High Sierra Topix

I've been an avid fisherman my entire life but mostly rivers on the east coast and ocean fishing. Last year my buddy and I camped at June Lake and I trout fished for the first time and of course was wooed by the beauty of the Sierras. Another buddy and I are planning to do a 3 day backpacking trip at the end of the summer and I'd like to do some fishing on that. No specific species of trout is targeted, just the opportunity to catch something. I figure I"ll get used to the hang of all of this before trying to knock golden trout off my list or giant browns.

Our plan was to go in early September, but we could go anytime from late July to late September if that made the fishing better and/or mosquitos not as bad and if it's still possible to get permits.

Experience: I have virtually no high sierra backpacking experience but my buddy has done quite a few up to week long trips (almost all have been around Mt. Whitney area). He on the other hand has almost no fishing experience, so we are splitting the difference.

My initial thought was to do a 3 day hike starting at Devil's Postpile trailhead and and take the Fern Lake trail up to Ashley lake to camp, possibly fishing Fern and Anona lakes on the way. 2nd day we would hike over to Beck Lakes and camp there, possibly fishing Holcomb and Superior lakes as well. On the 3rd day we would loop back to the Devil's Postpile either via the Beck Lakes trail or maybe cut over to the Minaret Trail (not sure how feasible that is) I'm not sure if that itinerary balances out enough hiking though? The pictures of Ashley Lake make it seem very scenic so I'd like to visit there but I haven't found much info on fishing those lakes. Would it make sense to try and push all the way to Ediza lake? I want a good balance of scenic hikes to fishing since my buddy isn't so much into the fishing, so I dunno how many hours of that before he'll get bored.

Or perhaps there are other hikes that are even better? I thought about maybe hiking up to Thousand Islands Lake since that definitely looks scenic but it also seems pretty busy and I'm not sure how great the fishing is? Maybe we should go further north? Somewhere around Virginia Lakes? Or I've seen a lot of people talk about the LIttle Lakes valley, though it seems way more busy there.

A lot of the threads I've been reading trying to research this seem to suggest it's best to just get out there and explore but I live in Los Angeles so for now I'm trying to make the most of the out limited times I'll be able to get up to the Sierras. Once I've gotten some more experience in I have a feeling I'll be willing to jot off myself for a long weekend of solo backpacking fishing but in the mean time I'm looking for a good intro.

We will be fishing with spinning gear, not fly fishing if that makes a difference.

Main interest is split evenly between fishing, lakes, and big mountain scenery. I have a professional DSLR which I'll be bringing.

Trip will be 2 nights / 3 days and allow for fishing several lakes if possible. I'm not sure how many miles per day that works out to due to my inexperience with backpacking but I'd say between 5 to 8ish?

I have never hiked at elevation. I have car camped at elevations of up to 8000' with no issues, but I am guessing that extra 2000 will make a difference.

Route logistic preference would be a loop of some sort. Out and back is fine if the fishing or the views make it worth it and it fits all other criteria of the trip.

We will not have a dog.

Any advice is appreciated! I'm still doing a lot of research but I wanted to go ahead and apply for the wilderness permit sooner rather than later.

I guess a question I'd ask is, do you prefer (or is it more convenient) to go in from the E side of the Sierra or the west? The second is just a follow up to make I get the priorities for the fishing: It sounds to me that you want a high percentage shot versus exclusively targeting places with large fish given that fish size tends to be inversely proportional to the population density (in other words, the bigger the fish the lower success rate on average). I think, however, there are destinations either east or west that can give you multiple options on the same trip: in other words lakes with pretty large fish as well as lakes with super numerous, easy-to-catch, fish (such as lakes teeming with small brookies).

You might look at the area above Bass Lake, along Beasore Road. Chain Lakes out of Fernandez Trailhead. or Lillian, Rutherford and nearby lakes out of Clover Meadow are both destinations that would give you some scenery and some fish.

giantbrookie wrote:I guess a question I'd ask is, do you prefer (or is it more convenient) to go in from the E side of the Sierra or the west? The second is just a follow up to make I get the priorities for the fishing: It sounds to me that you want a high percentage shot versus exclusively targeting places with large fish given that fish size tends to be inversely proportional to the population density (in other words, the bigger the fish the lower success rate on average). I think, however, there are destinations either east or west that can give you multiple options on the same trip: in other words lakes with pretty large fish as well as lakes with super numerous, easy-to-catch, fish (such as lakes teeming with small brookies).

I would say the east side just because 395 is more interesting of a drive than the 5 haha but either actually works. I live in Los Angeles so it's either following the 5 all the way up or cutting over on the 14. Neither is necessarily more convenient so I am open to suggestions for either if the area meets the other criteria I'm hoping for.

Multiple options sound awesome as long as the hike isn't too strenuous for a beginner and the rest of the scenery etc is enough for my buddy who fishing isn't his priority for the trip. I also don't expect anyone to give up like their secret spots or anything, just a good initiation.

balzaccom wrote:You might look at the area above Bass Lake, along Beasore Road. Chain Lakes out of Fernandez Trailhead. or Lillian, Rutherford and nearby lakes out of Clover Meadow are both destinations that would give you some scenery and some fish.

I have heard of the Lillian loop trail starting at Fernandez Trailhead so I will definitely look into that. I've mostly been using the alltrails website to check for actual trails and/or recordings of hikes people have done but is there a better option? Even paid options? Is there a good website for planning out a hike or some sort of software? Paid is fine if it's not too expensive.

I also have been reading your website a lot the past few weeks (the one in your signature) and has some great articles for a beginner like me so I really appreciate it!

Glad that you're finding some help on our website. There are lots of trips there, and many of them would fit your criteria, more or less. It's the more or less that is up to you!

A loop to Anona, Ashley, Holcomb, Beck Lakes; in via Kings Creek (Snow Canyon) and out the trail that intersects the JMT at Minaret Falls is a nice loop but you miss the more spectacular scenery the Minarets has to offer. Minaret Lake is much more scenic. I have not fished any of these lakes. I think a more scenic route, also with fishing, is from Agnew Meadow- Shadow Lake- side trip to Ediza, JMT to Garnet, then take a use-trail off the JMT to the west (inlet side of Garnet Lake) where there is good fishing. Then out by Thousand Island Lake and the PCT. If short on time, you can go back down the River Trail. Logistically, Day 1 at Ediza, Day 2 Garnet, and Day 3 out makes the last day very long if you go by Thousand Island Lake.

Scenic/fair fishing/ short/ mostly trail routes will be very popular so not trips for solitude. Others include:

South Lake- to Long Lake-Saddle Rock Lake. Day hike Bishop Lake and to Rawau Lake and drop to Bull Lake with day-hike up to Chocolate Lake. Short day out or a rigorous day-hike up to Treasure Lakes then out. If you do Treasure Lakes, it would be better to do them on Day 1. Day 2 then drop to the lakes east of Bishop Pass and day-hike/fish the upper lakes. Good camping at Saddle Rock Lake. Then a day-hike/fishing to Rawau Lake and out on Day 3.

Strong hikers can make it to Dusy Basin in a day. Dusy is known for both scenery and fishing. Off-trail travel fairly easy. One day in, hike-fish day 2 and then day out day 3. Personally, with limited time I would just stay on the east side and do more exploring there.

North Lake - Day 1 to Murial Lake. Day 2 day-hike/fish Goethe or Lost Lakes and/or Golden Trout Lakes- over pass and camp at Piute Lake. Day 3, day-hike/fish Emerson Lake, Loch Leven and out. Lots of lakes to fish in Humphreys Basin.

Sabrina- Day 1 to Blue Lake, with day-hikes up to Baboon or Donkey Lake. Fair fishing in Blue Lake. Day 2 to Hungry Packer and Moonlight. Good fishing Moonlight, I have never fished Hungry Packer but it is the main senic attraction. Lots camp at Sailor Lake for its central location. Day 3, side trip up to Midnight Lake and then out. Topsy Turvy Lake good fishing. Emerald Lakes - tons of 4" fish and not that scenic. Fishgut Lakes neat, but I do not think your group has enough off-trail experience for that.

North Fork Big Pine. Day 1 go up and camp at 2nd or 3rd Lake. Day 2 - day-hike 4th, 5th an 6th Lake. 6th scenic but barren. Day 3, early AM hike up to Sam Mack Meadow just for the scenery, and then out.

Anyway, all those have very scenic camping, and many options of day-hikes short or long. My suggestions above are pretty rigorous days.

No need to go all the way up to Yosemite. Lilian Lake loop is nice, but not as scenic as the others suggested above.

Of course, there always is Cottonwood Lakes. Very scenic but only catch-and-realease fishing (if that is OK with the fishing enthusiasts).

Not as many short trips from the west. It is just a longer distance into the moutains from the west so 4-5 days better.

X2 on Cottonwood Lakes. Go ahead and knock Goldens off your list! Use a fly and bubble set up on your spinning rod. Add in a summit day for Mt Langley for a little challenge and some great views. Enjoy!

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

Not all of the lakes in Cottonwood are catch and release. http://stevenojai.tripod.com/cottonlakes.htm

Wandering Daisy wrote:A loop to Anona, Ashley, Holcomb, Beck Lakes; in via Kings Creek (Snow Canyon) and out the trail that intersects the JMT at Minaret Falls is a nice loop but you miss the more spectacular scenery the Minarets has to offer. Minaret Lake is much more scenic. I have not fished any of these lakes. I think a more scenic route, also with fishing, is from Agnew Meadow- Shadow Lake- side trip to Ediza, JMT to Garnet, then take a use-trail off the JMT to the west (inlet side of Garnet Lake) where there is good fishing. Then out by Thousand Island Lake and the PCT. If short on time, you can go back down the River Trail. Logistically, Day 1 at Ediza, Day 2 Garnet, and Day 3 out makes the last day very long if you go by Thousand Island Lake.

Thank you for all this info! So that route did seem pretty good (though popular) but that is indeed what we're gonna do. Most of the permits were already taken but I managed to secure one for the Shadow Creek trail for mid September. It's during the week so hopefully there will be less people than a weekend. Is there anything particular during that time of year to think about? We decided to do 3 nights so would you still recommend night 1 - Ediza, night 2 Garnet, and night 3 TIL, with day 4 hiking out via the High Trail? With that extra day we will have a little more time to explore, are any of the surrounding lakes any more scenic or better to fish than the others (Iceberg, Altha, Emerald, etc). Also are there any recommendations where to camp around each lake? From the threads I've found on here it sounds like the further west you go on each lake the less people, and that going off trail to cross to each lake via the western side is preferable.