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.