2021 Backpacking Trip

[Big J]

I thought 2020 was weird, 2021 has been weirder.  I've been carp fishing more than I have trout fishing. Doug and I haven't fished together this year.  Things needed to be rectified. Doug, Fin, and I planned a trip in location A.  Temps, water levels sucked for location A.  We swore off Location B for fall trips because every fall trip there has sucked! I got to looking at temps and water levels and thought "do we dare try this stream in the fall again".  Conditions looked perfect to be honest on paper.  Doug was on board, Fin balled because he's been there done that and probably wasn't feeling optimistic with the returns with the amount of leg work needed to fish it.  That and he hates trout in general. So two night in backcountry on an iffy fall stream, here we go.


Over the pass.


Like a stubborn fool I am, my pack was again over packed and stupid heavy for this 3 mile hike in.


Doug's was a little lighter but still heavier than he'd like.



Hike in went smoothly.  All downhill.  Arrived at camp around noon, ate lunch, and off to fish.  We fished only a couple pools.  Water was a little too high and wading was rough.  Luckily we packed waders or it would of been horrendous as this stream is good sized as is and runs really cold.  I picked up a couple fish glued to the bottom.  Ran into a bear hunting trying to retrieve his dogs on other side of river in jeans, hip waders, with no boots, just neoprene booties 















Got back to camp around 5.  Set up camp, collected firewood, and Doug heated up his Senegalese Stew.





Night was good, low 40's, maybe high 30's.  Coldest of two nights, but I stayed comfortable in the hammock.  Homemade Sourdough bagels warmed up on the coals from previous night and off to the stream which had come down a good bit making fishing and wading a whole lot more manageable.










You can see from the grass laying down how much the water came down.











Fishing was good.  Numbers were low and the stream shut down around 2 pm.  Was kind of odd.  We had a few good sized fish to hand.  We both caught a good fish and Doug caught a really nice one.  I had one that was easily 14" come out from a ledge 2' in front of me and swipe at my fly.  Got a good look at him and think he saw me because he never reappeared. Made my heart race.

Back to camp by 4 and got some more fire wood and a fire going.  I made some Pesto Salmon Pasta.  Keith would be happy, Patagonia Provisions Salmon. 







Warmer night this night.  Slept comfortable and didn't even zip up the sleeping bag.  Another round of bagels in the morning and we hit the trib close by as we waited for dew to evaporate so we could pack up camp. Trib was completely nuts.  In two hours we caught a couple dozen fish that hit with reckless abandon and I pulled a 12" fish out of that piss trickle.














This big guy came out of....


This pool 



Went back to camp, packed it up, hit the trail for a 3 mile hike out all uphill.  Packs a little lighter but still too heavy.  Great fish were caught, good times on the stream and around the fire, and Doug and I finally fished together in this crazy year we have had. 

[benben reincarnated]

I like the picture of Doug praying before the meal.

[Dee-Vo]

This was great. Nice brookies! Camping is something I need soon.

[brownhunter]

That was a great report with astounding pictures. Thanks for sharing!
 

[rbphoto]

I like the picture of Doug praying before the meal.

He just pretends to be a heathen . . .

[Dougfish]

49,50,51

To add on to J's report.....
46 lb pack for a 2 night trip is stupid. But about 11 lbs of fishing equipment and a heavy under quilt will kill a pack weight.
We both hiked in our Orvis lightweight boots. Solid, no issues for me. Waterproof socks, FTW.

Friday dinner was prepared Thursday night and frozen for the hike in. Another 2 lbs.
Made from a recipe from a friend's now deceased restaurant, The Angler's Cafe.
Unfortunately, he is deceased, also.



Fuel up. Kroger points!









I got skunked in the high water on Friday. 



Better stream levels on Saturday. Still pumping good, though.
Took us a lot longer to work our way downstream. We walked, waded, bushwhacked 2 hours.
And we still came up a 1/2 mile+ short of where I wanted to start.
My hamstrings were screaming, too.



J's mythic Moby appeared to his left against the rock face.



After he hung up and lost a fly (a lot of that was done!), I waded in and caught an 11"er.









I fished a nice run and got nothing. I offered the next one above it to J.
He declined. So he had to net the 13"er for me.





Coffee break. Fall color (in the background) had started up there.



The Salmon Pesto was really good and the fire was extra good with the oak we gathered after we got back.
The trib fished stupid.
We caught more in that 2 1/2 hours than we did on the main stem in a day and a half. And he got the better fish this day.



Ramp seeds collected for my garden. Who knows? Fly box doubled as seed box.





Newish net bag got a tear. Grrr.





J's monster hole.



And the hike out was not fun. Hammies were aching and cramping.
And my lower GI was protesting. But two cold beers were waiting at the truck.
We'll be back.

[Phil]

Ahhh. Most excellent, both of ya!   

[Friar Tuck]

Fantastic trip & reports gents. Just one smited Cyclops short of epic.

[Woolly Bugger]

well played 

[itieuglyflies]

Two awesome reports.

[Trout Maharishi]

Those are some nice brook trout Whay kind of flies were you guys using, looks like weighted nymph water. I'm scared to sleep in a hammock any more. 2 out of the last 3 bear attacks in GSMNP were people in hammocks J don't let that old man that goes with you eat no more greasy or spicy food, or at least carry some meds for him. It seems like every report where he eats something like that his  intestinals give  him trouble. You know when you get a certain age your body functions just don't won't to work right some times. Did he take his spray bottle and wet wips with him?

[Big J]

Those are some nice brook trout Whay kind of flies were you guys using, looks like weighted nymph water. I'm scared to sleep in a hammock any more. 2 out of the last 3 bear attacks in GSMNP were people in hammocks J don't let that old man that goes with you eat no more greasy or spicy food, or at least carry some meds for him. I seems like every report where he eats something like that his s intestinals give  him trouble. You know when you get a certain age you body functions just don't won't to work right some times. Did he take his spray bottle and wet wips with him?

Tungsten was our friend. Water was swift and fish were glued to the bottom. There were two other guys camping and fishing and they caught 1 fish. They were using brass beads. On the trib we used a dry dropper rig and all but one fish came on the dropper.

Hammock sleeping beats sleeping on the ground all day imho.

And Doug's bowel issues are probably from me and my family. Wife and kids got the 24 hour bug before I left for this trip (almost had to bail on trip) and while I never threw up, I had a weird 24 hours of bowel movements the first day back there. 👀

[Woolly Bugger]

Those are some nice brook trout Whay kind of flies were you guys using, looks like weighted nymph water. I'm scared to sleep in a hammock any more. 2 out of the last 3 bear attacks in GSMNP were people in hammocks J don't let that old man that goes with you eat no more greasy or spicy food, or at least carry some meds for him. I seems like every report where he eats something like that his s intestinals give  him trouble. You know when you get a certain age you body functions just don't won't to work right some times. Did he take his spray bottle and wet wips with him?

Tungsten was our friend. Water was swift and fish were glued to the bottom. There were two other guys camping and fishing and they caught 1 fish. They were using brass beads. On the trib we used a dry dropper rig and all but one fish came on the dropper.

Hammock sleeping beats sleeping on the ground all day imho.

And Doug's bowel issues are probably from me and my family. Wife and kids got the 24 hour bug before I left for this trip (almost had to bail on trip) and while I never threw up, I had a weird 24 hours of bowel movements the first day back there. 👀

Pack some pepto pills

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[Dee-Vo]

Great brookie, Douglas.

[driver]

Solid! I wish I could have made it. Party on.