R10 TR: Joys of North Sierra Medley Sept-Oct 2023 part 1

[robertseeburger]

Really fun read on the trip reports.
And.. I cant believe how FAT those brookies are.. forget the length.. they are monsters! The 15 incher looks even better than the 17 incher!

[windknot]

Thanks for the reports! Your photos show a nice variety of northern Sierra scenery in addition to of course the great fish. I still have yet to make it to the Lakes Basin area but hope to rectify that some day.

[Troutdog 59]

Nice G . I've done that same trek from Ebbetts and the scenery and geology is stunning. Glad to hear it still fishes well.

[oddtiger]

Nice trips! Thank you for the details. I felt it's not long ago (maybe a few years...) I was still reading your family trip reports with little kids. Time flies! It's great to see Lee is trying backpacking again. These places are really far from SoCal for short trips. One day...

[giantbrookie]

Hi folks, thanks for your replies. I just flew back from a geological meeting I've been at all week in Pittsburgh, walking to and around the conference and, as always taking 'hikes' to various pubs, all with this hernia belt holding the bulge in.

In the meantime, when taking a break one afternoon, I was reading back through various posts, including mine, and I noticed some replies commenting on my painful and unsuccessful dive to throw a fish that wiggled back into the water back on land.

I did the fish dive and flip again but successfully and without pain on the overnight trip with Lee. I had just landed one of the longer (but not necessarily biggest) fish, a 15" cutthroat and I planned to keep it so I moved it a fair distance up a mildly brushy slope while I fumbled around trying to find a stringer in my vest. The fish was flopping around quite a bit (was still attached to my lure though), so as I continued to search for a stringer (have lots of pockets in my vest) I figured I should make sure it didn't flop and roll into the lake so I put it in my net on the slope. I realized that I'd have to run back along the shoreline 100 feet or so to get a stringer that already had a fish on it. When I returned I found the fish had unhooked itself and flopped out of the net and was bouncing its way down the slope. I reached for it and grabbed it, but it slipped out of my hands and continued to roll down the slope. I was still not all that concerned. I grabbed it again, but again it wriggled out of my grasp and I realized it was in fact in the water. So, not thinking about the hernia or anything else I dove and was able to flip the fish pretty far up the brushy slope. I landed on soft ground, so no bruised knee. The only downside was getting a smidge wet when I had stayed totally dry all day. The fish was retrieved and placed on the stringer. Looks like I'll head up to Quincy for an easy dayhike or two this weekend. Saturday will be fine. Sunday will probably be wet and cold and go home early.