The Eastern Sierras

The Eastern Sierras have eluded me for years up until last summer. This range is so out of the way from everything else that I usually fish that I have had a hard time committing a trip to the region. Last summer I ventured out there with my friends; Damien and Kyle, to backpack the Golden Trout Wilderness with a few days after in the Mammoth Lakes area.

We hiked all the way up to those lakes and found a small handful of Golden Trout that were smaller than the huge population we found at the base camp.

Mammoth Lakes was a different world entirely. I am convinced that Crowley Lake is the stillwater equivalent of the San Juan River’s “Texas Hole”. A bunch of boats piled up on each other, everyone is fishing the same rigs, and every so often, someone will catch a big one. Hot Creek was cool I guess. It kind of just felt like I was fishing Canyon Creek on a Saturday in July. The Owens really stole the show. What an incredible river…

Solo trip to Southern Utah

For the past 8 years or so I have made a routine of solo tripping all over the west and taste testing the fishing opportunities. I know, what a cliche. I like to think that I am making it my own by incorporating photography into the mix but that would probably just dig into the stereotype even more.

I have gone through the same evolutionary progression as most other seasoned anglers at this point. Just like countless others, the moment I decided to start traveling out of state to catch trout, I made list of all of the most famous rivers, lakes, and creeks. Naturally, this set me up to fish a lot of tailwaters. I am still not really sure if going through the early in the game tailwater phase was a good thing or if it was detrimental to my development as an angler. On one hand, yeah, fishing below a dam creates the habit of actually looking at the bugs so you can match the hatch. But…. on the other hand, I don’t think I have looked at a bug in years. I don’t know why I bring so many fly boxes on my trips. Perhaps I am worried that THIS might be the trip where they aren’t going to eat a Dry Humper, Elk Hair Caddis, Foam Ant, Pheasant Tail, Pats Rubber Legs, or some monstrosity of an articulated streamer.

Here is a solo trip to Southern Utah. (All of these fish ate a Rio Dry Humper)