TR 7/13-21 Hoover-Emigrant-Yosemite lunker lollipop

[oddtiger]

Thanks for the TR. Nothing beats a family trip with both peak bagging and good fishing!

[sekihiker]

I just skimmed the text, but the fish photos and the summit shots tell me that that this was an exceptional trip. Thanks for posting.

[windknot]

Thanks for sharing this report! It sounds like the three of you had a great time, and you got to explore a ton of area that I've mostly never visited. Your report and photos make me excited to check out more of Emigrant sometime soon.

I too experienced some stunning wildflower displays a bit south of you in the Green Creek drainage near Hoover Lakes and Summit Lakes this past weekend. I thought it'd be too late and too dry for flowers, but I was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong.

[CAMERONM]

Wow. Stars align indeed. The wildflower fields are pretty unusual.
As for the fish success, any chance that a year of covid/less people contributed?

[paul]

Thanks for the great report.
I am fairly sure that most if not all of the restrictions you mentioned on trip duration, etc. for the Emigrant Wilderness are just restrictions on permits via the online system. For longer trips, etc., you just have to get the permit via a phone call to the rangers station or in person when they open up for that. For instance, if you are stepping into Yosemite from the Emigrant, you can't get it online, you have to call in. And even at the ranger stations you don't always get a clear answer. I called both the Summit ranger and the Groveland station and got two different answers about permits for trips into Yosemite. The person at Groveland thought that a permit for that had to be obtained through the park - which is incorrect. The person at Summit gave me a permit that included travel into Yosemite, no problem.

[michaelzim]

Another great trip report with stunning photos...intrepid trio, wildflowers, trail detours, incredible geology, peaking - and of course fish!
Thanks much. Hope there will be more.

Best ~ Michaelzim

[RiseToADry]

I'm over here trying to link 3 or 4 lakes on a trip and @giantbrookie is stringing together 7! Legend.

Random thought I had - I've seen some impressive wildflower displays on volcanic rocks over the years, similar to the lupine field near High Emigrant. One place that comes to mind is the dirt road that goes north from Minaret Vista in Mammoth Lakes. There are always tons of flowers in the open "meadows" of volcanic rock.

[SSSdave]

The best wildflower displays in the Sierra are north of Yosemite where volcanic geologies dominate those lower altitudes. Not as many backpackers target those areas because there are fewer lakes, less fishing waters, and less dramatic peaks. Wildflower enthusiasts that are dominantly women, can easily reach most such areas by day hiking so one doesn't need to lug a backpack. The Carson Pass area along SR88 is particularly popular. My site has many images taken from those areas.

[giantbrookie]

As for the fish success, any chance that a year of covid/less people contributed?

I don't think so. The types of lakes I fish, fishing pressure tends to be a non-factor, as illustrated by the consistent quality of the most storied lakes in Desolation Wilderness (that produce the biggest fish I've seen in the Sierran wilderness). In the event that fishing pressure is sufficient to significantly reduce the fish population, then it actually will work in my favor, because a lower population density will mean larger top end fish.

I think the personal-record-setting 2021 season I'm having results from a convergence of a number of factors that include the following:
1. Some of the lakes I've targeted have not been air dropped in awhile after having regularly received fingerlings for a number of years. This has resulted in lower population density and larger top end fish. A likely example is the 2021 "Lake of the Year" (so far) which was fished for 2 hours on the June 28-July 1 trip.

2. We have had two consecutive light winters. This means a longer growing season for the fish so they get bigger and fatter. In non-stocked lakes that I've fished over many years I have in fact seen a pattern that there tend to be more large fish after several dry winters.

3. Selective destination targeting. Although I continue to try to explore new places and the July 13-21 trip fished 11 lakes I've never been to before, I had pretty detailed intel on a number of them indicating there would be large fish there. For other trips, the season stats have been "stuffed" by twice visiting a place that is consistently one of the best lakes on the west flank of the Sierra (I would have ranked it no. 1 before it was surpassed, at least for 2021 by "Lake of the Year"), as well as dayhiking to another place that has produced 15+" fish on nearly every visit for me dating back to 2000.

4. Being at the right place at the right time ( luck factor). I can't count the number of times when all theory points to success and I haven't done so well. There is one example of this on the July 13-21 trip but that example is outweighed by the unlikely mid afternoon session that caught the largest fish of the trip. Several times on this trip and on earlier trips I've had red hot streaks followed by no activity. Had I dropped by the lake at another time I may have skunked. A bit of luck in terms of winging casts at the right time into a body of water never hurts and I think I have probably had more of that this year than most.

Other notes: @Paul. Thanks for the details on wilderness permit procurement for Emigrant and adjoining areas.

[cgundersen]

Hi John,
Wow, delightful read! It looks like you're creating a peak-bagging monster and a serious fisherwoman. I'm just curious whether the absence of trail signage is pro forma for that area, or whether some "well-meaning" individual decided to remove the signs (to enhance the wilderness experience?). Cameron