14 Days at Silver Lake...

[Saba Slayer]

My Dad passed away unexpectedly a few weeks ago and I had spent the last two weeks before going on this long planned trip, cleaning out his garage and house of 63 years...
To say I was ready for this vacation is an understatement...it just turned out to be the best trip in many years!

Dad's Garage...it's now bare walls and very clean...LOL...!


While cleaning out the garage I found this Diawa Combo and my first day on Reverse Creek I caught 6 Trout on it before it started making grinding noises...Thanks Pop...!


My wife was up there for 4 days before she flew home from Mammoth.


We had campsite #20 and it was right across the single lane road from this great beach.


We picked up a side job as a crossing guard when the little ones were around...LOL


I was there so long, that even the clouds started to look like fish...


One bonus to being in one place so long, was that I didn't get upset that the weather was windy or thunderstorms...we just went to Mono Lake sightseeing or up the creeks where it was always calm.


Denis (who was up there for 7 days) was the first to score a big fish at Silver, from shore with a night crawler.


He then had a big crawdad latch on to his nightcrawler...which was a good sign of things to come...


The weather calmed down and was beautiful for about 4 days with just a quick evening thundershower.


Another friend, Paul drove up for those 4 great weather days and we fished the creek again for some more trout. There were lots of small guys but also a few keepers....


The Hobie PA pickup truck did it's job and hauled the load...LOL...!


Then we toasted our next meal...and boy did we eat good...that Louisianna Boil is a fun meal and we even had an Udon Noodle dish with the tails and claws on another nite.


There are plenty of Crawdads around now that the water has warmed up to about 61 degrees and the lake level has gone down to normal.


Paul had a great time breaking in his new float tube and fly rod setup


...and catching and eating the crawdads...


This girl was a regular in the little clearing that she made behind our campsite...she would nap there every morning...it was quite peaceful to see her there.


I had heard a rumor that a lot of the big fish released at Gull had not been caught yet, so did a quick road trip to that beautiful little spring fed lake.


Paul scored the first big fish on a Berkley Power Worm slowly worked back to the float tube.


Denis scored next with a 3lbs 10oz. beauty on the Hookup Bait.


I had to get in the mix too so I threw the Hookup Bait for a 3.5 pounder.


The whole stringer of 4 fish from day one was almost 15 lbs., even with 3 fish that were released.


Paul steaked up the big trout for dinner...


We marinated the steaks in terriakyi and cooked em on the Q with some Mountain Mahogany smoker wood from Meadow Farms in Bishop...you would have sworn it was Salmon you were eating. It was the best damn Trout I've ever eaten.


The Great Artist in the Sky did his Alpine Glow Painting one evening


Paul headed back to work and the City...while Denis and I went back to Gull to do some more damage to the big boys...



When Denis headed south, I discovered that I could set-up the hammock and reach my pineapple rum drink and the rod...Oh Oh...!



I finally got out of the hammock and went back to Gull to get another beauty to bring home for the BBQ with the family.


I took the back/scenic road to a better launch area at Gull for this last trip.


Andy the Ice Man showed up with his lovely wife towards the end of my trip.



His campsite and launching beach were just a few sites away.


I tried the lead core line and the down rigger for only two small fish...hard to believe with all the nice big marks I saw down deep on the Lowrance finders.


There were plenty of crawdads to bring home for another feast with the little kiddos next-door. They can't decide if they want to play with them or eat them...LOL


It's always sad packing up and heading home...especially after such a long trip...


I CAN"T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN...

[Norcal_Roots]

Man that looks like a great trip with a great group of people. Glad you had fun.

[Stuck20]

Hey Jim, it's Andy. I met you on your first day up there. Congrats on the great fishing, wish I could've stayed a few extra days and fished with you but school started that week. Nice meeting you, man! See you at Battle of the Bays

[kurt]

Nice!

[ful-rac]

Sorry about your dad jim...silverlake is about as close to heaven as you can get around here. I'm sure he was there with you in spirit, especially since you were fishing with his rod!

Thanks for turning me onto that place jim. Our trip up there in June was one I'll never forget. I never bought into crawdads actually tasting good until I had the ones up there. Were definitely going back next year for sure.

[FullFlavorPike]

fatty trouts! looks like a most relaxing time up there

[Amish Ed]

So sorry about your Dad, Jim. But, I'm glad you were able to make your trip.

[goldenglory18]

Awesome post, Jim.

Condolences to you and your family....

[NICKWORN]

Probably staying in a Cabin at Gull Lake or near due to both families having toddlers.

Love the LOOP!!

Great Pics and sorry to hear about your pops!!

[Iceman]

Jim,

Great seeing you up there, we had a killer time. Thanks for the loan of the traps. We made a killer crawdad bisque one evening. Camp ground exceeded my expectations!

My trap puller, we culled a bunch of smaller ones and still had plenty to eat.

[blitzburgh]

Sorry for your loss Jim. What a great way to spend the time to reflect. Prayers for you and yours.

[GTboosted]

Glad to see the shore is back.

Had a trip in July and the beach sites were flooded in. They didn't bother to call me and let me know. I plan on going back this year to make up for that and for the fact that I had a lot of people that came with me and I didn't get enough fishing time.

[Holy Mackerel]

Looks awesome, I want to camp there next summer.

[roby]

Fishing with your dad's rod - priceless. I'm trying to do the same for my kids. It's good to see you slay the trout and crawdads...as usual.

[tunaseeker]

Your Dad knows how to paint the mountain sky!
Awesome trip! I gotta get some bugs next year!
None in Lake Mary!
Cheers!
Todd

[FISH11]

Sorry about your Dad Jim. I know how hard that is because I went through what you descrbed, 1 year ago last January. The release of pressure you must have felt when you finally got to be up at Silver Lake an pushing your PA away from shore. The views, the fresh air and the fishing, that is close to Heaven on Earth. Thanks for sharing.

[Southman]

Thanks for an awesome post and great pics. The Mammoth area is such fun with so much to do. Looks like the fishing cooperated as well.

Memories of the good times with your dad will always be with you.

[Aaron&Julie]

Awesome Post!!! Outstanding Pictures!!!

[steveooo]

One of my favorite places, I'm hoping to sneak in a quick trip before the season closes.

Thanks for the report & the pics

[Baja_Traveler]

Wow - I really need to get up there. Maybe tow the travel trailer up and be super comfy.
Now if they would just give me more than a few weeks a year to do all these awesome trips...