09-01-2014, 07:06 PM
Spent Labor day weekend in the high country with a good friend. Hit a bunch of places I haven't been able to for a couple of years due to various reasons. I was hoping they would produce as well as they used to as this was the first time my buddy had been to the area. I spent a lot of my childhood fishing and learning this area so it naturally gets me excited to take someone down and show them how amazing it is. Anyway, the fishing was great, the weather couldn't have been better and we had a lot of fun.
Day one we went up high looking for grayling and brookies. The first lake we hit I wasn't too optimistic about after seeing it. I used to catch some great fish from it but the water levels were low and just didn't look like it was going to hold much. Since we had already made the hike we decided to wet a line. After a few casts of nothing I was ready to go and then my buddy got whacked! Brought it in and it was the biggest grayling I have ever seen. I really think it was pushing the current state record. We took a couple pics and released him for another day.
![[Image: IMG_20140829_123812.jpg]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vjm3w7OiY0w/VAOpbLaBP8I/AAAAAAAAIEc/QswTDCnNW-E/w956-h342-no/IMG_20140829_123812.jpg)
Next cast for my buddy into the same hole and whack again! This time it was a fat brook. Again, snapped a couple pics and sent him back home. So by 7:20am on the first morning we were there we had accomplished two of his goals for the trip (catch a grayling and catch a big brook).
![[Image: IMG_20140829_072423.jpg]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rA3MchIvr48/VAOpmsRBjVI/AAAAAAAAIEU/bu8ugVow9qI/w262-h553-no/IMG_20140829_072423.jpg)
Next we decided to hike over to another lake I knew that would produce some fish just wasn't sure what kind of size they would be. We weren't disappointed as we started hooking into grayling and brookies right away. They all had great size, this time of year they were really healthy getting ready for winter it seemed.
![[Image: IMG_20140829_113048.jpg]](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nscZnvKSOxE/VAOqbRyC9OI/AAAAAAAAH_E/uZDLqEnp1IQ/w415-h553-no/IMG_20140829_113048.jpg)
All of them had amazing coloring and fought about 3 times the size they actually were. Was a lot of fun standing there catching and releasing these awesome fish.
![[Image: IMG_20140829_082954.jpg]](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dZjsWfNysx4/VAOqSXnZtHI/AAAAAAAAH-4/S3UIx9qW5r8/w415-h553-no/IMG_20140829_082954.jpg)
The grayling have awesome coloring when they are in the water.
![[Image: IMG_20140829_175035.jpg]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FORhsp3a38Y/VAOrRKr3xTI/AAAAAAAAIAA/7ZnTpY2J-_Q/w415-h553-no/IMG_20140829_175035.jpg)
We spent the rest of our day wandering to a few other lakes catching fish and having a good time.
![[Image: STlS_eiwnLlDfKDlgAa0-7XHmU9xClBitu37vdsU...w1254-h523]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/STlS_eiwnLlDfKDlgAa0-7XHmU9xClBitu37vdsUwoehTjYOlafUpXF5twsLdTS4Wy58-xR9gus=w1254-h523)
Day 2 had a major hike in store but I thought we might have a chance at hooking up with some fatty tiger trout. The lake we were going to I had fished a few years back and caught some great fish, knew they would only be bigger this time around. After the grueling hike we finally came upon this little secret fishing hole. At first glance it didn't look like much was going on, we could just see a few little guys hanging out in the crystal clear water. I made a couple casts and watched as a great tiger swam out of the depths and followed my lure home. The fishing here wasn't fast but we were able to pull in some great tigers in the short time we were there. I think this one is probably my personal best.
![[Image: IMG_20140831_204253.jpg]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LmK4pafvH2w/VAPdPjkMF0I/AAAAAAAAICQ/vtV37aCAJx8/s553-no/IMG_20140831_204253.jpg)
In total I think we walked away with about 6 great tigers for our efforts.
![[Image: _20140831_205305.JPG]](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IiPbJiYvfBU/VAPfpQZFshI/AAAAAAAAIEM/Q_0tVG1WLfE/w253-h221-no/_20140831_205305.JPG)
![[Image: kRO5gjeUzS8rreYwMEwPI5QMeb0rYkNFjSkZeEYa...55-h347-no]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kRO5gjeUzS8rreYwMEwPI5QMeb0rYkNFjSkZeEYaahI=w955-h347-no)
That evening we were pretty beat so we decided to hit a lake nearby that was a short walk to see if we could get into some cutthroats. We made it in and ended up catching a few decent fish but fishing was slow.
The next morning I woke up with the flu and didn't hardly want to get out of bed. We rode the wheeler to one lake and fished but didn't have much luck. One decent brookie is all. With the condition I was in, knowing what lakes we had in store and having already made some great memories we decided to cut the trip a day short so I could get rested up. Disappointing but regardless it was definitely a trip for the books.
DD
[signature]
Day one we went up high looking for grayling and brookies. The first lake we hit I wasn't too optimistic about after seeing it. I used to catch some great fish from it but the water levels were low and just didn't look like it was going to hold much. Since we had already made the hike we decided to wet a line. After a few casts of nothing I was ready to go and then my buddy got whacked! Brought it in and it was the biggest grayling I have ever seen. I really think it was pushing the current state record. We took a couple pics and released him for another day.
Next cast for my buddy into the same hole and whack again! This time it was a fat brook. Again, snapped a couple pics and sent him back home. So by 7:20am on the first morning we were there we had accomplished two of his goals for the trip (catch a grayling and catch a big brook).
Next we decided to hike over to another lake I knew that would produce some fish just wasn't sure what kind of size they would be. We weren't disappointed as we started hooking into grayling and brookies right away. They all had great size, this time of year they were really healthy getting ready for winter it seemed.
All of them had amazing coloring and fought about 3 times the size they actually were. Was a lot of fun standing there catching and releasing these awesome fish.
The grayling have awesome coloring when they are in the water.
We spent the rest of our day wandering to a few other lakes catching fish and having a good time.
Day 2 had a major hike in store but I thought we might have a chance at hooking up with some fatty tiger trout. The lake we were going to I had fished a few years back and caught some great fish, knew they would only be bigger this time around. After the grueling hike we finally came upon this little secret fishing hole. At first glance it didn't look like much was going on, we could just see a few little guys hanging out in the crystal clear water. I made a couple casts and watched as a great tiger swam out of the depths and followed my lure home. The fishing here wasn't fast but we were able to pull in some great tigers in the short time we were there. I think this one is probably my personal best.
In total I think we walked away with about 6 great tigers for our efforts.
That evening we were pretty beat so we decided to hit a lake nearby that was a short walk to see if we could get into some cutthroats. We made it in and ended up catching a few decent fish but fishing was slow.
The next morning I woke up with the flu and didn't hardly want to get out of bed. We rode the wheeler to one lake and fished but didn't have much luck. One decent brookie is all. With the condition I was in, knowing what lakes we had in store and having already made some great memories we decided to cut the trip a day short so I could get rested up. Disappointing but regardless it was definitely a trip for the books.
DD
[signature]