Fly fishing the eastern sierras

So here is the post that you all have been waiting for. Last weekend I went with Randy and Zach Moon, Claudio Hunger, and Kevin Schenk to the eastern sierras on a fishing trip(the Rock Creek/Mammoth area specifically). We left on Saturday morning and were to the campsite by 1pm. By 4pm we were in the water fishing and having a great time. We found a few leaks in the waders, but had a great time. It was hailing and raining intermittently and a little thunder, but that did not stop us (we didn’t see lightning so we stayed out in the middle of the lake holding our rods in the air…exactly what you shouldn’t do in a thunderstorm).

The next day we went hiking out of the mosquito flat trailhead (later we came to find out it was aptly named). We hiked to some lakes and fished our way back to the trailhead. Most of us did not do all that great, but Kevin came up the big winner and had about 12 that day. Later that afternoon we went to the lake again and fished (this came to be a daily routine right before dinner and we all enjoyed it).

Here is a picture of me and the pile of wood Kevin and I got to keep us warm at night. I am doing the "Rit", a pose for pictures popularized by Joel Rietema in or around 2000 and continues to this day.
I got a nail in my tire at work on Friday. this was a slow leak and I am glad that trucks have full size spare tires. It may look like Kevin is helping here, but it is just a pose.
Zach and Randy on the first day of fishing on Rock Creek Lake.
Claudio with this first fish ever. He actually caught a swivel that had about a 3' leader then a hook and a fish at the end of it. I guess someone caught the fish and their line broke and then Claudio caught the line. Beginners luck I would say.

My attempt at an artistic shot.
Awesome...I think so.

The typical sierra scene of mountains behind a lake.

Monday we went to the fish hatchery to check it out and of course it was cool, and then we headed to the Hot Creek area. This is a native trout stream where it is fly fishing only. This being said it was cool, but of course way overfished. California is one of those places that has way to many people and every fishing spot is obviously overfished. This is why the hatchery is so important, to give everyone a chance at catching a fish.




Fishing at its best. PBR has the same recipe since 1844...why mess with a good thing.
Zach tying on another fly.
Crossing a stream to fish on the other side of Long Lake.

Randy fishing on the Owens river. This was a picture perfect river and had there not been so much smoke in the air the mountains would be alot clearer.
The Hot Creek hot springs just downriver from where we were fishing.

A fire lookout just inside of Yosemite. There was a fire nearby so the visibility was about a mile or less.
one of our campground neighbors smoked some of the trout they caught and gave us some. It was great and the perfect snack.