Saturday morning we woke and made breakfast. Not as elaborate as the dinner the night before. OJ, Tea and cream cheese and bagels. Hit the spot though. Went to the market and got coffee and hit the road. We had decided that we would look for birds in the morning until about 10-11 am and then start fishing. we went into a canyon where there was plenty of cover and a nice source for water in dem dar hills. Got out and assembled the OU's and hit the hills. We walked and walked. Stopped to do some calls and listen in the quiet of mountains and nothing. We continued to hike up and down a few more hills and canyons but still saw nothing. It looked very good for birds. We saw immense amounts of foot traffic (Deer) Fresh deer droppings and even deer. Not one bird.
So we decided to go fish. And I mean what a great idea that became.
I was not expecting this but it turned out that new honey holes can be found in an area that I have fished for about 26 years or so. We hit the jackpot. Not too much pressure. Mostly locals. Not the catch and release area. There were fish rising everywhere. Eating midges. (I need a good midge pattern). One method that worked was when I casted out a 2 fly rig (2 dries) and would very sloooowly pull them in. I would get hit almost every cast. We fished until dark and I lost count of the number of fish at that point. My brother and friends did really well too. Some nice size fish came out. A couple in the 3-4 lb range. (Not on midges). I did manage to hook a carp on a small black zebra which was a 1st for me there.
Sunday morning we went to our favorite tourist trap called Schats and I got some Olive Bread for home and made another stop to pick up some Baxter honey. I really like the clover one and only like their honey. I have tried others to see over the years but to me at least nothing comes close to the quality of honey Baxter produces.
Around 9:30-10 am we hit the river again with the same results. I switched over to a 2 zebra rig. 1st fly was an olive size 18 or 20 and the dropper was smaller. I mean I couldn’t keep the fish off. Almost every cast ended with a take. Not a catch, but a take. It was epic. One of the best catching trip I have had in a looooong time. I didn’t even change flies. It was good. I will be going back with the kids in a couple of weeks as this spot also is ideal for teaching fly fishing to the youngen.
Backdrop of some sexy mountains. One day I'll go nuts and buy a house in Bishop. I never tire of seeing the sierras with snow on them.
Proof positive that carp will take zebra midges in the winter. lol
Average and respectable sized browns that live here
we spoke to people about the birds as we didn't find or hear any. Apparently there were quail around in the beginning of the season in good numbers and were pushed off because of the amount of pressure. I was really looking forward to finding some and that didn't happen.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my story.
Artin
PS. My grammar may not be the best but I know there are a couple of teachers here that can help.
