I live in a town overrun with backdountry skiers — the kind of folks willing to hike most of the way up the mountain just to ski back down.
In that context, skiing on a barely inclined, snowed-over road isn’t exactly the stuff of high adventure, but when you sweeten the pot with a shot at some trout who haven’t been fished for since the snow fell, suddenly, an element of fly fishing adventure pokes through.
Hot damn.
Skis Are Faster Than Snowshoes
Snowshoes are foolproof and easy, but skis are fast. With greater range a given, I plumped for a more distant destination than last week’s snowshoe trip.
Winter pack, touring skis.
Sadly, “farther” didn’t equate to “better” — I saw not a single rising fish, and exactly two BWOs. I was fishing water known for its fickle nature, but like all fly fishermen, I started the trip with visions of big fish, and plenty of ‘em.
Of course, if we always knew in advance how each fishing trip would play out, then we’d probably stop going. I’m pretty sure I would.
The ski in — in the neighborhood of two miles — lasted only 20 minutes, and the uphill trip out took less than 35.
I even figured a nice shortcut route, but let’s face it — I’m not likely to rush back.
Don’t need much gear for winter; glass rod, two boxes of flies.
Still, honing the skiing skills might pay off this spring; last year’s first backcountry trip didn’t happen until late May, and while I don’t have a clear destination in mind yet, I can think of a couple backcountry lakes that could be skied to far earlier, provided they ice out before the snow goes away.
Of course, it’s not just the fish I’m after, it’s the chance to be the first to fish for trout that haven’t seen a fly since the snow flew in the fall.
Fishermen are always looking for an edge — an artifact of our past as loincloth-clad, spear-wielding hunters — and the scheming sometimes takes on the characteristics of a military campaign.
Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants; though historians say it was done to take the battle to the Romans, I suspect a cleverly camouflaged campaign to fish remote streams.
At the Underground, we’re not just about correcting history’s errors. It’s just another useful, free service.
See you on skis, Tom Chandler.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Sully 01.13.08 at 5:17 pm
You had the right idea. Skis and skins beat the heck out of snowshoes. One gravity assisted leg of almost any journey beats the heck out of two predictably grueling thighmaster workouts.
Taku 01.13.08 at 7:28 pm
Sully is right on the money. Skis and skins work both ways, help on uphill and when the downhill gets hairy, slap ‘em on and walk down the hill. See Tom, your getting the vision now, get all honed and buffed for skiing into those alpine lakes as soon as iceout happens. Read Gary LaFontaine’s “Fly Fishing the Mountain Lakes”. Pretty soon you’ll have goats in addition to Wally the Wonderdog.
Tom Chandler 01.13.08 at 8:32 pm
Those are the new-generation touring skis; shaped, metal edges, but light and with the crown base (no skins needed).
They ski nice, and grip on all but steep, icy uphills.
I prefer skis, but you gotta make allowances for non-skiing fishing buddies…
fishskicanoe 01.14.08 at 3:19 am
Sounds like fun. I have the narrower cousin to your Fischers. Nice skis. Unfortunately where I live the winter fly fishing venues are few are far between (the trout season is closed). So my recreational choices have never had a chance to mix. While the early C&R season starts March 1st, in the years we have snow I’m usually still obscessing about skiing not fishing. Maybe you’ll inspire me to mix the two this year, snow gods willing.
Salty 01.14.08 at 4:41 am
this is like biathalon, but without the shooting. Still, Sully and Taku have it- gravity helps on at least one leg. What kind of snowshoes do you have?
Tom Chandler 01.14.08 at 6:08 am
fish: I’m mentally going over a list of potential ski-in lakes (general trout season doesn’t open until late April, so the list of snowed-in streams is small). Could be fun in an epic, pointlessly difficult, way. (Which pretty much sums up fly fishing anyway).
Salty: As long as you’re getting decent grip, I think skis are typically faster going uphill too. I own a couple pair of the older MSR plastic snowshoes. Not quite as good in powder snow as traditional styles, but way, way better on wet snow and in vertical terrain (which pretty much sums up the Mt Shasta area).
salty 01.14.08 at 7:39 am
thanks Tom; I used to have a set of Army surplus magnesium/aluminum snow shoes and on anything but flat ground, they sucked and not in a good way
Tom Chandler 01.14.08 at 5:43 pm
Salty: sounds familiar — first snowshoes I used were rentals, which insisted on dropping out from under me whenever I tried to traverse a slope. Life’s too short…
C3C Raine 01.15.08 at 6:58 am
Getting hardcore dude…I am impressed xc skiing to get to the water can only be looked at in two ways “dedicatet” or “delirious”, I am not one to judge though! I’ve had plenty of my own crazy fantasies involving snow, trees, mountains, fish, and any combination therein!
Tom Chandler 01.15.08 at 10:56 am
C3C: I’m really just doing it to meet women.
GG 01.15.08 at 1:43 pm
Hmm, some how I doubt that you are just out to meet women. However, you must be pretty dedicated to get out there by skis…we needed snow shoes out here about a week ago. But the creek access was pretty limited.