Thought the fish might continue to cooperate and help me finish out the Fall strong… but that was not the case yesterday. Had to settle for a nice Okie sunset instead. Not so bad afterall…

Think the fish were too busy enjoying the glassy water and nice sunset to eat

Not a bad way to end a day

Maybe they’ll be back on the fall feed today…

I woke up on day 4 wondering how I was going to top day 3… I knew full well that I had my work cut out for me, but why not try?? Reese decided to sleep in and explore town while I went in search of more wild trout. I started off the day on a certain little creek in the park:

so many fishy hideouts and so little time...

Bounce a caddis off a boulder.. fun and productive game

 Caught some great fish that morning, lots of rainbows and a few small brookies… gave me a good chance to do some more experimentation with the underwater capabilities of my camera.

Staring me down...

Tried this one with the flash...

Enjoyed the reflection on this one

 I was having a lot of fun exploring the creek, but I was starting to itch for something a little different. I remembered noticing a creek running through a nice meadow during our hunt for Goldens. Decided to give it a shot…

Surrounded by mountains... clear cold water, undercut banks, overhanging vegetation... a dream

I explored this thing up and down… had to fight a strong headwind all morning and early afternoon. Caught lots of small brookies and browns, but not many rainbows. In a lower section of this creek I started catching some larger silvery rainbows… obviously stockers. Packed it up after dragging in a couple  of them… travel over a thousand miles for stockers!

After taking a break for a couple hours to eat with Reese back in Mammoth I closed out the day back in the park. I had a few friends land on me when I got out of the car after arriving and new it was going to be  a nice late afternoon/evening.

yum

Bugs were everywhere and the fish were definitely happy. They were so happy in fact, I didn’t even notice the mosquitos on my shins until the next day… I don’t know if it was just because I knew we were headed for San Fran the next day or what, but it seemed like every fish I caught that evening was extra colorful and special. 

Rainbow in the sun

Rainbow in the Shade

It was hard to make myself leave. The fishing was crazy good, the fish were crazy pretty, and I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to do something like this for a long time… but I really didn’t want to take the Tioga Pass down at night. It was intense enough in the day with the rental’s shakey/squeeky brakes. I ended up being glad I left a little before dark… The sunset on the drive home was a great way way to close out a day fishing.

A few of the shots out the window turned out surprisingly well

Thought the moon was a nice touch

 What a great time in the Sierra’s. Nearly everyone I spoke with about the trip before we left kept telling me how the Sierra’s were the most impressive, beautiful, enjoyable mountains anywhere… I was afraid that I was going to think they were overrated. Not at all…. Not one bit.