Thank you Dana for the wonderful pictures and awesome report. It was the next best thing to being there! I am really bummed YF and I had to cancel but here is hoping for next year!! Glad everyone had so much fun!
Ladyfish
Thank you Dana for the wonderful pictures and awesome report. It was the next best thing to being there! I am really bummed YF and I had to cancel but here is hoping for next year!! Glad everyone had so much fun!
Ladyfish
DANA, AND DONNA ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW !!!!!!!!!YOU GUYS AND THE REST OF TEAM 57 ABSOLUTELY "ROCK" WE HAD SO MUCH FUN !!!!! IT WAS GREAT FISHING WITH YOU AND DONNA, WHAT A GREAT COUPLE YOU GUYS MAKE! THANKS TO ALL THE TEAM 57 MEMBERS FOR MAKING MY FAMILY AND I FEEL SO WELCOME, TEAM 57 AND FNN IS THE BEST CATCH I'VE EVER MADE. SPECIAL THANKS TO THE PARCHER GROUP, YOU GUYS AND GALS ARE THE BEST !!!!!! JOHN
Originally Posted by LateFisher
DANA, AND DONNA ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW !!!!!!!!!YOU GUYS AND THE REST OF TEAM 57 ABSOLUTELY "ROCK" WE HAD SO MUCH FUN !!!!! IT WAS GREAT FISHING WITH YOU AND DONNA, WHAT A GREAT COUPLE YOU GUYS MAKE! THANKS TO ALL THE TEAM 57 MEMBERS FOR MAKING MY FAMILY AND I FEEL SO WELCOME, TEAM 57 AND FNN IS THE BEST CATCH I'VE EVER MADE. SPECIAL THANKS TO THE PARCHER GROUP, YOU GUYS AND GALS ARE THE BEST !!!!!! JOHN
John,
You have a wonderful family and it was really cool to meet you and Boogie this weekend.
It was such a blast to be walking up when your Grandson caught that big trout at South Lake. I look forward to fishing with you in the future.
Your new friend,
CTT
Wow, that's a great Team 57 gathering in the Sierras. Arthur told me all about it. Count me in for next year's event!
Administrator
Great event!
This was my first Team 57 Sierras Parcher's event and definitely will not be my last. I haven't been up in the high Sierras in over ten years and it was every bit as beautiful as I remembered.
My buddy Binh (Bad Beat) and I came up late Thursday night. We came rolling into Bishop around midnight and I get a call from Dana saying that he & Donna was waiting for us. Thanks Dana & Donna for welcoming us personally to the event! We ate a late dinner at Denny's and followed them up the hill to Parcher's. I remember that first night Binh & I sat outside the cabin in the lawn chairs staring up at the millions of stars wide eyed in wonder. I saw at least a dozen shooting stars zipping accross the sky and made a wish with each one of them. Let's see, biggest Halibut, biggest Striper, biggest Trout... at least one of the wishes came true so far.
I got up early Friday morning and took a walk along the creek behind the cabin. How peaceful it was and I felt totally at peace here in God's country. We went to the Team 57 breakfast and met the Parcher's crew and some of our members. Dana & Donna was going to be our guides today and show Binh & I some of the hottest fishing spots in the area. Our first stop was South Lake and we laid waste to the population of Trout there... all were released to fight another day. We all had a nice lunch at the Bishop Creek Lodge where I had one of the best hamburgers ever. Then I told Dana that I haven't done any stream fishing in years so he took us to some streams up near North Lake. We did well there with a mix of stockers and some beautiful natural Browns. Then we headed back down to Intake 2 where the bite wasn't as hot as South Lake but we managed our limits within a couple of hours and gave them away to some of our fishing neighbors. On the way back towards Parcher's I told Dana that we were going to fish the stretch of streams near the resort before heading in. That proved to be a great decision as I was blessed with my PB Trout.
Later, we met Dana & Donna in Bishop where they treated us with a nice prime rib dinner at Jack's. The trip was going along so perfectly and I was looking forward to another great day of fishing on Saturday. But it wasn't meant to be... around 2:00am Saturday morning, Binh woke up extremely ill. The poor guy vomited every half an hour or so and was completely bedridden. I was hoping that he would feel better so we can head out Saturday morning to fish some more but that didn't happen. We initially thought that it was food poisoning or a stomach virus but later found out that it was elevation sickness. I just hung around Parcher's all day Saturday keeping an eye on my buddy hoping that he would recover and head out with me for another fishing outing. His conditions never improved and I decided to take him home after the Team 57 dinner Saturday night.
I had a fantastic time at the Team 57 dinner. Jared & the crew did a great job on the food. Dana & Donna organized a fun raffle with many prizes donated by our team members. I met so many FNN members and their friends there that I can't name everybody in fear that I will miss a name or two. But it was a pleasure meeting most of you guys again and some of you for the first time.
After dinner I went back to the cabin, packed up our gear and headed down the mountain. The good news is that by the time we left Bishop, within half an hour, Binh felt better and came out of his perpetual vomiting mode.
Even though it was a shortened vacation for me... I made the best out of the time that I was there. Thank you Dana for insisting that I come to this event. You were absolutely right that I would love it. Jared & the crew at Parcher's, thanks for your support of Team 57 and a job well done. Most of all, thank you to all the Team 57 members, their friends & family I met that made my time up there so enjoyable... we will meet again. I'm already looking forward to next year!
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The big Trout: We were working a stretch of stream South of Parcher's when we came upon a large deep pool. I was working a green/brown color mini jig (thanks to Patrick, aka Mr. Bendo for the tip) and saw a huge flash as the fish shot up and missed the jig. I immediately cast pack into the dark pool and it inhaled the jig. It jumped out of the pool and headed upstream. There was heavy brush on the banks of the stream so I had to jump in for a bit and followed the fish. It went into a smaller pool and then back out again. Shot back down stream into the original pool where it it pretty much gave up. For a minute it was a nice battle but the fish didn't put up much of a fight for its size. There was a couple of other fishermen watching and one of them threw me a little hand net. I said, no way is this thing going to fit so I just worked it near the flat area of the stream bank and flip it on the grass.
Took like four pics and didn't bother to weigh or measure it. It had two other hooks in it (a treble & a big single) and I removed those also. It was back in the water in less than two minutes, but it didn't look very good. Swam off very slowly and disappeared back into the deep pool. Not sure if it will make it. The fish was big and fat but looks pretty beat up. Like it's been in there for a long time and had a rough life. The couple of other fishermen that was there told me that I should have just kept it. I did think for a moment of doing that but decided not to. It was the King of the creek and if it was going to die, let it die at home in the water. If I didn't have my camera with me, we might have a different ending. Back at Parcher's, several people including Jared, told me that if I would have taken it to a weigh station it would be marked as one of the biggest fish to come out of that area so far. Who cares... I hope it recovers fully and give another fisherman a thrill of his life. Many people know where the spot is now so I'm sure it won't be long. A moment to remember forever... the Fish Gods are indeed kind to me.
Last edited by Wingnut; 06-24-2009 at 08:39 PM. Reason: Spelling corrections.
Awesome pics Wingnut!
I can see you spent a bunch of time in the skinny water!
Be careful with that nice gear in the creek! It will get torn up quick like in the surf!
You caught some amazing fish dude. Major props! That other long wild looking one out of the lake is nice too!
I need to bribe you to come find the 20" browns in some of my spots some day!
Last edited by tacklejunkie; 06-24-2009 at 03:02 AM.
Indian wells, Orange Blossom Amber Premium Lager. Enough said, try it.
Thanks Dana and Donna for a great report and beautiful pics! My wife and I manage to go up there only once a year and love it all, and all the same places you visited...including Manzanar (my name's on the wall). Thank you for your support!
Bryan
Phenomenal Trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phenomenal pics!
Bummed I couldn't make this one. Looks like you guys all had a blast....now don't be shy, let's hear the "behind the scenes" embarassing stories!
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