It's been a while since I did just a weekend trip. Things at work have been a bit crazy, and I had a meeting on Monday with another product team, so on Saturday I did my usual long wee-hours drive across the valley. On up to the ranger station to pick up my wilderness permit, then a few more hours to the trailhead. I managed to get on the trail a bit after ten.
The previous week had seen some pretty good thunderstorms fueled by monsoon moisture, and the ground was still moist, a good sign. I headed up the trail through the forest, then off a spur trail through an area that burned in 2020.
After a bit I came to a creek crossing, with a pool around the bend. I wondered if there were still fish in the creek after the fire. I saw little fry, and then a larger model lurking in the shadows. I tossed out a small purple haze on my tenkara rod. Hello there
I continued up the trail a ways to the lower lake.
There was a bit of a breeze. I hadn't been here in a while, so I forgot that this was the shallow shore of the lake, and spent a bit of time fishing fruitlessly. Oh well. After an hour I continued on to the upper lake; fishless, as far as I could tell, but pretty, and then up cross-country to the ridge.
Nice to see the Sierra crest off in the distance. There were a few puffy cumulus formations, but I wasn't expecting any rain. I was really beat, and felt a bit like a nap. By the time I made it to my destination, I was definitely ready. After pitching my tarp and tossing a few token casts out on the lake, I snapped a few pics of the evening alpenglow, and laid down for a rest.
I awoke after dark, ate dinner hastily and went back to sleep. In the morning I decided to make up for lost time, and walked around the lake with my Orvis Superfine Glass 4wt and a BFS rig. Some of these lakes can be a little moody in the summer, what they call the "midsummer slump". I headed for the marshy area opposite where I'd camped and made a few casts with a 3g Daiwa minnow in Akakin.
Aliexpress special: Pure Lure "Creek Dance" 6' 4-section BFS rod / Tsurinoya Dark Wolf Ultra with aftermarket bearings and magnet upgrade
The BFS rig caught a few more fish before the sun cleared the ridge and made the fish skittish. It is a low-water year in the Sierra, after all. After a late breakfast I got started again around the crack of 10
and headed back the way I came, down to the lower lake.
Ah, now I remember. This side of the lake has the nice dropoffs, where the fish like to hold. I caught a brookie on a hopper with my SFG.
I decided to try the BFS rig again, but this time spoons seemed to be the ticket. Silver/blue kastmaster and a gold tsurinoya seemed to work.
I packed up around 1-ish, and headed down the trail a ways, crossed the creek again, and then decided to descend it cross-country. I'd done this trip before, so I figured it would work out. There were a few spots that had obviously burned, and I worried about the fish. There were some nice pools though, and last week's rain had probably helped.
One particular pool I remembered from last time, and there was a nice fish in it. I think last time it was a rainbow ?? I got out my tenkara rod and tied on a CDC and elk.
OK, not a rainbow
I continued on, following the creek where I could, making occasional detours around brushy or cliffy areas, through a few more burned spots. Good to see there were still fish in places. Down lower things were much as I remember them, and I got back on the trail. I was back at the car by 6pm, a bit later than I'd hoped, but late enough to miss much of the Sunday-coming-back-from-the-mountains traffic.