Cairo’s snowy trip to the Sierra in July…2023

Cairo and his Mom and Dad along with his GMa on Aimee’s side, ventured up to the Eastern Sierra in early July 2023 after the wettest year since 2017. There was still a tremendous amount of snow piled up in the higher elevations around Bridgeport, CA…

Cairo prepping with his new sleeping bag…

…and his Patagonia “puffy”…

Some casting practice with Dad at the Pasadena Casting Club after having his bubble filled…

…like a Pro…

Virginia Lakes Resort, still not open on July 1, 2023…

Portions of the parking lot have over six feet of packed snow…

…early dinner at the campsite…

…then some fly and bubble tossing at Little Virgina Lake…

Little Virginia Lake…very cold water…

…another view from where the boats and float tubes launch…

With Mom at campsite…

…Sunset at Little Virginia Lake…

Big Virginia Lake…

Blue Lake Brookie…

Roaring falls in the backcountry…

Rainbow for Cairo…

…it tasted real good…

Cairo preparing to trek…

Michael and Cairo in the aspens and mule ears…

On the trail to higher elevations…

The meadow at Green Creek…

A roaring Green Creek…

On the trail…above Parker Lake…

Parker Lake…

Michael packing Cairo in a snowfield with avalanche downed trees…

A waterfall coming off a snowfield above Parker Lake…

Coming back down the trail from Parker Lake…

…another waterfall coming off a big snowfield…

At the campsite with Mom and Dad…

Strawberries and pancakes…

On an after dinner hike with Dad and Bob…Mono Lake is the the background…

Taking care of business…

Watching Dad cast at Blue Lake…

Michael working the water for Brookies at Blue Lake…

Intensity with a snowbank in the background…

The dudes at the Jolly Cone in Bridgeport…

Nightfall above Bridgeport, CA…

 

NEXT…Montana, August-September 2023…

 

 

PT/TB

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

To Finish…Cairo Eastern Sierra – Montana …

Been busy and have a lot of stories and photos to catch up with. Will finish Cairo’s trip up to the Eastern Sierra with his Mom & Dad and then an awesome trip to Montana with most of my family…

Cairo and Mr. Rainbow at Little Virginia Lake in the Eastern Sierra…

Arriving in Montana, August 26, 2023…

$3.00 Bridge on the Madison River at sunset, August 28, 2023…

 

Next: To be continued…

 

PT/TB

 

Read Full Post »

Those Guys,up there…

This post will cover my Grandson Cairo’s trip up to Bridgeport in the Eastern Sierra in the Summer of 2022 with his Mom and Dad (Michael) and other members of the family on his Mom’s side. This was his second excursion to the area that my family has been going to since 1971, when I got out of the Army and graduated from the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL).

I am not going to” hot spot” all the waters that these guys fished. They may all be located on these maps on flyfishinthesierra.com…this, by the way, is an excellent site for anyone who wants to utilize a wealth of information about the wonderful Sierra…

Michael and Cairo, ready to hit the road…

A quick stop at the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery so that Cairo can feed his buds…the ducks and trout…

Arrival at the cabin at Virginia Lakes Resort and sorting the gear out…

Cairo bundled up and ready…

Big MOO and RoRo at Virginia Creek…

Arranging the essentials…

Mr. Mountain Man above Big Virginia Lake…

One of the lakes above Virginia Lakes Resort…there are many…

Cairo with his mini-spin outfit using a fly and bubble technique…

Wait…somebody else was doing this back in 1987…(Michael, Little Virginia Lake )

…and both those guys caught a lot of these Brook Trout…

…another lake, another adventure…

Cairo with the “Big Peoples’ Rod”…

Cairo and the Brookie…

Waiting for breakfast at the Virginia Creek Resort Cafe…

Bacon, eggs and pancakes…Carolyn Webb can whip up some good eats…

RoRo preparing to go airborne…

“Jump !!!”…

Michael and Cairo out on Little Virginia Lake with an assortment of rods early in the AM…

This is my current favorite photo of these guys – Little Virginia Lake…

RoRo going solo…

“Lemme see that fish”…

In the distance, with an assist from Mom…

Crash time…

Trail leader with Mom…

Trail follower…Mr. Pokey…

…another lake in the books…

…deer family back at the cabins…

..another day… chillin’ at the cabin at sunrise…

Little Virginia Lake at sunset…

…lunch…

Petting the horses down at the pack station…Miles wants to trail ride with these folks the next time he comes to Bridgeport…

…another Brookie with Dad…

Brookies everywhere !!!

One can wet wade to the shelf…

Cairo likes the colors…

Coming down to a different lake with Dad…

“Let’s do it, Dad !!!”…

Trail through the woods…taking the short cut…

The view, the view…

There’s a mallard over on the left…

Ice Cream cone break !!!..Lee Vining, CA...Mono Cone…

Local resident walking the wood…

“Hey Ally…you know this place !!!”

Both of them do…Trumbull Lake, Michael and Ally – 1995…

“Ill be tying this spot ! “

Cairo and the camp kitty…

Cairo rock climbing…kinda’

Tree riding…

Cherries are good…

In the meadow at Green Creek, just about where I parked my vehicle back in 1977 with Cairo’s Great Grandfather and where I caught a 21″ Brown in a nearby Beaver Pond…

Nice little Sierra creek meandering through a meadow…

Lake in the sky…

Pulling Auntie Noelle’s nose at the Virginia Creek Settlement…

…more ice cream…

“Bye Mrs. Mallard…until next time !!!”

Postscript...one of these will be in RoRo’s near future for Brookie exploration along with a Hardy LRH Fly Reel…

 

NEXT:…all of these Midge patterns with their recipes…

 

PT/TB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

PT and Michael…Sierra Waters…

I have been waiting for this guy to show up for the past three months so we could travel North to wet our lines in some Eastern Sierra water…

Michael…”Let’s go Dad !!!”…

From here to there…

Red Rock Canyon...

The cinder dome at Little Lake…

The Dino Hut…Olancha, CA…

Eastside Sports, Bishop, CA…

Mahogany Smoked Meats, Bishop, CA…

PT, takin’ a break in Lee Vining, CA…

Mono Lake…

The Mono Inn…

The East Walker River…Fly Fishing here for the first time in four years…

Four years of drought have done the following…Silted the bottom in the “Miracle Mile” section and most of the river down to the pond, allowed the growth of weeds the likes of which I have never seen in the river since I started coming here, on a regular basis, in 1974 and turned the water to a dingy, chocolate color…

PT workin’ the milk shake…The water temp., at 4PM, was 62 degrees, I was picking up weeds on every cast using a #18 Frenchie jig…

Michael… experiencing the weeds…

Dam !!!…

Downriver MOO…

In the soup…

Where I once have taken some very large Brown Trout…

“Are we having fun, yet ???”…

More frustration…

In 3 1/2 hours, I took one 7″ Rainbow…Moo…ZIP…On the upside, because this river has not been receiving the usual foot traffic, the stream side vegetation has come back with a vengeance…that is a good thing !

The Dinner was excellent at The Bridgeport Inn…

 

DAY2……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Up to Lower Virginia Lake …

7:30 AM…

“Row me Dude !!!”…

“Yep, right about here”…

Moo’s first Rainbow on a #16 Peacock and Partridge Soft Hackle…

The fly on the right…

Looking good…

I tied on one of these…in #12…

PURPLE PEACOCK & PARTRIDGE SH …

HOOK: Daiichi 1560, #12 – #18

THREAD: Ultra 70 Denier, Purple

RIB: Lagartun Silver wire, Fine or X-Fine

ABDOMEN: Purple Iridescent Peacock Herl – Spirit River

HACKLE: Partridge

…and the hits by football sized ‘Bows, just kept on coming…

#1…

#2…

#3…

#4…

#5…

#6…

#7…

#8…

#9…

Michael switched over to one of these…

 

OWENS “OFFENDER” II, Brown / Black …

HOOK: TMC 5263 #4- #6, Daiichi 2220 #6 – #10

THREAD: Danville 6/0, Brown or Olive

WEIGHT: .015 Lead or Lead Sub.

TAIL: Black Marabou

TAIL FLASH: 2 strands each side, Flashabou Dyed Pearl, orange, 6967 / 2 strands each side, Black Krystal Flash

RIB: UTC Copper Wire, Med

HACKLE: Ewing Bugger Hackle, Brown Grizzly

BODY: J. Fair Seal Sub Dubbing, Dark Brown

CONE: Wapsi, Copper, SM

HOT SPOT: Datum Glo-Brite Floss, #5, Fl. Orange

…and took several more Rainbows…

All in all, it was a great day! We brought an uncountable number of Rainbows to hand using both patterns…

Sunset…

Down the mountain for dinner…

…at the usual location…

Virginia Creek Settlement…

Tired MOO…

 

DAY # 3…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Back to Little Virginia Lake and up there…

A brief pause for cell service…

I’ll just look around…

…towards Nevada…

Moo’s first Rainbow…

Not bad…

We will be back for you !!!

Michael hits the trail while I play with different fly patterns…

Trail info…

More trail info…

Trail to the summit…

A lake along the way…

Looking back, down at Big Virginia Lake…

…another view…

Another lake on the way up…

Almost there…

At the top…

Meanwhile… a lot more Trout for Dad, including this Brookie…

Tired PT…

DAY #4 Rosaschi Ranch, Nevada………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It’s here:

 

View from a bridge…

Michael takes a look…

Downriver…

Upriver…

We started here, about 1/4 mile down stream…through the “wait- a- minute” bush…

Michael ties up with a hopper and midge dropper…

The water temp. was 57 degrees, a lot less weeds and much clearer than on the CA side. There was evidence of flooding from rainfall and it was hot and humid…

Did I mention HOT & HUMID ???

Arctic Creel with Coke,Squirt and water…

Typical riffle water…

What Michael was using… Winston WT, 9′, 5wt. with a Tibor Tailwater…I uses a Winston Nexus 9′, 5wt. with a Hardy Lightweight…

This looked interesting…I said “looked”…

Michael hooked a 5″ Brown here…

Almost back to the bridge…

Let’s see…this old dude vaulted one 3″ Rainbow 15′ upstream…catch of the morning…

Upstream after lunch…

Michael switched to using the Nexus…

Working a long run…

Score…

A smallish Brown…

Nope… nothing for PT here…

But Michael gets another small Brown…Must be the rod !

Michael… working beneath the willows…

It certainly looks “fishy” in there…

PT TRUDGE…

This is a very pretty river…

Another likely spot that did not produce…

Old dude in the sage…by the river…

Back to the vehicle…

Late afternoon, looking downstream…

But WAIT !… Michael wants to give this spot, next to the bridge another try…because there has to be something big, behind the rock…

” Just ONE more cast, Dad!!!”…

Right here…

Michael’s GREAT CATCH – a Tui Chub…

There was more activity in the hornet’s nest on the side of the bridge…

Notice…

Back to Bridgeport and dinner at the Bridgeport Inn…

DAY 5, slowly back to L.A. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

A quick trip up to Trumbull Lake…

Something from The Trout Fly in Mammoth Lakes…

Mmmm…Schat’s Bakery in Bishop, for lunch…

Up to North Lake for one last fly fling…

Aspens above the lake…

“Cast over there MOO !!”

Limit in a hour…all released…

Recon at The Homestead near Ridgecrest. It would appear that there is construction activity going on here. This was a favorite dining spot focus for many years …hope springs eternal !!!

 

NEXT:

1. Complete the PMD’s
2. Complete Waiting for the son
3. Tie Baetis/BWO’s for me n’ Ally to use on the Lower Owens in October

 

PT/TB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

BIG SKY, kid – and WATER…

The following photos are panoramic pictures of various places that involve mountains, rivers, lakes and a kid with her favorite desert…Thanks to my daughter Nadia, I can play around with them and put them up…Most will be used as kind of “rotating header” through the coming months. Until Nadia assisted me, they were going nowhere. I have this nifty little feature on an older Olympus Stylus Epic that I picked many years ago…that camera has been in the drink several times … Being old school, I keep using all of my film cameras…I just like ’em…

So Michael says to me, as we are coming around this curve on the way to the Stillwater River…”COOL DAD, ROADKILL…stop I want to shoot it!!!” Here it is…I should have bagged the remains for Fly Tying…good deer hair on the parts that weren’t scattered all over the place…

This is one of many Trout on the wall at Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in Livingston, Montana… Michael went berserk taking photos of almost every fish on the wall..I didn’t know he was using the panorama feature…that costs one hell of a lot of $$$ to print up…oh well…

This is a great spot on the Madison River, above $3.00 Bridge at sunset…Ally and I scored some nice Browns and Rainbows here…

Little Virginia Lake up above Bridgeport, CA…just about sunset when a Retro Caddis will put a bend in ‘yer rod…Michael had a bunch of “bends” on this particular evening…

The backyard at Montana Hanna’s in Nye, MT… unfortunately this primo eatery, saloon and fly shop is in a state of flux at the present moment…perhaps, it will open again?…

Ally and her favorite desert..at the Continental Divide Restaurant in Ennis, MT…that would be creme brulee she is preparing to devour…with an “evil” look…

The Stillwater River, South of Buffalo Jump, MT…a great place to fish Caddis dries in the evening….

Ally, taking a break before the evening hatch on the Madison River, MT…above $3.00 Bridge…

Ennis Lake at sunset…me and Ally had been down in Beartrap Canyon and decided to leave before dark (good idea)…Ally took this picture…

Madison River below Varney Bridge… I have caught many nice Browns in this back channel…and no driftboats go through here…unless they are totally lost…

Sunrise coming up over the Absarokee Mountains…Michael has a fascination with sunrises…me…SUNSETS…

Down in the Channels Section of the Madison River, North of Ennis, before the lake…

There is one Big Brown in this water near Varney Bridge…I know, he broke me off…

Everyone of the little islands in the channels section of the Madison River have nice fish lurking around them… I like to FF in here in the early Summer and Fall…

Anyone who FF’s the Eastern Side of the Sierras knows this place… this was just after the first October snowfall…

Another nice stretch of the Madison below Varney Bridge…

Another view of the Absarokee Mountains near Roscoe, MT…on the road to Red Lodge…

My favorite section of the Stillwater River…

A Rainbow Trout that Michael captured, on film, somewhere…

The backway into Bridgeport, CA from Yerington, NV…this is a spectacular drive…

PT/TB

Read Full Post »