I did this same trip about four years ago but in August, and wondered what it would be like in late season. I took Friday off and got my customary early start, long drive in the dark, pick up wilderness permit from the overnight drop box, then a couple more hours of driving, 20 miles on a single lane road, then a few more on a 4wd route (thank you, Subaru), and finally started on the trail by mid-morning.
The first bit is harsh, 20+ percent grade, gaining 1700' in 1.6 miles on a rough, rocky, barely-maintained trail. I was mildly out of whack, having just gotten a flu and Covid booster a few days prior. But by 1pm I arrived at ~9100' and enjoyed a cool breeze in the shade of an old juniper.
I only do this stretch every few years, after forgetting how miserable it was
But I wasn't coming back down this way, on this trip anyway. The grade eased off a bit, and I enjoyed the views opening up.
By around 9700' I dropped down a bit and took a break near a small creek. I'd brought a shorter tenkara rod just for this occasion, and tied on a small dry.
The goldens in the creek were not huge, but feisty and colorful. I continued on after about an hour, and stopped at the first lake, around 9900'.
Temps had cooled off quite a bit, probably highs in the 50's. I put on a fleece headband.
I'd brought a spinning setup, all components imported from Japan because of the favorable exchange rate. I'd cast it in the local casting pools, but hadn't actually fished it yet.
Daiwa Crossbeat SW 746TUL / Shimano Soare XR 500 / Sunline Small Game PE 0.3 (5#)
The rod is telescopic and made for saltwater, probably rockfishing. The reel is similar to the US market Vanford, but with a shallow spool and low gearing for "finesse" fishing. Interestingly, the rod specs say "89% carbon". I don't know if that means the other 11% are glass or some other material. But the combo performed well.
I caught a couple more goldens on a small kastmaster and a 2g Roro Vib lure, both in gold/red color. The fish actually took the lures fairly close to shore, though in the cover of shade or near submerged logs, so I probably didn't really need the extra distance of the spinning gear. But again, I just had to try it out.
A note about the term "golden trout" here: these are most likely a mix of goldens and rainbow-golden hybrids, like most California lakes where goldens have been planted.
It was getting late. I continued on a couple hundred more feet to the next lake, set up camp, made dinner and then conked out.
I think I only made it less than five miles that day, but the elevation gain was about 3000' and I was feeling pretty much crap. But I got up before dawn the next morning and fished my Orvis Superfine Glass 4wt (original 3-piece version, from 2015). I caught a couple small goldens on a midge emerger and a Dave's hopper.
This particular lake seemed fishless the first time I'd camped here, but it has since had aerial fingerling plants. After tempting the fish for a couple of hours with not much else to show for it but numb fingers and toes, I got a cracking early 10:30am start
and headed up to the next lake, around 10600'.
This lake has always fished well for me, and this time was no exception. Plus in autumn I think the fish know that the short high elevation growing season is coming to an end soon, and they seem to feed closer to shore than in the direct sun of midsummer.
Orvis Superfine Glass 4wt / Galvan Brookie reel
There are several more lakes higher up in the drainage, and I will have to explore them some time. Just not today
I descended a bit above the lake where I'd spent the night, and scrambled up class 2 a short ways to a weakness in the ridge.
From the ridge I descended a bit, contouring around the back side a ways, and then ascended briefly to the last lake, around 10400'.
This lake does get visitors, despite having no trail to it, probably most from peakbaggers though. In August a few years back it seemed fishless until dusk fell. But now I could see rises in mid-afternoon. I love autumn fishing
I got out the spinning gear again, and decided to try out some of the Smith D-Compact 38's that bulldog1935 recommended, in the Akakin colorway - again, a red/gold/orange pattern. The goldens loved it.
I did notice that the takes were chiefly near where the shallow water met the dropoffs, not that far from shore.
I decided to get an earlier start setting up camp, and watched the sun set while cooking dinner.
In the morning I again rose early and froze my fingers and toes using the spinning gear.
I was noticing a lot more rises close to shore here, and a few times the muscly fish threw the lures on the hooks. As the sun rose I decided to switch to the fly rod, and tied on a tan GFA with peacock midge diamond braid underbody.
This side of the lake had a lot more submerged logs and cover. The takes here seemed to be from fish rocketing up and smacking the hopper. I even managed to catch a few on the GFA that had eluded the lures earlier in the morning (or so I like to think
).
I felt like I had actually accomplished something, or at least the fly rod had, anyway. Around noonish it seemed like a good time to get moving again, and I headed cross-country downhill. People come up this way from the trailhead via a use trail with ducks/cairns, but they occasionally disappear (the ducks, I mean). I was glad I'd done it before and still had a GPS track. I remembered it being a little steep and sketchy in places, and it still was, but it was not long, about 3200' of elevation loss in less than four miles. So not very Odonata-like
I actually made it back to the car before 4pm this time, and enjoyed a liesurely drive home. I love October.
Posted: 04 Oct 2022, 18:55 • 