zio
Mr. Atlas
- Jul 28, 2000
- 2,284
- 0
Well, I had to do something, I was getting some serious "trail fever". So last weekend, three friends & I loaded up our packs til they tipped the scales at just under 40 lbs and headed for Kings Canyon National Park. Our final destination was to be the Middle & North Fork of the Kings River for two days and nights of solitude and hopefully decent trout fishing.
This particular portion of the Kings was new to all of us, and we had a hand drawn map from someone who had been here last year. All I knew was it was about a 45 minute hike in. No details. It turns out that 45 minute hike was just getting down the mountain, into the canyon to the river. The campsite was another 45 minutes over boulders and logs, up cliffs and through the icy water. Maybe 5 of those 45 minutes were spent on level ground. Talk about sore legs!!!
Once there, we hastily set up camp in one of the most beautiful areas I've ever been- right at river's edge, on a sandy beach, with a 20 yard stretch of calm, deep water a stone's throw away for cooling off in the afternoon heat. Right off the bat, we started catching fish. Wild trout, mind you- no planters up here. I was using light spinning gear, while everyone else was fly-fishing. I've been a bass fisherman all my life, so I wasn't too eager to start off fishing a method new to me. My brother-in-law and I took off up river (better for attacking trout) while John & Jim went down.
Holy smokes, these wild fish fight!!! I had never had any luck fishing rivers/streams before this. But in the days prior, I read everything I could find on the Net, and learned the basics for using artificial lures on rivers (this section of the Kings is artificial only, barbless hooks). Within the first 1/2 hour, I had landed at least 5, and by mid afternoon in a small pool directly behind a tail-out, I landed a beautiful 17-18 incher on a rainbow-colored Rooster tail.
I had bought a variety of spinners, not knowing what would work and what wouldn't. It didn't matter. Black Panther Martins, Silver Mepps, any color Rooster tail, Kastmasters, you name it, they hit it. The only problem I ran into was I didn't buy enough. By Sunday afternoon, I was down to two spinners, and one Flatfish that had been in my fannypack for years. I then decided it was time to learn to flyfish (I had learned the basic cast about 10 years ago for bass/bluegill fishing for fun). Wow, what a rush hooking into a trout for the first time on a fly rod. I caught two more that night on my hike back to camp. The last fish I caught was a beautiful brown, about 10 inches. I was the only person to get a brown. The rainbows didn't dissapoint, though. Most averaged 10 inches, at least and fought as hard as an equal sized smallmouth.
I've never had fishing that good. I'm hooked. The only thing I can do without is the hike. I think I hurt my knee yesterday on the hike out, and I barely made it back up the mountain. My legs are killing me now. And the whole time I was scared that I'd see the bears that were responsible for the log-sized scat everywhere. I was ready, though, as I kept a loaded .357 strapped to my camelback just in case. :p
My next goal is to link dirtbiking with fishing/camping. Now that would be the perfect vacation!
This particular portion of the Kings was new to all of us, and we had a hand drawn map from someone who had been here last year. All I knew was it was about a 45 minute hike in. No details. It turns out that 45 minute hike was just getting down the mountain, into the canyon to the river. The campsite was another 45 minutes over boulders and logs, up cliffs and through the icy water. Maybe 5 of those 45 minutes were spent on level ground. Talk about sore legs!!!
Once there, we hastily set up camp in one of the most beautiful areas I've ever been- right at river's edge, on a sandy beach, with a 20 yard stretch of calm, deep water a stone's throw away for cooling off in the afternoon heat. Right off the bat, we started catching fish. Wild trout, mind you- no planters up here. I was using light spinning gear, while everyone else was fly-fishing. I've been a bass fisherman all my life, so I wasn't too eager to start off fishing a method new to me. My brother-in-law and I took off up river (better for attacking trout) while John & Jim went down.
Holy smokes, these wild fish fight!!! I had never had any luck fishing rivers/streams before this. But in the days prior, I read everything I could find on the Net, and learned the basics for using artificial lures on rivers (this section of the Kings is artificial only, barbless hooks). Within the first 1/2 hour, I had landed at least 5, and by mid afternoon in a small pool directly behind a tail-out, I landed a beautiful 17-18 incher on a rainbow-colored Rooster tail.
I had bought a variety of spinners, not knowing what would work and what wouldn't. It didn't matter. Black Panther Martins, Silver Mepps, any color Rooster tail, Kastmasters, you name it, they hit it. The only problem I ran into was I didn't buy enough. By Sunday afternoon, I was down to two spinners, and one Flatfish that had been in my fannypack for years. I then decided it was time to learn to flyfish (I had learned the basic cast about 10 years ago for bass/bluegill fishing for fun). Wow, what a rush hooking into a trout for the first time on a fly rod. I caught two more that night on my hike back to camp. The last fish I caught was a beautiful brown, about 10 inches. I was the only person to get a brown. The rainbows didn't dissapoint, though. Most averaged 10 inches, at least and fought as hard as an equal sized smallmouth.
I've never had fishing that good. I'm hooked. The only thing I can do without is the hike. I think I hurt my knee yesterday on the hike out, and I barely made it back up the mountain. My legs are killing me now. And the whole time I was scared that I'd see the bears that were responsible for the log-sized scat everywhere. I was ready, though, as I kept a loaded .357 strapped to my camelback just in case. :p
My next goal is to link dirtbiking with fishing/camping. Now that would be the perfect vacation!
