Snow
and Trout
Virginia Lakes
June, 2004
After being skunked at Huntington Lake, we decided to spend the day at
Yosemite before continuing to Saddlebag Lake, near the Tioga pass.
Unfortunately, Saddlebag was still closed due to snow when we
arrived. So we spent the night at Junction Campground before
continuing on to Virginia Lakes (North of Lee Vining in the Eastern
Sierras).
Arriving at the
Virginia Lakes we found plenty of snow still around, but the roads were
clear. Its snow and ice cold waters only increased our eagerness to
fish, in hopes of catching a few holdovers from last season.
For whatever
reason, I selected a Silver Kastmaster to start off with. After an
hour (or so), I switched to a Gold Kastmaster. Within a few casts, I
started getting strikes and knew the day was going to be a good one.
I started casting to same point and tweaking my retrieval techniques to
attracted and entice the teasers. Something I did must have worked,
every other cast for the next 15mins resulted in a fish.
In
the future, I really need to have the camera at the ready. By not
doing so this day, I'm not able to adequately share with you the beauty of
the four 11-12" Golden Trout I caught & released. I'm use
to Golden Trout running to 9", so you can imagine my joy at seeing
these healthy ones going to 12".
In addition to
the Golden Trout, I caught two healthy Rainbows going to 16".
Content, I was more than happy to release a few smaller bows. Within
a couple of hours I had tired of the Kastmaster and decided to see how my
fishing partner was doing., thinking I would have the better story.
I was wrong.
My partner had
switched his technique to a sliding sinker rig, and had found an ideal
piece of lake bottom, well suited for his rig. Between him and a
friend, they had three rods (rigged thus) and had been catching fish at a
rate of 1 every 5mins. With stringers full, they were having a good
time talking and laughing., as they took turns hauling in 13-16"
Rainbows. They had caught so many fish, they were able to actually
take their pick of the catch. Sharing in their joy, I was happy to
join in the conversation and watch them catching fish till dusk.
Sometimes,
everything you do is 'right' for the given moment and the fish just keep
coming. It's liken to one of those 'magic' moments we all
remember. You know, when everything seems right and all is going
well. The fish are abundant and eager to play along.
Float tubers
were having a great time too. They were returning with limits of
nice 16-17" trout. They too were catching sufficient fish to be
able to pick their keepers.
Memo to self.,
When cooking trout at altitude, don't use a propane grill. I'm
telling you, those fish took forever to cook. I'm guessing the 40
degree temperature had more to do with it, then the 9,800ft
altitude. All the same, few things can compare to dinning on fresh
trout from a high altitude lake.
The
next morning we gave the lake another few casts of the Kastmasters before
heading to warmer weather along the Owens Valley, in route to Lake Sabrina
near Bishop. Our reward, another 16" Rainbow.
As you can see
in the map, the Virginia Lakes is comprised of at least 10 small
lakes. Ideally, this is good place to visit for a week (early in the
season). That way you can afford the time to trek along the trails
to the other lakes and sample some of the streams between them.
It'll be cold, but it'll be worth it !
We'll
be back
