Emigrant Wilderness

“I'm heading up to the Emigrant Wilderness this Friday evening and hitting the Burst Rock Trail early Saturday. This is my first time in this wilderness. Are there any not to miss sights or locations I should definitely hit? I'm staying 4 or 5 nights and plan to make this a photo and flyfishing hike. Not the typical grinder this time. Also, my bud is only staying one night so if anyone wants to join in let me know or just meet me at the Pinecrest Ranger Station at 9:00 am Saturday.”

“Pantscandy, if you're going in on the Burst Rock Trail, you definitely have to fish Wire Lakes and Deer Lake. My brother fished Deer Lake from his float tube and caught 37 on a olive Wooly Bugger (he practices catch and release by the way). If you want to hump it a little, try to get to Emigrant Meadow Lake. This lake sits in the middle of a large grassy area above timberline. It is perfect for fly fishing (although it can be quite windy). I've caught 18"+ rainbows on a dry fly with float set up.

If you haven't already been there, drive up the highway to the Donnells (or is it Dardanelles) overlook for a great view of the canyon and the Dardanelles (old cinder cones).

You can get your wilderness permit for Emigrant from the Summit Ranger Station located right at the Pinecrest Y.

You lucky dog, I wish I could make it.”

“Barite,
Thanks for the suggestions. I had already planned to hit Deer Lake/Long Lake the first night. Was planning on Emigrant Lake for day 2 but I think I will give Emigrant Meadow Lake a shot. Also want to fish Upper Buck Lk. and then mosey back along Crabtree trail.”

“Just be aware that you can't have a campfire at Emigrant Meadow Lake. Maybe a base camp at Emigrant Lake and a day hike to Emigrant Meadow Lake?

Whatever you do, try to avoid camping at Camp and Bear Lakes. They're too close to the Crabtree trail head and are usually way crowded.”

“Talk to me about fly fishing... My first flyfishing was a couple of weeks ago on the Colorado above Lee's Ferry... I'm hooked!!! (however, the guy that taught me.. or tried.. has now left with no forwarding address... Go figure!!) I need advice as to what kind of fly fishing equipment to get for backpacking... What do you like best??? What works for you??? What would be good for a beginner??? Do you have favorite web sites??? I'm all ears..”

“Regarding Camp Lk, if you camp on the south side of the ridge south of the lake you can avoid some of the crowd, we camped there and there wasn't anyone else camped in the area at all. Avoid Cow Meadow Lk, it's skeeter hell. The many forks of Cherry Ck provide excellent fishing.”

“LH,
Glad you enjoyed you first experience with flyfishing. I love it so much more than other types of fishing. I'm hardly experienced enough to dish out advice though. I picked up my first flyrod in Rangell, WA (near Mt. St. Helens) and haven't bait fished since. That was about '92. I love that it keeps me moving and interested instead of just casting and waiting. And it's much more of a treat to play the fish. For backpacking I use a 8-foot rod that collaspes down to four sections. Wrap each it section in its own little felt cloth and slide the whole thing into a plastic tube thingy for protection. My reel is just some generic Shakespeare thingy. Nothing special about it. I haven't gotten into wet flies or sinking lines all that much. Still working with dries mainly. Love to watch the trout surface and swirl the water. Sounds like BaSO4 knows quite abit more. By the time I learn how to tie all the knots the season ends and I have to relearn each year. That blasted blood knot is going to kill me before I learn it!
I receive an email newsletter alerting me to various NorCal rivers and lakes fly fishing status. It's called What's Hot, What's Not. I think the website is http://www.fishfirst.com out of Chico, CA.

I'll Barite take over now!”

“Last I was there (last summer), Camp Lake itself was closed to camping (ironic, huh?) to give it a chance to recover. Dunk's place is probably far enough away to be okay.

There's lots of great country in Emigrant, and the best part is that the terrain is perfect for cross-country hiking. So my only advice would be to get off the trail and away from all the people.

Do you have the Wilderness Press book--Emigrant Wilderness? Well worth a purchase if you have any intention of going there more than once.”

“Ladyhiker:
Given the limited space here, it is hard to go into all the nuances of fly-fishing, but here are some pointers. First of all, determine what kind of conditions you will be fishing in and what kind of fish you'll be going after. This will help determine line weight and rod length (small stream=shorter length, lake or large river = longer length). Also, what kind of action do you want your rod to have? A highly flexible rod will give you a lot of action, but a stiffer rod gives you more distance. What type of fishing will you be doing? For surface fishing, you'll want floating line and dry flies. For nymphing, you'll want a sinking or intermediate line. Be sure when you choose a reel that extra spools are available so that you can carry a variety of lines (I generally carry 2 spools, one for dries and one for nymphing). If this sport is something that you are really sure you want to get into, buy the best equipment that you can afford. Like so many other sports, good quality gear is essential to your enjoyment. Your best bet would be to visit a local, specialty shop and talk over your needs with a knowledgeable sales person. Also, if the shop offers casting classes, this might be a good chance to try out different set ups to help you determine what is best for you.

When backpacking, I carry a 2 piece, 5 wt, mid flex, 8'6" rod. I prefer a 2-piece rod to a 4-piece rod due to the discontinuities at the section joints. This rod was custom built by my brother using G. Loomis graphite blank and I generally use whatever patterns he's tied up. My brother caught a 54lb King Salmon on Kodiak Island (Alaska) using a pole he built himself and using his own fly pattern. It took him 2 hours to land it.”

“Just to reinforce something Mr. Barite said, do get the best equipment you can afford, especially the rod. A quality rod is more important in fly casting than in spin casting. Cheapo fly rods are liable to be difficult to use.

Nymphing is possible in shallow streams with a floating line by adding a piece of slipshot to the leader. You shouldn?t need a sinking line unless you?re fishing a big deep river and the fish are deep.

Another thing worth reinforcing is that you should have a sturdy container to pack your rod in. While fly rods are very flexible lengthwise, they don?t do well when banged edgewise by something. You can construct a fine case from pvc pipe available at the hardware store for about five bucks, or you can buy a fancy case for about fifty.”

“ladyhiker,
If you've never tried spincasting maybe you would do better at it. It's a lot eaiser to get the hang of it and less expensive. I use a cheapo K-mart colapsable pole with med sized Quantum(Zebco) reel. Pole=10$ and reel=25$.Throw in a few ozs. of spinners a Reble lure or two and your in buisness for trout, bass,perch or whatever. This set up caught me a 26 inch rainbow last summer in The Winds...fun!”

“Pants - Thanks for the website... I looked up the one you mentioned and then did a search on Oregon flyfishing... I may be lost in the wwww.flyfishing.com land for a verrry long time!! I have done other types of fishing in the past, but fly fishing was very exciting! I could watch the fish come right up and play with my fly!! And a few suicide types even took it!! I like the action of the fly fishing (trust me.. my action is NOT very pretty at this point! Kind of like my snowboarding... Not pretty... but made it down the hill) as I get bored easily... I realize that my first flyfishing in the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry to the dam was an awesome place to start, but I really enjoyed it! Now... I guess I also need to think about tying those little guys???

Baso4 - I want to do it ALL!! But, for now, I'll settle for trout. I would also like to try flyfishing for the summer run steelhead on the Rogue River. I have fished for those doing a drift on the bottom of the river. That was fun, but I think I would like the action of the fly rod even more! I saw a picture of the lady that owned the fly shop by Lee's Ferry that caught a Marlin on a fly rod!! I can't even imagine!! I have talked to others that say that the rods that are less pieces work better for them also..

Ken - I tried adding slipshot to my leader... oh my... you should have seen the messes I made with the line!! Maybe that should wait until I'm able to look much prettier with my casting!!??? And.. good idea for the rod holder...

Wolfsister.. 26 inch rainbow?? nice!! I'll probably still use the spincasting at times also... but.. dang that fly fishing was fun!! You should give it a try!!”

“Want to tie one on?”

“Simple fly to tie, instructions aplenty on the net. Try the light Cahill ”

“Update!! A friend just picked me up a 5wt graphite fly rod and reel... Breaks down into 4 pieces. And talked them into throwing in a free carrying case.. I'm getting there!! I haven't seen it yet, but he was impressed with the feel of one that broke down into 4 pieces... When I get the details, I give more information...(whether you want it or not!!) Also... GORP has videos on "Getting Started in Fly Fishing" by Mark Williams.. Anybody have any ideas on these?? Would these be helpful to a real newbie??

Flyguy - Great website!! Thanks!! (and no headache the next day...)”

“You guys make flyfishing sound really fun. I'd like to try it sometime. I did see that movie with Brad Pitt about it. What was the name of it? And where was it? It was set in a beautiful place.”

“A River Runs Through It. Montana.”

“LOL... I had no idea Brad Pitt was in that movie... I was more excited about Robert Redford!! Thinking there might be an age difference here??? LOLOL If I can make it to Obi's date in August, I'll bring my new flyfishing setup and let you try it HikerChic...”

“I'm bringing what fishing gear I have (thanks to Mel's recommendations a long time ago) but I don't know the first thing about it. I'm gonna need help on this one (Dad just wasn't into this stuff)”

“Baume 66-That's it! Thank you!

ladyhiker, yes, I like Robert too! He just has a "few" more wrinkles than Brad, doesn't he?

That'd be great if you could bring your setup. I hope you can make it even without the setup!”

“Hola amigos!!! I'm back from the wilderness. Spent four nights up there and loved almost every minute of it. The mozzies were pretty unbearable though and the heat was getting up there. The fishing was WAY to GOOD! So good, I stopped fishing because I couldn't get a break. Jewelery Lake was good fishing. Deer was good. Upper Buck was outrageous and Emigrant was superb. Camp Lk. was so-so but I didn't really fish longer than 15 minutes. Being that it was my first time there I was very surprised to see the condition of the trail. Trail contruction is like that of Yosemite and I was left a little disappointed by it. They might as well of paved the trails. Leaves me to believe that there is no "wilderness" left in the Sierras (by my definition). Beautiful scenery though and beats Yosemite in many aspects. Next time I visit will be from the high country. I'll have a trip report and pics in a couple weeks.

Next up is Mokelumne Wldernss this weekend.

Bill”

“Bill, there's plenty of wilderness if you get off the trails altogether. That said, Emigrant is not as wild as parts of Kings Canyon/Sequoia or John Muir Wilderness.

Where you going in Mokelumne? Love that area.”

“Bill, which Emigrant Lake did you fish? Emigrant Lake or Emigrant Meadow Lake?

The problem with Emigrant Wilderness is the high usage by horse packers. I swear to God that I will never use Kennedy Meadows trail head again. The trails are ground into fine powder and there is horse dung and horse pee every where. Sure, we practice LNT but what about a big ole horse with steel shoes. Think about what that does to the riparian areas. I've seen these fools picket their horses right next to Deer Lake. When they left, it looked like someone went over the vegetation with a plow.

Sorry for the rant.”

“I'm with you, Baso4. It's always nice to think that while we do our business 200 feet from water, any horse or mule can just take a dump right in the stream. :-p”

“Update - New fly rod... Put it together... put the line on it... and rats... Manufacture defect on the 3rd piece... double bummer.. Now, I have to return it next week.. Was hoping to be expert by next week.. Looks like I'll have to put off being expert.... Still should have it by Obi's date!! I signed up for a 3 day fly fishing clinic on the Grande Ronde River in NE Oregon the end of September.. Maybe they will ask me to teach by then??? LOL”

“Pants - Glad you had a great time!! Your talk about all that fishing is really getting me excited!! Looking forward to the photos and report...”

“Hey pantscandy! Glad to hear you made it back! Did you go with Steve and Maureen? Looking forward to your trip report and pics! Are you going to be able to go camping with us in August?”

“I have finally put up some pics of my Emigrant hike. Unfortunately, I wasn't up for the task of making a trip report.

Emigrant Wilderness photos.”

“Great pics! Thanks for sharing!”