Yesterday I went up to a lake at 4400 feet for a day trip and christened my Outcast Trinity. Wow, there's something about mountain lakes. It's a real snug fit but the tube with fly-weight waders packs up into my Fishpond Tundra Tech Pack (backpack with removable chest pack) for a one day outing. My Korkers wading boots with the non-studded Kling-On soles work great for the hike in/out. The Orux Maps GPS Android app on my phone displaying a custom USGS map I made for the area worked great. I always knew where I was on the trail and it sounds off every mile with a voice distance and elapsed time hack. The hike in took 1 1/2 hours.
It was a gorgeous day and the wildflowers were in bloom
I checked the beaver ponds on the way in for fish, but nada. Mosquitoes were thick but I'd sprayed my clothes and hat with OFF!; got through un-bit.
Walked around one corner on the ridge above the lake to catch this
Very few mosquitoes at the lake. But good mayfly hatches almost all day.
It took about 10 minutes to inflate and rig out the tube with the 7 foot long "Bernoulli bag" pump I made. I blow into the bag to open it up like a shopping bag, then just close the end and roll it up to inflate the tube. It takes 3 ½ times to do each side-tube bladder, and 1 ½ each for the two seat bladders. The bag pump rolls up to the size of a hand towel and weighs only 4 oz. but doesn't help suck air out of the tube. I have to put the pump nozzle on each of the tube's 4 Summit valves to depress them and lay on them one at a time, then depress each valve with my finger while I roll up to get all the air out. Rolling up into a Lowe sleeping bag compressor stuff sack and getting it back into my fishing pack took some doing so it took about 30 minutes to pack up. (Note to self - head in to pack up 30 minutes early when fishing with someone else)
A few more minutes to put my toys away that would be left onshore then Ready to fish. And they're still rising! There were good hatches all day.
I took my 7-piece 9' 4 weight pack rod and a floating line.
It was a Brookie bash. They loved a Trico emerger, an easy to see parachute Klinkhammer emerger with a Pheasant Tail abdomen and Peacock thorax with wigglys (I am going to tie more of those!), a (Swisher) "Viper" Damsel nymph, and an olive Crystal Flash weighted conehead bugger (REALLY looks like a small fish). Cookie cutter 8"-9" but they sure scrap harder than Cutties or 'bows. Missed several, landed 9 (including one smaller Rainbow) with a few LDRs. A common Brookie tactic was to dash straight towards me after taking the fly so I was stripping like mad. I landed two right in front of a couple of gear/bait fishers got who got blanked.
This fatty took the conehead
Spied this old boy (girl? per yuhina) watching me on the way out
On the way out the mosquitoes at the meadows were hellacious, the bug spray effectiveness had diminished, and like a dummy I'd left the bug juice in the car thinking the treated clothes would last the entire day. But I had stuck a bug headnet I treated my lovely wife gave me as a stocking stuffer sometime ago in my back pocket. THAT was relief.
The bugs were so thick in the meadows on the way out I just threw my stuff in the back of the car, quickly jumped in and drove in my wading boots down to an inn where I
changed into sandals while sipping an Expedition Amber Ale.
It was a gorgeous day and the wildflowers were in bloom
I checked the beaver ponds on the way in for fish, but nada. Mosquitoes were thick but I'd sprayed my clothes and hat with OFF!; got through un-bit.
Walked around one corner on the ridge above the lake to catch this
Very few mosquitoes at the lake. But good mayfly hatches almost all day.
It took about 10 minutes to inflate and rig out the tube with the 7 foot long "Bernoulli bag" pump I made. I blow into the bag to open it up like a shopping bag, then just close the end and roll it up to inflate the tube. It takes 3 ½ times to do each side-tube bladder, and 1 ½ each for the two seat bladders. The bag pump rolls up to the size of a hand towel and weighs only 4 oz. but doesn't help suck air out of the tube. I have to put the pump nozzle on each of the tube's 4 Summit valves to depress them and lay on them one at a time, then depress each valve with my finger while I roll up to get all the air out. Rolling up into a Lowe sleeping bag compressor stuff sack and getting it back into my fishing pack took some doing so it took about 30 minutes to pack up. (Note to self - head in to pack up 30 minutes early when fishing with someone else)
A few more minutes to put my toys away that would be left onshore then Ready to fish. And they're still rising! There were good hatches all day.
I took my 7-piece 9' 4 weight pack rod and a floating line.
It was a Brookie bash. They loved a Trico emerger, an easy to see parachute Klinkhammer emerger with a Pheasant Tail abdomen and Peacock thorax with wigglys (I am going to tie more of those!), a (Swisher) "Viper" Damsel nymph, and an olive Crystal Flash weighted conehead bugger (REALLY looks like a small fish). Cookie cutter 8"-9" but they sure scrap harder than Cutties or 'bows. Missed several, landed 9 (including one smaller Rainbow) with a few LDRs. A common Brookie tactic was to dash straight towards me after taking the fly so I was stripping like mad. I landed two right in front of a couple of gear/bait fishers got who got blanked.
This fatty took the conehead
Spied this old boy (girl? per yuhina) watching me on the way out
On the way out the mosquitoes at the meadows were hellacious, the bug spray effectiveness had diminished, and like a dummy I'd left the bug juice in the car thinking the treated clothes would last the entire day. But I had stuck a bug headnet I treated my lovely wife gave me as a stocking stuffer sometime ago in my back pocket. THAT was relief.
The bugs were so thick in the meadows on the way out I just threw my stuff in the back of the car, quickly jumped in and drove in my wading boots down to an inn where I
changed into sandals while sipping an Expedition Amber Ale.