IK13
08-13-2007, 04:51 PM
Went up to Bishop last weekend.
I met there with a friend and another one arrived a couple of hours later with his son. The plan for this trip was to do a day hike on Saturday to one of the backcountry lakes and fish.
There was also a $10 bet between me and my buddy about who’s going to catch more fish up there using artificial only. I decided to fish plastics for the first time. I’ve done a lot of lure fishing, but have never put a silicone worm on my hook or used jigs for trout before.
So Friday afternoon after we arrived and set camp, then we went to the creek to wet our lines. I was fishing plastics, one friend and his kid were using crickets and the other one used worms.
I got one standard size planter on a red plastic worm and got one more weak bite. This was all the action for me if I don’t count that encounter with a tree branch which put a good scratch on my forehead.
The friend who was fishing nightcrawlers though hooked a really nice fat DFG “super-sized� stocker.
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/9375/dscf1963480hd4.jpg
Closer view of the tag:
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/8797/dscf1972480ea6.jpg
He also got a couple of small browns.
Next day we got up and hit the trail. Now I’m not much of a hiker and had some kind of cold/flu going on, so I really thought about bailing out and fish South Lake instead.
I’m so glad I decided to stick to the plan – it’s gorgeous up there. The trail was not too hard (but I’m still sore all over) and the scenery is magnificent.
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1324/dscf1978480pv4.jpg
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6889/dscf1981480vv2.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/3694/dscf2025vo5.jpg
We finally got there
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/2205/dscf1984480qv5.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/5859/dscf1982640as9.jpg
The fishing…well that’s another story....
My friend told me that some years ago he had fished this lake and the fish was plenty and hungry. Not very big of course. I could see fish, but I couldn’t offer anything they liked. Tried small spinners, jigs, plastic worms. Nada.
Then I hiked further up all the way to the other side.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/9955/dscf1985480ws7.jpg
Just where a creek was flowing into the lake there was a big rainbow just circling around. She was at least 18’’, which I consider very big for a high elevation lake. She wasn’t interested in my offerings either and in fact didn’t even look too much bothered by me. My glasses have polarized lenses, but my camera doesn’t, so my few attempts to take picture ended up producing only flare from the water surface.
All in all I got only one lousy bite (and I missed it) here. Looked like I have to find a way to win my $10.
So I hiked up the creek and tried a few holes. Unlike the lake - the resident small brookies and rainbows were biting. There’s my first ever brookie. :lol:
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/7131/dscf1991480gf6.jpg
If I haven’t caught golden trout before I might think this little rainbow might have some golden DNA in it…
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1160/dscf1993480ej0.jpg
I went up along the creek picking fish here and there. Not after long the creek led me to another lake. For about 40 minutes the fish were taking anything I’d throw at them. I called up my friends and explained them how to get to where I’m. After that, I don’t know if it was all the talking on the radio, the wind that came in or just the good bite was simply over. I could still pick fish (most on plastic worm, and some on panther martins), but it wasn’t as easy anymore. The fish were of course small, but very beautiful.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/9749/dscf2000480ze3.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/6325/dscf2001480vd7.jpg
I won the $10 that day :wink:
All the fish were released unharmed, except for a small one my friend caught, which was badly hooked.
Then we packed and hiked back down.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/173/dscf2013480hv4.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/3431/dscf2016480mz5.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/7836/dscf2024480vv9.jpg
There was still plenty of light left, so we tried the Intake 2. It was as expected full of people and I wasn’t able to reel a jig or spinner without getting it all messed up with the green stuff the lake is full of. My friend though switched to worms and caught 3 small stockers.
The next morning we went back to the creek for about an hour and a half. Picked up 4 small (and very dark) browns.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/4861/dscf2032nr3.jpg
All in all a very enjoyable trip.
I met there with a friend and another one arrived a couple of hours later with his son. The plan for this trip was to do a day hike on Saturday to one of the backcountry lakes and fish.
There was also a $10 bet between me and my buddy about who’s going to catch more fish up there using artificial only. I decided to fish plastics for the first time. I’ve done a lot of lure fishing, but have never put a silicone worm on my hook or used jigs for trout before.
So Friday afternoon after we arrived and set camp, then we went to the creek to wet our lines. I was fishing plastics, one friend and his kid were using crickets and the other one used worms.
I got one standard size planter on a red plastic worm and got one more weak bite. This was all the action for me if I don’t count that encounter with a tree branch which put a good scratch on my forehead.
The friend who was fishing nightcrawlers though hooked a really nice fat DFG “super-sized� stocker.
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/9375/dscf1963480hd4.jpg
Closer view of the tag:
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/8797/dscf1972480ea6.jpg
He also got a couple of small browns.
Next day we got up and hit the trail. Now I’m not much of a hiker and had some kind of cold/flu going on, so I really thought about bailing out and fish South Lake instead.
I’m so glad I decided to stick to the plan – it’s gorgeous up there. The trail was not too hard (but I’m still sore all over) and the scenery is magnificent.
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1324/dscf1978480pv4.jpg
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6889/dscf1981480vv2.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/3694/dscf2025vo5.jpg
We finally got there
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/2205/dscf1984480qv5.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/5859/dscf1982640as9.jpg
The fishing…well that’s another story....
My friend told me that some years ago he had fished this lake and the fish was plenty and hungry. Not very big of course. I could see fish, but I couldn’t offer anything they liked. Tried small spinners, jigs, plastic worms. Nada.
Then I hiked further up all the way to the other side.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/9955/dscf1985480ws7.jpg
Just where a creek was flowing into the lake there was a big rainbow just circling around. She was at least 18’’, which I consider very big for a high elevation lake. She wasn’t interested in my offerings either and in fact didn’t even look too much bothered by me. My glasses have polarized lenses, but my camera doesn’t, so my few attempts to take picture ended up producing only flare from the water surface.
All in all I got only one lousy bite (and I missed it) here. Looked like I have to find a way to win my $10.
So I hiked up the creek and tried a few holes. Unlike the lake - the resident small brookies and rainbows were biting. There’s my first ever brookie. :lol:
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/7131/dscf1991480gf6.jpg
If I haven’t caught golden trout before I might think this little rainbow might have some golden DNA in it…
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1160/dscf1993480ej0.jpg
I went up along the creek picking fish here and there. Not after long the creek led me to another lake. For about 40 minutes the fish were taking anything I’d throw at them. I called up my friends and explained them how to get to where I’m. After that, I don’t know if it was all the talking on the radio, the wind that came in or just the good bite was simply over. I could still pick fish (most on plastic worm, and some on panther martins), but it wasn’t as easy anymore. The fish were of course small, but very beautiful.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/9749/dscf2000480ze3.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/6325/dscf2001480vd7.jpg
I won the $10 that day :wink:
All the fish were released unharmed, except for a small one my friend caught, which was badly hooked.
Then we packed and hiked back down.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/173/dscf2013480hv4.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/3431/dscf2016480mz5.jpg
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/7836/dscf2024480vv9.jpg
There was still plenty of light left, so we tried the Intake 2. It was as expected full of people and I wasn’t able to reel a jig or spinner without getting it all messed up with the green stuff the lake is full of. My friend though switched to worms and caught 3 small stockers.
The next morning we went back to the creek for about an hour and a half. Picked up 4 small (and very dark) browns.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/4861/dscf2032nr3.jpg
All in all a very enjoyable trip.