High Sierra Topix

Thanks for the fish identification! I am not after Goldens, per se, just like to eat fish. Sorry I mis-identified them in my report. They were so vividly colored (more so when I first caught them rather than in the photos), that I just assumed they were golden trout. They were all pretty good fighters and quite fun to land.

Wandering Daisy wrote:Thanks for the fish identification! I am not after Goldens, per se, just like to eat fish. Sorry I mis-identified them in my report. They were so vividly colored (more so when I first caught them rather than in the photos), that I just assumed they were golden trout. They were all pretty good fighters and quite fun to land.

No worries about the mis-identification! The picture you posted above are brook trout. As other's have said, they are identified by the worm pattern on their back, pink dots on their side, and white tipped fins. Golden's have significantly less spots that are only by the tail, and their overall coloration is that distinct golden red color especially on their bellies.

Out of curiosity, when you plan your food do you leave specific dinners out because you expect to eat fish? What if you don't catch any fish? Seems like a gamble to me, which is why I always pack every meal.

Fish really do not add a lot of calories, but are a great source of protein. I divide a whole meal in two for 2-3 days of a 7-8 day trip with the idea of catching fish. The biggest thing with eating fish is that I do not have to worry about getting enough protein. I find protein the hardest nutritional component to get in my backpack food. I really cannot afford the freeze dried meat and am not fond of the "protein powders". I prefer to keep my total daily food weight to 1.25 pounds. I know powdered milk is a good protein source, but it is bulky so hard to fit a lot in the bear canister. My last trip only had 14% protein, which I did not worry about because of the fish.

It does not bother me much to run out of food. I usually plan trips so that if I cannot catch fish and run low on food it is not too difficult to speed up the schedule and come out a day early. I have ended a lot of trips TOTALLY empty - with no trail food for the last day. I have done several 4-day no-food, 50 mile walk out survivals so have a good idea of how my body responds to starvation and do not freak out when I run out of food.

It has been a challenge this year with only stoves allowed. I only brought one 1-L cook pot. I ended up boiling the fish, then de-boning, and then adding the potatoes. Or if I cooked rice or pasta I would just put the fish in with the rice or pasta, cook it and then de-bone the fish. I prefer to fry fish but did not want to carry the weight of the heavy frying pan. It has occurred to me (although I have not done it) that you could use freezer bag cooking for fish. Put the fish in the bag and cook with the meal and then pull out the bag and de-bone the fish. That way you could eliminate all those little bones that end up in the pot.

Well this was a long windy reply! Bottom line - I REDUCE food I bring when I fish, but never totally eliminate a meal.

Awesome TR, makes me want to take up fishing in the sierras. Are you using a tenkara set-up?

Thanks for the report and beautiful photos. I hope to get to see that area first hand eventually, but in the mean time it is nice to see photos of the area.

yikes! boiled trout. the fry pan alone with that comment is worth it.

A pretty stringer of brookies, WD!

I poach them - wrap in foil with seasonings, put rocks in the bottom of the pot and add water just barely covering them, put in fish. Works about like putting them in coals and the end result is the same.

on the fish id thing. I looked for a good 20 mins on the CA DFW site. how lame that they don't have a fish ID page other than saltwater.

anyway, here's a pointer to Idaho's DFW id page. Same id stuff: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/fish/?getPage=85" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

anytime you see that cadmium color on the lower fins, it's a brookie. color does vary depending on time of year, but they become obvious.

Yikes! Don't know what is worse, taking those long, inefficient, hot trails around Florence or Edison versus using their ferries.

Some comments for those who might try following your footsteps... Going from Rose Marie Meadow to Orchid Lake, large scale route finding is not that difficult if one sizes up the 7.5m topo as you did, however as noted the small scale terrain is an obstacle course to navigate through. Going from Orchid to Apollo Lake might seem a simple task but looking at the topo shows one needs to be careful else will look down over ledges. Much more difficult going from Apollo Lake to Cirque Lake that requires expert route finding and map reading skills else one is likely to get into unpleasant terrain. Thinking one can just traverse around the ridge without dropping down significantly will only bring one to where one does not want to go.

Was surprised you were even considering carrying your backpack from Rosebud to Hooper as the west side as the map shows is very steep at the top. You probably came down from the saddle between 11884 and 11681?

As for identifying trout, read/look at this page:

http://troutfrenzy.com/index.asp?pg=ca_species" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But note all trout tend to vary in coloration even within the same lake, especially between male and female, young trout and mature trout. And rainbow and golden trout hybridize. Eastern brook do not hybridize with any rainbow/cutthroat species despite what one sometimes reads on boards like this. Brown trout have the most consistent coloration. Mature golden trout loose their parr marks leaving a red side stripe against olive without spots except at the tail turning to yellow then red underneath. Those mature goldens also have multi neon colored guts, have deep red flesh like fresh caught steelhead, and males may have a hooked jaw. Also IMO are the finest tasting freshwater trout much like the best fresh salmon or steelhead:



Hybrid golden rainbows will have more spots along the back. Rainbow have a number of sub-species color variants.

One of hobbies is to catch all of the species and sub-species of salmonids in North America and over the years I have caught quite a few and posted pictures of them on my blog, a link to this site is below my signature on all of my posts. I know this is a shameless plug, but rest assured, I gain nothing from it, I'm merely hoping the pictures posted there can help clarify which kind of fish is which.

--Fly Guy Dave