The national forests here are all closed due to high fire danger, multiple fires burning, etc. Same situation as last year, but this year the USFS is heading off the Labor Day situation early. The new normal. Oh well, I'm not a huge fan of holiday traffic anyway and headed to the park.
I got an early start from the trailhead, just after dawn and headed uphill. By about 9-ish I crested 2400'. A bit of haze but not too bad. Certainly not the horrible air quality in Tahoe or Reno right now.
Downhill past a lake, partially burned in last year's fire. Looks like the tules / reeds were starting to grow back.
After a few more ups and downs I came to a pond by mid morning. It was warming up, forecasted highs in the upper 80's. This has not been a good water year, and it showed. But this pond seemed to be holding on.
I got out my Redington Butter Stick II 6wt. The pic is from May, but you get the idea
The reel is a White River Fly Shop "New Classic" 4/5 wt clicker, loaded with an older model Orvis Hydros Bass WF6F line.
I tried a few foam dragonflies, largish hippie stompers, etc. but the fish seemed to respond better to sinking flies and streamers though.
I caught a few more, some smaller, but nothing huge. It was a pleasant way to laze away the morning. Around lunchtime I packed up and headed down the trail a bit to a lake. The lake had also burned in the fire last year, taking with it a lot of the tules and brush. The water level was also lower, but good enough.
I inflated my Alpacka Scout and headed out on the water (paddle not shown).
The bass were smacking damselflies, some completely airborne. I had a bit of luck here and there.
But really I came for the black crappie. I switched to a 5ips versileader and small streamers.
The bass liked the streamers, too.
I've seen people pull catfish out of this lake at times, but mostly on bait. I think I lack the patience to do it with flies. It was nice to just be out, floating, and away from people, who were slowly trickling in for the weekend.
Towards 4pm I packed up and started hiking out. I stopped at the first lake and fished a bit, but the holiday crowd was starting to show up.
By 6:15 I was back on the trail, and returned to the car two hours later, in full darkness and the cool of the evening. 17 miles / 3200' elevation gain.