Late Season Backcountry trip

[rayfound]

A couple buddies and I spent the weekend before last backpacking a Native Trout drainage here in California. We caught some good fish and lost some great ones.

On the first night I rose a nice fish on a stimmie right in front of camp and the hook quickly popped out... then I saw him spook upstream... he was easily 18-22"... The next day after moving camp, I hooked a fish in a deep slot on a copper john, He moved a bit then stopped. I tried to encourage him to move by putting a little pressure on, and then I can only assume he turned cross-current and SNAP... 5x tippet busted in a heartbeat. I never saw that fish... but its always the big ones that get away.

I will be sharing a big whack of pictures below, and will not bore you with much more dialogue.

We were all blown away by the strength of even modest sized fish from this fast/strong river. 8" trout would put huge bendos in my 3wt.

The weather was stunning, but chilly at night. Fish were found in all the likely holes.

Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Justin picks up the first of the trip:




My first:



Pretty Native fish.



My biggest fish:


Ryan's New love in the morning glow of our first camp, Loop AEG 5wt.



Fall Scenery








Hookups!




Whoops, dropped it!








Where's all my spots?




Pretty Water:


Nice campsite:



Ryan battling his biggest of the trip (I think it was the biggest of the group):



A couple parting Scenery shots:

[rossa]

Very nice, do you fish for Golden Trout often and have you ever fished Yosemite?

[Coldreive]

That is some great looking country there , and feesh .

[Mostyn]

What a beautiful area you guys have to play in! The photos are excellent and it seems like you where having a great time "Hiking & Fishing" Thanks for sharing it with us!

[martin_b]

Awesome scenery. The stream(s) and fish pictured look fantastic!