Who would’ve thought that some of the best Brookies in the Sierra would be hiding in this iconic Yosemite lake? And what’s better than the potential of big fish against a beautiful backdrop?
The Yosemite highcountry is one of our very favorite places. It has the beauty of Yosemite without the crowds of the Valley. And some surprisingly satisfying fishing.
This lake is not a secret. As such, you won’t fish in solitude. But it has the biggest Brookies that we know of by way of a day hike in the Eastern Sierra. Note: we’ve never actually done the popular main trail to this lake; we’ve been here several times via two different short cuts.
The route we took on this particular day has some great views down the canyon!
This year was our first time visiting in July. During a normal snow year, we’d expect to be attacked by hoards of mosquitos this early in summer (this particular day happened to be the 4th of July), but it was actually too cold and too snowy for the tiny bloodsuckers.
We walked over to the snowy south side of the lake, and Cory quickly hooked up to two average-sized Brookies with his fly rod and home-tied Simi-Seal Leech.
After this, the rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. None of us were able to come up with a fish until after lunch when the lake warmed up and we made our way to the other side of the lake. Admittedly, we got a little desperate and busted out the spinning rod and our go-to lure, the red and gold Thomas Buoyant. And the bigger fish came out to play… behold!
We have no idea why the chunkiest brookies we’ve seen on the east side are hidden in this high traffic lake, but with these views, we’re not complaining!
Also, don’t let the positivity in this post fool you, there are not a lot of fish in this lake. It’s not a fish every cast kind of lake. (Though a friend of ours has caught many more fish than us during the height of mosquito season, but you know, pros and cons.)
Though the iconic peak seen in some of these photos may seem obvious to some, we’re purposely not naming the lake or the trail or routes mentioned to protect the fish (mostly from the Googles), since this is a popular area.
But if you know the area, you’ll know. 😉
