Vanish and FireTiger's 2019 Journal

[dirtclod Az.]

Thats a beautiful fish.Poor pup looks tired,why are you making
him carry ALL those lead fishing weights in his packs?Ha!,Ha!

 

[WildWill]

Great pictures and some beautiful fish.

 

[vanish]

Hike Day 4

This day we were headed cross country over pass number four. There was reports of big fish in this basin, and it wasn't a far hike. Early morning, before breakfast, I got up and fished the calm lake we were camped on and did pretty well on cutthroats.

The cross country pass was tough for C. The basin was beautiful, but the lakes were fairly shallow and all appeared to have winterkilled during Idaho's tough winter of 2017-2018. It sucked to waste much of a day on that, but that's fishing! At the furthest point on this day, it would have been a 22 mile hike out to the trailhead.

On our return, Hank called uncle on the descent from the pass. He may have pulled a muscle or just talked out. Luckily he made it down the steepest section and boulder field. I had to carry him down several hundred yards to the trail where he was able to make it back to camp with my help lifting him over the downed logs. Carrying a 65 pound dog while wearing a backpack through a rock field is uhhh... fun?!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Your right that doesn't look fun.Musta been all the lead fishing wieghts
you had in his pack.Lol!
Beautiful pictures!

 

[Crossbowguy]

God's country! That cutthroat is beautiful! I'm sure they are good eating as well!

 

[vanish]

God's country! That cutthroat is beautiful! I'm sure they are good eating as well!

Actually, I kept one that day. I was going to split it with Hank, as he loves fish and I thought maybe he wasn't getting enough calories. It was disgusting mushy white meat. I couldn't eat more than a bite, and even he wouldn't finish it.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

never had Cuttroat before,but you would think a native fish from a high
mountain lake would be good eating.

 

[denverteacher]

[QUOTE="vanish, post: 2854468, member: It was disgusting mushy white meat. I couldn't eat more than a bite, and even he wouldn't finish it.
[/QUOTE]
Possibly due to recently spawning? I have heard that after spawning trout can be mushy.

 

[vanish]

Possibly due to recently spawning? I have heard that after spawning trout can be mushy.

Entirely possible. That fish was in spawn mode. Many more males in the lake than females, so I didn't feel bad taking a male.

 

[Crossbowguy]

Try this next time- Take a packet of ranch dressing spice and one egg- debone that white fish meat, crumble it up, mix it with the spice and egg, make a patty then fry it like a hamburger. Enjoy!!!!

 

[vanish]

Try this next time- Take a packet of ranch dressing spice and one egg- debone that white fish meat, crumble it up, mix it with the spice and egg, make a patty then fry it like a hamburger. Enjoy!!!!

Tough to do when all you've got to cook with is a pocket rocket and titanium pot.

 

[Crossbowguy]

that's true

 

[vanish]

Hike Day 5

Due to Hank's difficulties on day 4, we adjusted the plan for day 5. Originally, we were supposed to go 5-6 miles into a new basin to set up camp. The following day we would do a cross country pass and drop back down closer to our start. Instead, we left camp set up, left C and FireTiger at camp, and Y and I did a day trip to that basin.

We cut a bit of the distance by doing some fun cross country. Yay side-hilling, and arrived after about 2 hours. The first lake was barren, but it was so shallow that we didn't need to waste time. At the second, and most sought-after lake, we immediately spotted fish. We had good fishing for rainbows, cutts and hybrids, some of fairly good size. It was tough to leave, but we decided to check out the next lake in the chain. We immediately got into tons of average cutts.

One again, it was tough to leave, but we had one more lake to check out. I landed a small fish and realized it was a grayling as it fell back in the water. Y had never caught a grayling so it was a frenzy as we tried to get another before we had to head back to camp. She landed one right at the buzzer.

We were very sad that we hadn't moved camp, as the fishing in these lakes was so much better than what we'd been having, and the other girls missed it!

 

[vanish]

Hike Day 6

We'd begin our hike back this day. However, we planned to fish four lakes we'd passed on the way. Three of them were off trail and the other was a major on-trail lake where we had low expectations. We didn't make it over the pass until after noon, and so we decided to split up for two of the lakes. Y would head up over a small pass to check out one lake, while three of us would head to an easier to access lake. Both were about 3/4 of a mile off trail. The idea was to spend an hour scouting the lakes, and then reconvene for lunch, with the possibility of returning to whichever lake produced best, or simple moving on.

As we approached our lake, I was nearly certain it would be barren. You could see the bottom throughout most of the lake. We had circumvented almost the whole lake before we decided on a spot that had potential. Within three casts I landed our first grayling. We caught a decent number of fish before our time was up. Y was waiting for us so we had low hopes, but she had landed the largest fish of the trip, a big cuttbow. She thought there were few fish in her lake, but they were big.

We elected to move on and caught some small brookies at the big lake. Up and over the pass where we were going to fish a lake we did alright at before, but I went cross country to a small lake tucked behind it. Once again, I was prepared for it to be barren until I had looped most of the way around and finally found a deep spot near the inlet. After a dozen casts I was thinking dead, and then I hooked into a strong fish. Halfway in, with high excitement, it shook the hook. I was in agony, as I didn't even know what kind of fish it was!

On the next two casts I caught my two largest fish of the trip, and then returned to get F and Y. We only caught one most fish out of that lake that evening. Guess I should have kept fishing!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Wow,spectacular lakes and mountains and beatiful fish!Thanks for sharing once again.
I love catching Graylings but don't like the taste so much.

 

[LousyResident]

This is one of my favorite threads, both for the dog tails and the fishing. The scenery is beautiful as well of course!

 

[Crossbowguy]

The scenery is so amazing that words can't describe it! The fishing must be crazy good too! Awesome threat, keep it coming Vanish!!!!

 

[vanish]

Hike Day 7

Unfortunately, it was time to hike out. We had about 12 miles back to the trailhead, but all day to do it. FireTiger and Y fished the big cutthroat lake one more time while C and I packed up camp. FireTiger landed a nice fish, but lost it while trying to take a photo. We fished one more lake on the way out, catching some small brookies. FireTiger got her lure stuck, so I went swimming to retrieve it.

We made good time and drove into Ketchum for a traditional post-trip dinner. Then it was back to some National Forrest for the night. We went out to breakfast in the morning before dropping the girls off at a cafe and making the 11 hour drive home.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Dang swimming in a moantain lake,didn't your "bells"VANISH!Ha!Ha!.

 

[vanish]

I'm not a gearhead but some thoughts on gear from the trip:

I bought a 4L Platypus gravity filter. This thing was the bee knees for group camping. Get to a new camp, scoop some water and throw it up in a tree. Water ready for usage 5 minutes later. We drank way more water that we normally would because it was trivial to have more available. Its a tad bulky for something like a weekend trip, but would be excellent for having at a remote base camp for archery elk.

New-Old Gregory pack: it worked out fine. Its better suited for carrying loads in the 30 pound range. My first few days I was 50+ pounds and I was probably 50-60% on my shoulders. The frame just isn't stiff enough to load lift at that weight. It also bruised my hips at that weight. Considering we paid like $20 for it, I'll happily use it for weekend camping trips to reduce wear on my SO pack.

FireTiger's Gregory pack: On our hike in, her pack was leaning. We kept adjusting it but couldn't get it right. I started thinking about it and remembered it leaning in the past. When C mentioned she felt like FireTiger's pack was leaning on our last trip, bells started ringing. We checked and sure enough, FireTiger's pack frame has been broken for years. We probably broke it when we stuffed 40% of a cow elk in there. I don't think that pack is meant for that kind of duty.

I still hate bear canisters, but whatcha gonna do?