Backcountry Lake

What is this?  A blog post?  With pictures?!?!  Life has gotten in the way of having fun recently.  Britt and I went for an overnight backpacking trip.  We didn't expect perfect weather or solitude, but we were hoping for a little.  Unfortunately, the lake was crowded and the weather on Saturday was miserable.  Seeing how it snowed there the night before, it could have been much worse.  Sunday morning was beautiful.  The lake was calm, the sun was out and we got a great view of Three Fingered Jack.  I managed to catch some fish (and get a little too much sun).    I'm feeling a little sore today, but am looking forward to the next adventure.

Brook Trout

While the changing seasons do mean that the summer fishing days are coming to a close, there are some positives. One of them being beautiful brook trout getting even more colorful.

Bobby Lake

Since classes start back up this week, Britt and I made one last backpacking trip. Headed to Bobby Lake for what was supposed to be good fishing for brook and rainbow trout. That may be the case, but all I ended up catching was one tiny rainbow. Granted it was very fat for a 4" fish, but that isn't enough to make me think it'd be a good option for a return trip.

Britt did make a friend who seemed to be rather hungry.

Gold Lake

First Backcountry Outing of the Season

I hiked the float tube into Marion Lake for some early backcountry fishing. When we got to the parking lot it was overflowing with vehicles. I spotted the hatchery truck and breathed a sigh of relief. Just volunteers hiking in fish I thought. We passed several people walking down the trail. One boy told us we had good timing, we would have the lake to ourselves. I got excited. Then he finished off his comment, "Yeah, everyone is in their tents right now because of the rain." Oh, that's not what I was hoping he meant by you'll have the lake to yourselves. When we got to the lake there must have been more than 15 tents set up at the first camping area. Not what I wanted to see.

Did I mention it was raining. Rained all day Saturday and didn't stop until we were hiking out. Fish were caught and I saw few other people fishing. However, once I got out on the lake it was like it was just me, the ospreys and the fish (and the rain).

It was a good start to the backpacking season and I am anxious to hike into other places. Now that the snow is melting I am hoping more places will be open soon. (Pictures tomorrow if I remember to bring my camera in.)

Maine Brook Trout in Oregon

There are some fish that I will always associate with certain places. Westslope cutthroats will always remind me of Glacier National Park and the summer I spent there. Yellowstone cutthroats remind me of the Yellowstone River and Park. Brown trout make me think of Spring Creek and the other streams around Penn State. Then there is the brook trout. No fish makes me think of Maine more than brook trout. So, today I thought of home a lot as I caught several nice brook trout. This is the time of year to catch them. They are fat from eating all summer, hungry because they now winter is quickly approaching and gorgeous because they are preparing to attract a date. I thought I'd share a little slice of Maine today. I caught more fish than these two today, some a little bigger, but none were prettier.

Backcountry Lake Outing

After a change in plans I headed to Linton Lake for a day trip. In between periods of sunshine and downpour the fish were pretty active. I was able to get this little brook trout (I had heard they were in there, but had never seen any evidence until this guy) and a nice male brown trout around 15". Pretty nice way to spend one of my last free days before my life is taken over by economics again.

PC Lifestyle

Can you find the fish in the top picture? Hint: It's a brook trout, look for the red and white fins.

With the core exams successfully in the rear view mirror I have had time to do the things I've been wanting to do recently but haven't been able to. Not surprisingly I've been out fishing and tying a lot of flies. I made it out yesterday to Gold Lake and hiked into Upper Marilyn Lake. While it was a slow day it was far from a slow evening. As the sun set on Gold Lake things turned on. The rings from rising fish could be seen all over the lake. Some fish were so exuberant they broke the surface and flew through the air chasing bugs. It was fun to be in my float tube with fish rising all around me.

Britt also had some luck. I told her if she wanted to make the blog she had to have a fish picture and now she does.