Walking to Trout - Fishing the Backcountry
By Tom Chandler on Aug 23, 2006 in Backcountry, Fly Fishing, Writing
While I’m all for hopping out of the car and immediately catching big trout, the ugly truth is you miss a lot of good stuff if you don’t occassionally hike away from the parking lots, beer cans - even the big fish. Around here, that means heading into the mountains.
Some call it the backcountry, and if that suggests big swatches of the world that haven’t been completely chewed up by humanity, then I’ll accept the definition. Gladly.
Kinda makes you want to sing a John Denver song, eh? No? Good. Don’t do that.
I used to fish alpine lakes more often, but got out of the habit. This year, my backcountry adventures with the L&T Nancy reminded me why I go where there are more fish than people. The fish haven’t been big. They haven’t been plentiful. And I can’t wait to hike up and try it again.
I’m carrying a float tube in a poorly fitting pack. Don’t do that either.
A 15 minute hike with a fly rod isn’t hard for most. But when you’re talking about multi-day trips miles from the trailhead, there’s more to the deal than throwing a pair of jeans in a pillowcase.
You’d think the word-slingers at GetOutdoors would have a “fly fisher’s primer to the backcountry” already assembled on their site (they do have this article on trip planning and this on boots), but sadly, no dice.
Undergrounders, we’re on our own.
And that’s not good. As fly fishers we’re used to reigning atop the food chain while in the water, but while hiking, we’re slow, clawless and largely defenseless.
Thus, a few survival hints might be in order - lest we become a partially digested link of the food chain.
But that’s Ok. There’s loads of information out there on sites like Two Heel Drive and the WildeBeat audio blog (these guys take their hiking as seriously as we take our fishing). You’ll find everything you need there to get started, including a few bazillion links.
Sold? Ready to hike so far into the backcountry that the animals don’t have cell phones? Want to spend a ton on hiking/backpacking gear? Try HikerDeals.com and the ultimate one-at-a-time deal site (wish we had one of these in fly fishing). In the meantime, see you in the backcountry, Tom Chandler.
Shoot this in town, and you’d have four telephone poles, an airplane and a couple cell towers in it.
Technorati Tags: hiking, backpacking, backcountry
Heddon17 | Aug 24, 2006 | Reply
Tom,
I’ve gotten out of the habit of fishing lakes the last few years so need to do more of that in the future.
I’ll send a report to you on Sugar Creek Ranch trip last Saturday in a day or two when I have some time to type it up after work.
Brian
rriver | Aug 24, 2006 | Reply
I again have to express my admiration for the effort. And the great camera work that tells the story. The cigar smoke was almost completely photoshopped out. You can hardly tell (well, except for the first where you made it look like clouds).
- rrive
Larry Swearingen | Aug 24, 2006 | Reply
Hey Heddon17 (black beauty),
I don’t think Sugar Creek Ranch is what TC was talkin’ bout ! :>)
Try a lake that doesn’t have a toll booth or a drive-up window. You know, a lake that takes a little sweat equity to fish.
Larry S
Tom Chandler | Aug 24, 2006 | Reply
This latest “alpine” post wasn’t about a specific trip - more an essay-style declaration of intent… 8-)
The pictures are collected from recent alpine trips…
Smellslikefish | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
Nobody fishes lakes. What are you talkin’ about?!
- Dave
Tom Chandler | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
Correct. They weren’t widely featured in A River Runs Throught It, so they’re rarely fished.
Plus, there are no fish there.
lostintejas | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
If that means that I don’t look like Brad Pitt than you’re right on, TC. I love those walks. One of my favorite walks of memory was to a place called Gem Lake when I lived in Sandpoint… aaaaah those were the days.
Heck, in Texas, there’s no public land. Nowhere to walk. Not much of an overstatement, either.
For trout, you have to go to a single river in the entire state - a river where the flows had to be negotiated in court to be left high enough to sustain the rubber trout that are planted there, and you have to pay to get access and lock combinations to the spots to park your car and walk to the river bank to fish for said rubber trout.
You’re blessed.
-G
rriver | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
Gus,
After spending a week at my Dad’s in Ohio catching Bluegill on dry flies, I have been dreaming of having my own Bluegill pond. Living on the Rogue this is probably silly.
In a recent interview, Scott Sanchez said his favorite fish to catch were Bluegill and he lives in Jackson Hole.
I would guess there are a few Bluegill in Texas. Maybe even a dozen or so.
I think we are all blessed and all nuts.
- rriver
lostintejas | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
You know, I once wrote about ‘gills being my favorite fish - and I lived six minutes from Touvelle at the time.
This guy’s home is within walking distance of my house:
They still are a favorite fish.
I have even found a new one lately, the Rio Grande Cichlid.
Thanks for the slap! (where’s that 3wt?)
-G
lostintejas | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
whups, no image tags allowed… The pic of the ‘gill is in this post.
The WildeGeek | Aug 25, 2006 | Reply
You might be interested in these two articles:
“Thru-fishing the JMT”
http://www.thru-hiker.com/articles.asp?subcat=1&cid=81
“The Backpacking Fly Fisherman”
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/backpacking_fly_fisherman.html
Tom Chandler | Aug 26, 2006 | Reply
Thanks WildeGeek! My new Aether 60 pack arrived today. Sunday’s the test day, though with a two-week trip to Maine coming up, it probably won’t see any overnight work until late September.