2016 Sierra Adventure: May Lake

May Lake, located in Yosemite High Country, offers large, plentiful brook trout in addition to stunning vistas and easy access. It is a must-fish, particularly for novice anglers looking to score some easy trout.

May Lake is small, not usually mentioned in most fishing books or guides of Yosemite National Park. However, it offers consistently excellent fishing at all times of day, which makes it low amount of fishing pressure baffling.

There is a 1.2 mile hike to the lake from the parking lot, which is steep and dusty. This alone discourages many families from hiking up. Those that do usually forgo fishing equipment and instead opt to bring a camera or swimming gear up to the lake.

Upon reaching the small lake there is a granite cliff that extends into the water on the left side. This area is your best bet during the morning and afternoons, as the cliff allows easy access to a steep drop off populated with what seems like hundreds of fish.

My 11-year-old sister and I managed to catch six trout in under an hour with white Power Eggs during the middle of the day. However, you have to use an extremely long leader to avoid the weeds that line the bottom of the lake. I fished a standard sliding egg sinker rig with a 3-4 foot long leader. The longer you can make the leader, the more success you will have.

A mid-sized brook trout caught on the fly rod. 

The lake changes in the evening, and the fisherman has to change with it. The fish rise off the bottom and begin feeding off the plentiful bugs on the surface, meaning that the sliding egg sinker stops working.

Small flies become the things to use. I used a #20 Parachute Adams and by casting directly to the hungry fish, was able to catch the three biggest trout of the trip during this time. Kastmasters are occasionally effective, but you have a better chance if you use a fly rod, or even a fly/bubble combination.

You'll notice the fish here are larger than the average high-sierra trout, in the 10-12 inch class on average. This is in part due to the huge amount of insects, which include mosquitoes. If you choose not to bring insect repellent, be sure to cover every inch of exposed skin with mosquito netting or long sleeves. During evening the mosquitoes are relentless, and can ruin an otherwise pleasant fishing expedition.

May Lake is one of Yosemite's gems, boasting gorgeous views in addition to great fishing in a unique setting. Stop by with a fly rod in the evening or a spinning rod in the afternoon, and see it for yourself.

Equipment and Catch Summary

• Eagle Claw telescopic spinning rod spooled with four-pound test
• Sliding egg sinker rig (egg sinker, swivel and #8 baitholder hook)
• White Power Eggs
• Three-weight Reddington Classic Trout fly rod with 6x leader 

• 6 trout; afternoon (white Power Eggs)
• 3 trout; evening (#20 Parachute Adams)
• 7 trout (4 = Kai Oda, 3 = Craig Oda); morning (white Power Eggs)

Location Total: 16 trout

Trip total: 39 trout

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2016 Sierra Adventure: Tuolumne River

July 22, 2016 - July 23, 2016

Tuolumne River is difficult to pronounce, but a great place to catch wild trout in the 6 to 10-inch class. Located within the highly trafficked Yosemite National Park, parts of this river are very heavily fished, yet still provide abundant numbers of trout to the crafty angler. 

The river is about 40 miles from Yosemite's West entrance (one hour), and situated at a breath-taking (literally) 9,000 feet. Food is scarce at this high altitude, leading to smaller trout. 

If you've ever driven through Yosemite High Country, you have most likely passed Tuolumne Meadows. A campsite, small grille and wilderness permit station parallels Tioga Road, and the Tuolumne River runs through it all, complete with a large concrete bridge that allows interested onlookers to peer down at the numerous trout below. 

Unfortunately, this part of the river is heavily fished, and it can be extremely difficult to catch fish here, especially during the middle of the day. 

However, by using a combination of dry flies (Parchute Adams) and streamers (Crystal Flash Woolly Bugger), my dad and I were able to catch nine trout below the bridge. 

The Lyell Fork in the morning

But if you really want the best shot at catching trout, I recommend visiting the river in the evening. The mosquitoes are especially vicious at this time, but so are the trout. Fishing small dry files such as a Parachute Adams or Mosquito will almost certainly produce fish. 

I took my car and drove about two miles upstream from the Tuolumne campgrounds to the Dana Fork (There are two forks: the Dana Fork and Lyell Fork that converge at the bridge). Here, the river is more narrow, about 10 feet wide, and pours from pool to pool at great speeds. You might be tempted to use sub-surface nymphs or salmon eggs. If you come here in the evening, just stick to the dry flies. 

Six of my fish came on dry flies in 30 minutes while I only caught one trout with the Woolly Bugger in an hour-and-a-half. After driving back I caught another trout at the bridge. 

In the morning I hiked 1.25 miles from the campgrounds to the Lyell Fork, where the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail converge. The river was about 25 feet wide, and slowly flowed across a sand bottom. The trout were concentrated underneath the banks, and the Parachute Adams was largely ineffective. I caught two trout using the fly like a nymph, and pulling it through the few deep pools.

All in all, the Dana Fork provides fast, dry fly action, the Lyell Fork caters to nymphs and streamers pulled near the banks and the Bridge provides easy access and fair-good dry fly fishing. 

Equipment and Catch Summary

• 3-weight Reddington Classic Trout fly rod
• 6x leader
• Kai: 7 trout at Bridge; afternoon (#20 Parachute Adams)
• 7 trout at Dana Fork; evening (#8-10 Woolly Bugger and Parachute Adams) + 1 trout at Bridge (Parachute Adams)
• 2 trout at Lyell Fork; early morning (Parachute Adams)

• Dad: 2 trout at Bridge; afternoon (#20 Parachute Adams, Woolly Bugger)
• 4 trout at Bridge; evening (#22 Mosquito, Parachute Adams)

Location Total: 23 trout
Trip Total: 23 trout

A small rainbow out of the Dana Fork

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May Lake: High Country Backpacking Trip

Brook trout at the small creek

It has been nearly a year of waiting, but summer has finally returned. This means that I am able to journey to the granite cliffs of Yosemite high country with my dad. We decided to fish at May Lake, a small placid piece of water located just a mile-and-a-half walk from the road. Despite being inside Yosemite where thousands of tourists enter every day, surprisingly few people fish May Lake. However my father is unusually susceptible to altitude sickness, making May Lake the perfect place for us to camp and fish.

As many fisherman have come to learn the worst thing about going fishing is the drive. My dad woke me up at an early 4 A.M. and pushed me into his Subaru 4WD station wagon. I then spent the next five hours trying not to throw up over the interior of his car. W

Instead of going directly to May Lake, we took a detour to rest and fish at a secret spot.  We went down a dirt road,  ascended winding paths, took stomach wrenching turns, and hurtled down steep hills. When the dusty Subaru finally stopped several miles from any major trailhead I quickly opened the door and burst into a thick cloud of mosquitos. For some reason high-country mosquitos love my blood and within seconds the bloodsucking insects were on my face, hands , and neck. Swatting them away, I tore through my pack looking for my mosquito netting and shirt. Groaning, I realized I had left the gear at home. The trip was not getting off to a very good start. 

My dad with a brook trout from the creek

To make matters worse my dad was getting comfortable eating his lunch inside the car. It would be a while until we moved to another location to begin our hike up to May Lake. I decided to make the best of the situation and go fishing at a tiny creek I spotted near our car. Donning a raincoat and stealing my fathers fly rod I strode into the trees. When I arrived I found that the creek was barely three feet wide, hardly the place you would expect to find trout. Sighing I cast a #16 olive wooly bugger into the lazy current of a shallow pool. Suddenly trout rocketed out from under the banks to attack my fly. Smiling I landed the first brook trout of the day. 

Over the course of an hour I caught twelve brook trout ranging from six to twelve inches. Eventually my dad came down to check the action and caught three himself. The highlight of the hour was when I spotted an unusually large pool. To approach the trout I needed to crawl on my stomach, inching forward until I could cast into the pool. When my fly hit the water a twelve-inch brook trout devoured my fly and disappeared back under the bank. Setting the hook, an epic battle commenced. I held the rod and tried to avoid letting the brook trout get under the numerous trees, undercut banks, or stumps. Eventually I maneuvered the trout to a sloping bank and landed it. The fishing at this creek was excellent, with fifteen trout landed in under an hour. But my father and I still hadn't started our trip to the fabled May Lake.

Nightime fishing at May Lake

We moved to the trailhead to access May Lake and began our hike.  It was late afternoon when we finally reached the top of the mountain. The hike up to May Lake requires an elevation gain of nearly a thousand feet in a mile. This made my dad weak, and I struggled up the mountain carrying nearly all of our gear. I set up the tent near the lake grabbed my spinning rod and declared I was going fishing. I had four rods set up. They were all fitted with ultralight spinning reels spooled with four pound maxima green. One was rigged as a bait fishing pole with a sliding egg sinker rig, a #10 hook, and white power eggs. The second pole was also a bait pole, but was armed with orange power eggs. My third pole was outfitted with a silver Kastmaster. And the last pole was the fly rod complete with floating line, a ten foot leader, and a #16 mosquito. As soon as the bait poles touched the water the line shot out and the rods bent with the promise of trout. I landed fish after fish, keeping three for dinner and releasing the rest. My dad and I enjoyed a hearty dinner of fried brook trout and beef stew that night. I fished again after dinner and caught seven wild trout ranging from ten to twelve inches, all on the Kastmaster. Then the mosquitos came out and I was driven into the tent, pursued by their insistent buzzing. We landed twenty-eight trout that day.

Mosquito protection

The following day passed much like the first. I continued to land trout after trout, each one averaging about twelve inches. I was enjoying some of the most consistent trout fishing of my life. As evening approached I was hovering on the cusp of catching fifty trout in one trip. There were fourty-seven trout that had already been released, I only needed to catch three to reach my goal. But to catch the last three I knew I was going to need to fish in the heart of the mosquito swarm. To prepare against the bloodsuckers I put on a thick fleece jacket. My dad then helped tie a T-shirt around my head and wrapped my hands with wool socks. Mosquito repellent was applied thickly on patches of skin beneath my cloth armor.

Brook trout caught on fly rod + 50th fish

By eight P.M. the mosquitos were out, but so were the brook trout. I had to use my fly rod to catch the trout that were feeding on the mosquitos that buzzed above the water. By 8:30 P.M. I had already landed two trout. I just needed one more brook trout to fulfill my goal. My eyes struggled to locate my tiny dry fly among the cloud of real insects that bit the skin around my forehead. Then a brook trout breached the surface of the water, engulfing my fly. I set the hook and battled the trout to the log I was standing on. As I unhooked the brook trout by the fading light and released it back into the lake, I realized that I could recall each and every fish and battle. Riddled by mosquito bites that had somehow found their way through my shirt, I turned my back on the lake and returned to camp.

Sunset at May Lake

Score:
18 fish on flies
10 fish on lures
23 fish on bait

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Sierra Adventure: Graph of Fish Catches

The graph above is the summary of my family's trip to the Sierras. Conway Ranch is not included due to the fact that trout are heavily stocked in the areas we were fishing.

Individual reports:

• May Lake in Yosemite National Park - brook trout mania
• San Joaquin near Devil's Postpile National Park - wild trout dry fly
• Hot Creek and Crowley Lake - big brown trout on fly rod
• San Joaquin and Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park - dry fly action continues
• Yosemite National Park small creek fishing - eleven wild trout in one hour

 

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Sierra Adventure: Secret Creek

The biggest brook trout for the day

As our grand Sierra Adventure begins to near the end, my dad and I are starting to go to some of the best fishing spots in the area. We have been saving the best for last, but now the best is here. Today, we visit Secret Creek, a small creek that feeds out of a fish rich lake. The creek holds massive amounts of good sized brook trout, along with a abundant supply of mosquitos. However, the creek's small size and delicate fish has prompted my family to keep the creek a secret. My dad and I only fish the creek twice every year and the fish become skittish on the second trip. Without further adue, here is my experience at Secret Creek.

Another nice brookie from this year

On our way back from Tuolumne meadows my dad suggested a stop at Secret Creek. After confirmation from the rest of my family, we turned the car down a dirt road towards the Creek. Arriving at a dirt pullout around 10:00 A.M., I donned my mosquito netting, gloves, jacket, hat, and pants. In the past, I have had twenty mosquitos land on my cotton gloves, stick their mouth through the holes in the cotton, and suck my blood. That does not happen anymore with the correct gear. Back in the present, I held my three-weight fly rod in my right hand. Attached to the leader was a #14 crystal flash wooly bugger. As I dropped my fly into Secret Creek a four-inch brook trout immediately charged it. Unfortunately, a bigger six-inch trout got there first and gobbled my fly up. During the hook-set I pulled the fly out of the fish's mouth. Then a 9-inch trout swam up and grabbed the fly. I landed the nine-inch fish. The brook trout have never seen a fly before, so when something drops into the pool all the fish go for whatever has fallen in. Sometimes, it is my fly. I enjoyed a happy fourty-five minutes, catching ten brook trout and missing many more. My dad caught one with a California mosquito dry fly.

When I said "happy" earlier in my blog, there was one point in which I threw my rod across the meadow in frustration. To understand my pain, we have to travel back one year.
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It had been a good half-hour and I had caught eight brook trout with my crystal flash wooly bugger. Now, I dropped my fly into a large pool. I was hanging onto a large boulder with one hand and holding my fly rod with the other. If any fish was to hit, I would just pull it up onto the meadow behind me. Then I saw the fish. It was a lunker of a brook trout. Estimated to be around fourteen-inches from head to tail. It saw my fly, and made a savage lunge. I managed to hook the fish, but could not drag it onto the meadow. I stripped the fly line with my teeth, hoping to tire it out. After half-a-minute the fish turned onto it's side. I tried to drag it onto the meadow, but the brook trout made one last jump. The fly tore free of the mouth, and the fish swam back under the bank.
------------- Back in the present
I can see the same fish from last year. It's about an inch bigger, with a scar on the left side of the mouth. The fish has moved down from the big pool last year, making it possible for me to land it. My cast is perfect, with little splash. The fish makes the savage lunge I remember so well. My hook-set is a little off, but the point digs in. Realizing that it has been hooked, the trout breaches clear out of the water, flops across a dry spot, and dives back into the bigger pool. My fly pops loose from the fish's mouth.

Total catch was 10 fish for Kai, 1 for Dad.

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Sierra Adventure: San Joaquin - Relived + Tuolumne River

Biggest fish of the San Joaquin expedition

Wednesday was our last wild trout fishing in the Eastern Sierra. To end the trip on a good note my dad and I decided to fish the San Joaquin River. However, we experienced some difficulties early in the trip...

My dad and I woke up around 6:00 A.M. to get breakfast at the deli. As we began to cross the shopping square we saw a scary sight on the left. A 300 pound mother black bear and her cub were eating out of an improperly closed trash can. We tried to scare the bears away, but they refused to move, and began to snarl at us. Terrified, my dad began to flee towards the hotel with me right behind him. We took an elevator down to the parking lot, got in the car, and went to a different bakery.

A colorful brown trout

After the bear scare, my dad parked around 6:30. I immediately started to catch fish, but the bite began to heat up with the water temperature. My dad and I were fishing a #20 Parachute Adams and a #28 Caddis. Trout were only hitting very small dry flies the entire day. Also, my dad hiked up and down the river, but only a small stretch produced fish. After five intense hours of fishing my dad and I ended up with a combined total of eleven fish (eight for me, three for dad). There was a mix of brown, brook, and rainbow trout that was caught all on dries before 10:00 A.M.

San Joaquin Fish Total = 20 (9 on day one plus 11 on day 2)
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 Brook trout at San Joaquin

We left the Eastern Sierras on Wednesday, but our fishing adventure continues to be productive in Yosemite Park. One of our first fishing trips in the park was started at Tuolumne River. The river runs East to West through Yosemite's high country. Large populations of small wild trout swim through the Lyell Fork and Dana Fork of the river.

The biggest brown trout caught in San Joaquin

My family left for the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne river around 10:00 A.M. We were going there mainly for the hike, but there was a fly rod stowed away in my backpack. After a short hike, the Tuolumne River was within sight. After a quick lunch, I proceeded to catch a small brook trout with an olive green wooly bugger. Satisfied, my family returned to the car. 

The following morning my dad and I went to the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River. Although the early morning was slow, fishing       began to get better as the sun's rays warmed the water. I caught two brook trout while using a bubble-fly combination. There was a small mosquito on the end of the line, but action could have been better if my dad had a smaller fly in his fly-box. 

Tuolumne total = 3

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Sierra Adventure: May Lake

Possibly one of the biggest brookies of the trip

As the summer begins to draw to a close, my family is taking one last big fishing trip. We are touring the grand Yosemite park, hiking up granite mountains, and sampling some of the best fishing the Eastern Sierra has to offer. During the week-and-a-half that we will be here I hope to have some historic fishing excursions. To kickstart the trip my dad and I took a two day trip to May Lake, a small lake set up in the high country of Yosemite Park.

One of the fourteen brook trout

To get to May Lake we had to take a short, but strenuous 1.2 mile hike up a steep mountain. Unfortunately, my dad injured his back last month, leaving me to carry most of the gear up. Luckily, I experienced no difficulties hiking up. Once we arrived at the top of the mountain my dad and I quickly set up the tent, and began the first fishing trip of the week. I experienced great action as I pulled in a fish on every cast while fishing power eggs on a #8 hook and four-pound test. However we were driven back to camp as the skies darkened, and rain began to pour.

One of the more colorful fish of the trip

Soon the storm passed, leaving me and my father to resume fishing. I proceeded to catch three more brook trout (my father caught one) within forty-five minutes. Taking two of the fish for dinner, we began to hike back to camp, and prepare dinner. During supper, my dad came down with a serious case of altitude sickness. Pounding headaches and fierce nausea forced him to lie down inside the tent. This left me with plenty of time to fish on my own. The first two hours were tough, as I only caught one fish with a blue and silver Kastmaster. However, as the sun began to dip down below the horizon, fishing picked up. Holding a flashlight between my teeth I caught five good sized brookies, before calling it a night. It was around 9:00 P.M. I slipped into my sleeping bag, and began to sleep.

May Lake

This is where it gets interesting. A big thunderstorm passed overhead dropping buckets of rain onto our tent. Lighting flashed within a quarter mile from where we were sleeping. Thunder kept me up all night, yet my dad slept like a bear in hibernation. Finally, at 5:30 A.M. the storm ceased and I picked up my rod and caught three more brook trout. My dad and I ended the trip with a total of fourteen brook trout, as we hiked back to the parking lot.
Score:
Me: 12 brook trout
Dad: 2 brook trout.
If the trip continues to yield catches like yesterdays, the trip will prove to be one of the best in my life.

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Awesome Trout Fishing At Yosemite

Summer has brought some great things to me. One of those is my grandparents and aunt. They are visiting from Hawaii for the first time in three years. My parents have been planning activities, and one of those plans was to go to Yosemite. We drove for five hours to get to the park, through winding roads, and sweltering sun. Finally we arrived at the park, and proceeded to view the spectacular waterfalls and the looming, ominous cliffs. Unfortunately, I ate too much food at the Camp Curry buffet, and felt very ill. My dad and aunt went to take pictures of the sunset, while I tried to overcome my nausea. Then my dad called me on my cell phone. Trout were blowing up the surface of the Merced river less than half a mile away from the tent. It was time to shake off my nausea and catch fish.

A thirteen-inch brown trout caught at Merced River (# 3)

We neared the Merced River around 7:45 P.M. I had already rigged up my pole with a silver and blue Kastmaster attached to four-pound test. From forty feet away, I could already see the trout breaching the surface, eating insects. They were all near the middle of the river, inside a current that flowed in a circular motion, bringing the food to them. I cast in my line and hooked a nice fish on my first cast. When I brought it in, I had a nice fourteen inch wild rainbow trout. That may not sound like much, but a fish that big in the wild is massive. There is little food, so wild trout grow very slowly. After the rainbow, I proceeded to catch two more trout. One was a thirteen-inch brown trout, with a small kype.  Then I handed my pole to my father, because his pole remained unproductive. As the time neared 8:30, and the light began to dim my dad hooked into a massive fish. After five tense minutes, I netted an eighteen-inch rainbow trout. The biggest wild trout I have ever heard of being caught in Yosemite for years. As the sun disappeared we walked back with smiles on our faces. 

The first rainbow trout of the day 

This massive trout hit a Kastmaster, 

What I drew from this experience was the randomness of this fishing expedition. My family had not gone to Yosemite to fish. We had gone there to look at scenery, and observe the wildlife. Instead, we ended up with the biggest wild trout of our lives. Had my dad not seen the trout in the river, we would never have had this experience. Usually organized planning results in more consistent success. This means that you should plan your events. However, sometimes you find  yourself in a situation that you never would have expected. At those times, you need to get over your shock and seize the opportunity. The best things happen when you least expect it.

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