!
GM<><
My nephew, Scotty the Lurker, left the O.C. around 7pm Thursday after my last day in corporate America! I was ready for a break!!!!! We arrived at the El Rancho Motel (of Beercuda & Farmy fame) at 2am. We headed up the hill as soon as we woke up, well, right after b-fast at Jacks!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010013.jpg
I forgot one important ingredient though. I hope by mentioning it here, it will help another unsuspecting soul in the future- Gas. Yep, I realized half way up the 22 mile climb to 10000 feet that I was on a quarter tank. There are no fueling facilities of any kind up at altitude, so make sure you fuel up in Bishop.
We arrived at Parchers Friday morning and headed right for the lake to get our reserved Rental boat.
Scotty manning the bow.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010021.jpg
We headed for the inlet, but the late winter has the lake way down. The lake actually ends at the island. The inlet is to the left and there is still snow on the banks in places.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010023.jpg
Fishing the inlet strangely devoid of fish (seemingly)
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010025.jpg
First cast was this holdover stocker
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010028.jpg
After fishing from shore and the boat for a couple of holdover ‘bows, I decided to hike the streams feeding the lake.
It was weird walking in the bottom of what is usually a pristine alpine lake. The multiple winding streams meandered their way east.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010029.jpg
Most were too shallow for fish and I only spotted a few small browns in one sections. A bald eagle flew between trees at the back of the empty lake.
I hiked over to the North side and came across a lure stranded on a rock. It was a rainbow pattern Panther Martin and it was all mine now! Almost to the Northwest inlet now, I came across a landlocked pond.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010042.jpg
I tied on the lure I just found and tossed it to the other side. I got bumped almost immediately! A couple more casts and I was bit! The fish surfaced and writhed and I landed this pretty Brown.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010031.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010034.jpg
Nice looking feesh!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010037.jpg
There were other smaller browns in it, but they seemed to wise up pretty quick.
View to the SW from the Northwest inlet
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010040.jpg
I headed back to the boat where we tried everything (flies, bait, lures, plastics) to get the fish to bite, and I found my old standby Panther Martin yellow w/ red spots to be the only ticket. Two beautiful wild bows were the result.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010049.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010044.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010053.jpg
Unfortunately, they both took the lure in the gills and I had to keep them. All other fish on this post were CPR’d.
The wind started howling, and it got pretty cold, but this lil fellow decided to come for a visit.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010061.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010057.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010054.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010067.jpg
It was strange, he came right down the steep bank next to our anchored boat and began eating the wet mud at the edge of the lake.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010070.jpg
I did some research and decided he is a yellow-bellied marmot and that he was seeking minerals by licking the mud. This guy comes up later on in the post! You won’t want to miss it!
We called it a day around 4pm when the wind overtook our desire to fish.
Score: me 5, Scotty 0.
We head back to Parchers to find the place bristling with Team 57 members. I finally found Wingnut and hand-delivered his new custom net. Solid curly maple & Wenge handle with a Wenge rim.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Trout%20Net/AAAWingnutNet2Complete022.jpg
Here, you can see the custom lanyard with a rare earth magnet embedded solid teak retaining clip that I also made.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Trout%20Net/aaaWingnutNet2Complete049.jpg
He was stoked, as was I to have my first client! Thanks Wingy-You now own #0001 serialized net buddy! Hang onto it!
Dana, yours is in the making!
I found Dana fishing the creek by my cabin with Donna and others. Dana is a true class act. After I invited him over to dinner at our cabin, he invited me n Scotty to join some other T-57ers at the Bishop Creek Lodge for dinner. Man, that was a good time and good food! Thanks for the invite Dana!
Day 2, we headed down the hill to get gas. Let’s just say, u don’t need much gas to get down that mountain! Since we were there, we decided to hit up the wild section of the Owen’s below PVR. I met a really nice local who shared with me one of his hand-tied midges. I tied it on and got bit right from the bridge! I only landed 1 or 2 browns during the ľ mile trek, but Scotty fared better with his green on black Panther Martin. I think he landed 4-5 browns.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010063.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010074.jpg
A view of the Sierras from our fishing spot. Ahhh, Paradise!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010077.jpg
Oh, and the ticks were out in force. We each found 2 on us so check yerself GOOD!
After that, we hit up the canal south of town off Warm Springs Rd. I caught a rainbow, and 1 brown. Scotty got bit but caught zero.
The sun & wind were taking there toll and we knew the Team 57 dinner awaited us, so we headed back up the hill around 6pm.
Dinner was excellent per the usual. Tri-tip, mashed potatoes, biscuits, salad, and pazookies for dessert! Thanks mama Smith! The raffle was a HUGE hit! Thanks to all of the great donations by members! Bob gave us all cozies, Dana gave those of us wearing T-57 stuff a jar of Powerbait, Koshaw donated a kick butt knife sharpener that I used to sharpen every knife in our cabin! My nephew and I also won sweet new bluetooths thanks to the generosity of Wingnut & Phoung. The rod combos went over like candy at daycare. And I also won a sweet new T57 beanie for my bald head! Thanks you all!
After that we hit the big fireplace at Parchers for a great fireside get together. What fun we had with Phoung thinking, oh wait, he DID manage to stuff a WHOLE pallet into the fireplace. (Please don’t try this at home!)
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010086.jpg
Yes, that IS Firemarshall Phoung inside the fireplace!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010085.jpg
But the thing burned! Whaddya know!?
Michelle & Steve
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010088.jpg
The Gang…
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010081.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010082.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010083.jpg
The next day, we met up with Michelle & Steve to make the 3 mile hike up and over the mountain behind Parchers to 11,700 feet to Green Lake. Monsters supposedly lurk there.
The hike was unusual in that we hiked on top of a steel water pipe for about a mile!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010099.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010097.jpg
Pretty nice on the feet compared to ankle-bending dirt w/stones! It was strange to here the water pulsing thru the pipe as we walked atop through otherwise dry landscape.
Looking down on Owens Valley
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010108.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010100.jpg
We got to Brown Lake and it seemed barren of life. I saw some winter kill, so I hope it was only our skills lacking.
Brown Lake
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010111.jpg
We then hiked up and over a field of boulders which sat atop a rushing creek. Tho u could not see any water at all, the sound was coming from just under our feet. How cool that sounded! Michelle mentioned that someone did an awful good job hiding the “speakers” under the boulders! LOL!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010115.jpg
A view of Brown from above with the hidden boulder creek in the foreground.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010117.jpg
We also hike thru some snow…
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010110.jpg
We made it to Green after a few “breathers”, and fished atop an evermelting snowbank on the Western shore.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010123.jpg
We saw several cruisers that were at least two lb rainbows! I hiked away from the group targeting the kamloops trout that reside here.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010122.jpg
Steve was first on and quickly caught another. After a few hours here, we decided to call it quits round 3:00. The wind picked up and the cold started biting. We hiked down in friggin 45 minutes, but it took what seemed like hours to go up!
It was a great hike, and I am happy that Steve caught his first high country wilds up there.
I’ve been there done that, so I’ll just get em next time, but this is Steve’s undoing for the rest of his life! LOL! He’ll think every back country lake is full of 2-4lb fish! LOL!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l191/gregmadrigal/Parchers%202010/Parchers2010093.jpg
Par 2 is on its way and is SHORTER!LOL!
GM<><