Last year I had the opportunity to meet up with a few friends and chase Lahontan Cutthroat trout in the Eastern Sierras. They were traveling around the Sierra Nevadas, and the plan was to meet up at a certain area for a day of fishing.
Our meeting spot was a little over three hours from where I live, so I decided to camp the night before. With a car loaded up with camping and fishing supplies, I set out early in the morning of the day before, to take advantage of some fishing on my way to where we were going to meet.
I stopped at a bigger river that I don’t fish too often. I wanted to explore a section that I had driven by but never taken advantage of fishing. I made my way downstream, and fished back up. There I had only a couple of bites from smaller fish, but ended up losing a few lines in a couple weird circumstances. So with only one line left on my spools I decided to wrap it up and make my way to the eastern side of the mountains and find a campground.
After finding a campsite and setting up my tent, I went back toward the closest little town to find some service and a beverage (or six). Along the way I kept an eye on the river that runs along the highway, looking for turnouts and access points. I found service, made contact with my wife and friends, and made my way back to camp to wait for the weather to cool off a bit before trying to fish the river.
I found a turnout fairly close to camp that evening and fished for a little bit. There were plenty of rising fish, and several hook ups. They were feisty though, and many wriggled off the line just as I got them close enough to net them.
At some point throughout the day I had received a text that my friends were going to come up for the evening and camp, I had just received the text while out fishing. I spooled up my line and went back to camp to hang out and wait for Amanda and Luong.
With a good evening of chit chat and bullshitting, along with some good food, we all crashed with the intention of getting an early start in the morning. In the morning I was so graciously given a new cut of level line to replace one of the ones I had lost, so I spent a little time setting that one up. After getting my line situation settled, eating some breakfast, and breaking down camp, we set off into the mountains in search of some native trout.
The water levels of the creek were a bit low. The combination of low water and relatively tight tree cover made fishing for these skittish trout a fun challenge. I caught a handful of them, but tried to keep them in the water as much as I could. I did snap a few photos of the fish though.
It was cool to see different approaches from anglers who spend more time fishing this type of water, and to see their tactics. It was an honor to fish with these two.
After fishing winded down, Luong split and Amanda and I made our way back north to hit another creek that held some brook trout. A short session yielded a good sized brookie for Amanda, and was promptly followed up by some food at the local Mexican restaurant.
For a short trip, it was full of plenty of adventure and good times with friends.