Interesting. Sounds like a solid backup.

That's totally true. I have had big trout attack smaller crawlers when the big ones aren't producing. You never know. So much of a trout's diet is small to stuff nearly microscopic so large size doesn't always count.

I got 2 big meals off of that fish. One down and one more meal to go tonight. The main snow line is about a 1K feet higher. I'm going to look at some lakes around 6K soon to see what's going on with the ice. The lows are dipping down in the weeks to come. We'll see if it's enough.

Yes it was. The girth on that thing was impressive.

I love the Hamilton branch but it is a tough river to get around on the banks once you get a little bit upstream from the lake.

A little bit above the powerhouse in August is the best time to fish right there

Sadly in many cases,’bait is best’.

Great eating. I have one more hearty meal to go.

Those people probably don't catch a lot of trout over 18", don't use ultralight tackle, and have no problem hoisting fish up out of the water into a dry net. If you are fishing places like certain areas on the Lower/upper Owens river or standing on granite boulders feet above the water, you have to have a long handle net if you want to land larger trout that won't go into a dry net or be able to release them without killing them. In a lot of places a longer handle net is the only way to reach the water. It sounds to me like the people making that crack at you simply lack experience. Fish on' with your long handle net. You can see it comes in handy often for me in the 100+ videos I have on my river fishing playlist. It's the only option in many of those videos!

I haven't been back since this. I am looking at the 10 day forecast for Truckee and the lows are in the teens coming up soon and the high's are in the low 40's so I think I am going to look in a couple of weeks.

Right on. Thank you.

Happy New Year. There should be some adventures to come. This day was more lounging by the lake than an adventure!

It can be tough. It can change depending on the situation in front of me. I just do a variety if things ranging from roll casting to casting diagonally close to shore. When I have a relatively clear lane behind me I'll fire out a regular cast. If I angle my back cast more upward that can also buy me a few feet of momentum. The more you deal with it the better you'll get at figuring it out. Fortunately, often in backcountry alpine lakes I am targeting fish cruising close to shore so diagonal casts and casting parallel to shore is very effective.

Thank you. I know you watch quite a bit. Thanks for that.

i was hoping for it but it wasn't meant to be.

Thanks for sharing he info with others. The fishing sucked and it was freezing early but once it got to noon it became really pleasant.

Stay safe down there in LA

Thank you. I appreciate that a lot. I know you aren't new. You watch a lot of my content. I thank you for your support.

It was freezing in the morning but by noon it was really nice out there. Probably high 30's but with enough layers on it was feeling great.

Right on. Thanks for watching. My biggest struggle is to get viewers to watch existing content and not just the new stuff that shows up in their feeds. With the exception of new videos, the views on my channel and ad revenue are spiraling down to near nothing. I'm not suggesting I'm anywhere near giving up. My channel would be better and life would be easier if I could get this huge content machine I've built firing on all cylinders. Either way, I'm committed to seeing this through to the point where either I can get this plane flying high or I'll ride it straight into the side of the mountain! I'm sure you could guess which result I'd prefer!

Thanks for the videos, your crazy ass has inspired me more than once to get off my ass and wet a line. I cant say its too cold or far with you posting vids in all weather, seasons and locations. Happy New Year!

That is very interesting indeed. Thank you. I had never been out there until I made that ruby mountain trip this year. Whole world to explore. Lamoille and Favre Lake were fantastic. If you didn't catch that action it's on my backcountry fishing playlist. I heard about wild horse but not for ice fishing. You have my thoughts turning!

Right now ice is starting to show up on the lakes around 6K. I wanted to go to Frenchman tomorrow but I'm worried there will be too much ice. If you can find ice free water at any of these lakes I'd suggest just soaking some bait. If you haven't seen my rigging up for reservoir trout clip it might come in handy. I have a lot of lakes and reservoirs on that fishing playlist. Frenchman, Davis, and Boca are all within an hour. I have clips for all of them. Good luck and I hope my content helps you find and catch fish as you get into fishing.

I appreciate the kind offer. If you ever subscribe to my Patreon you can direct message me and we could arrange something. To be honest, you really don't need to hassle with it. I'm just glad you watch my content because I really have grown to love making it. I have hundreds of videos across my channel playlists and I plan for there to be a lot more to come. I'm sure what you tie is way better than that cheap crap I use. I wrap them tight with yarn to keep them from falling apart! They work great so I don't care.

It had to have taken three or four hours. We did have to backtrack a few times though. On the way back we came straight down from where the outlet creek flows down and it was really steep but totally doable. It really depends what time of year you go. There always seemed to be a route to the left or right when we hit a dead end. If you stay on the edge of the woods at the back of Vernon when you reach the bottom there are bear trails you can follow. We weren't surprised when we ran into a bear. Depending on the time of year you go will determine your route. If it's early Summer the woods at the back of Vernon have a major swamp/marsh factor. It was dry back there late in the Fall when we were there so coming back straight down the back and through the woods was way faster. Close to after the snow clears out there always seems to be a lot of bear activity up there. We only saw the one at the back of the lake when we were there in late Fall. I recommend camping on the other side of the outlet creek if you haven't been there. When you approach the lake and you see the Lake Vernon sign showing less than a mile to go, take the trail to the right. I can't remember what the sign says. some valley I think. The views from that side of the lake are spectacular and you can see bears coming from a mile away. You can hear their claws on the granite as well, which can come in handy!.

@@wildernesswithamani1027Thanks for the feedback! I assume the footbridge over the Vernon outlet creek can't be crossed on mid July? I ask because if I'm coming from Hetch Hetchy thru Beehive then I can't reach the south shore of Vernon to get to Branigan like you did.

@@HuyNguyen-lu3zj It all depends on the snow year. If it's a heavy snow year then the footbridge is often surrounded by water and you can only cross if you are willing to wade through ice cold running water. Lighter snow years the bridge is exposed and passable by then. My experience has shown me that if you can't cross the bridge then Brannigan can't be reached unless you cross a deep, swift flowing river at the back of Vernon to get to the side. I've hiked around back on that side looking for a way to cross that inlet river and I couldn't find a route. The safe play if there is a reasonable amount of snow is to go in August. Then you can get to the other side of the bridge and make a clean shot to Brannigan. You can also fish the outlet creek easily from that side.

You think there are some nice ones in Middle and Upper Branigan? Gotta be...😛