Early Season Trek for Golden Trout - Mammoth Lakes 2024 Day 1

Day 1 of our annual memorial day trip to Mammoth Lakes, Ca. We hike 3 hours to a Golden Trout Lake.
#highcountryflyfisher
#jimlowe
#MammothLakes
#HCFFGoldenTrout

[@nevadacountyproductions6350]

I drove up there with my father in probably 1980 and his four-wheel drive jeep we had a great time hanging out for 3 Days lots of good trout

[@highcountrychronicles]

Nice! Fun drive for those properly equipped. Lots of people at the creek.

[@TBlanktim]

That was really fun to watch and revisit the area. My time there was in the late seventies. Had a stream I could get to after work and pull apart a downed fir to get ant eggs for bait. Thanks for posting.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Ant eggs? I've never heard of such a thing. How do you fish them? Like salmon eggs? Thanks for watching!

[@TBlanktim]

@@highcountrychronicles They are white, about a 1/4 inch long. Possibly termite eggs. They are in rotted logs. Early mid -summer. Smallest treble hook you can find. Drop three at a time and watch trout come out from under the grass at the edge of the stream.

[@highcountrychronicles]

@@TBlanktim Ah. Grubs. Got it. Thanks!

[@andrewwhite9739]

The fish up there are so skittish and picky. I commend you on your efforts. I prefer to fish those brooks down in the lowers of the Eastern Sierra. I've slammed them for over 30 years. My favorite holes are secrets that "will go when I go," like the song says. Have fun.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Yeah. Brookie fishing can be fun too. 🙂 Thanks for watching.

[@andrewwood4013]

Super. Early season fishing is like that; fickle. Great day to be in the mountains.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Yeah. Certainly was a great day. Great weekend.

[@PaulStanek-rx6dp]

Nice my old stomping ground actually my old home used to live in Mammoth lakes for 7 years was the trout guide for the troutfitter did some backcountry Pack cook and fishing guide, one of my favorite places to enjoy something that I love to do.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Nice. Sounds like a dream job! Thanks for watching!

[@dustinedwards4021]

Great knife to bring along 👍 👏 love my honey badger for hikes

[@highcountrychronicles]

Definitely one of the best knives I own!

[@xXGohan02Xx]

Great to see a new video out man. And good to see all the snow! Headed up that way soon. Cant wait, as it looks great from your video!

[@highcountrychronicles]

Cool and thanks! Good luck! Let me know how it goes!

[@leemowers9395]

nice hike. fun adventure.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thanks and thanks for watching!

[@vladd5291]

Thank you for the video! I’ve fished this place when there was no snow and it’s wonderful to see what it looks like now

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thanks! I usually only memorial day weekend every year or every other year. Conditions vary a little. This year it had just iced out. You'll find similar videos from previous year on the channel. Hope you enjoyed it and thank you for watching!

[@7Wolf2k]

Cannot wait to get up there in September. Thank you for sharing and can't wait to see the rest of the trip.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thanks for watching!

[@andyzalewski6745]

Thanks for sharing!

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thanks for watching!

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Great adventure! Awesome channel

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thanks!

[@JoeD.294.]

Enjoyed the video and looking forward to the video @ Parker lake.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thanks for watching!

[@rayrenz3599]

I grew up fishing at convict lake near mammoth. It’s getting way too crowded at convict lake every year no matter what day of the week I go. Thanks for sharing your experiences in the areas around mammoth lake. Mammoth is one of my favorite places

[@highcountrychronicles]

Nice. Yeah the area can be crowded. The next video is Parker and there were well over 100 people...

[@user-io1bo5gr2m]

I admire your video, your resolve to get there. My best was farther north, at a lake at a 10,500 elevation. This golden ranged at 21 inches, and I visually watched much larger Goldens cruise the surface. The best time to fish is June to mid August. Go higher in elevation🌞! Check it out farther in and north and you shall set hook on more than a pound of golden trout. The high back country lakes can give you a possible 2.5 to 3 lb Goldens. I am soon to be 72 years of age and I really want to go back again for more! 🧭👀🤸‍♂️💚🪝♤♤♤

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thank you watching and the advice. I'll check the map and see where you might be speaking off. (I think I may know. A lake with only one camp site?😅😉 If so, my one visit there was met with 100mph winds. Really, we had to evacuate because of the warnings. 😅😅). Thanks again, I hope my videos can take you back and put you on the lake with me. 🙂

[@outsidewithmike]

Now THAT looked fun, and I love the glissading shots! New cam looks good. Was that a polarized filter on one of them? Waiting for part 2!

[@highcountrychronicles]

Yeah. Thanks! I have polarizers on both. Im not sure how to best use the new one yet. Yeah the glissading was fun. Faster than expected. Roger thought he'd have no problem with his ice axe and ended up the tree well below me. Lol. Unfortunately he didn't wait until I was ready to film him. 😅

[@ushhbh]

Love the content Jim - thanks for sharing I’ll be in the area this summer- as a saltwater guy, can you recommend 3 flies I should bring

[@highcountrychronicles]

I thanks for the kind words. I think it depends on what type of fishing you plan to be doing but if you were planning to fish streams and lakes and needed 3 to cover those, I would say a size 12 Beadhead Hares Ear, a size 16 Elk Hair Caddis and a size 12 Richard's Stillwater Nymph. Generally I fish a soft hackle beadhead hare's ear on 90% of the waters (Tying the Soft Hackle Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear Fly kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWSZqI2Qe62Hos0) As a dry I also fish a cripple caddis similar to and EC Caddis and round out the rest with a size 18 Hares Ear, Richard's Stillwater Nymph or Callibaetis nymph. Thanks for watching!

[@Tenkara_Retiree]

Glissading is always fun! 😃

[@highcountrychronicles]

😅

[@Tenkara_Retiree]

That talus looks pretty sketch!

[@highcountrychronicles]

@@Tenkara_Retiree Yep. I fell one year and tore the UCL in my thumb completely. I found some pretty nice fish at the end of the day but couldn't set on them. Even with two hands. LOL. Check out the 2018 video linked to this one.

[@highcountrychronicles]

@@Tenkara_Retiree kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZK8lIecrMSWocUsi=RD9puihdJ2OS1Ur7

[@Sshooter444]

That's one way to beat the crowds. It's a shame what KZbin has done to some of these "local" spots

[@highcountrychronicles]

Yeah, I don't know. KZbin is certainly part of the problem but the real issue is how easily it is to consume and disseminate information. 20 years ago, I remember talking to John Barbier about how he got shade for his books. 15- 20 years ago only like 25 Heritage Trout Certs had been earned in the first few years. Cal Fly Fisher writes an article and that number is surpassed multiple times in quick succession. So I guess it's a factor of how willing folks are to give the information up and how quickly it can be consumed. I know for myself, very few people actually watch the videos and in most cases I try to keep any identifying information after the first 30 seconds to 1 min. of the video. (My last Yosemite video for instance.) After that, viewership falls quickly. This video, despite the high view count (for me) has only 43% viewership after the first 90 seconds. typically less than 20% finish. That said, When I dropped this video I also unhide a video from 2018 to the same location because I figured there wasn't any point in keeping it hidden any longer. I don't give the name but those that know, know... and this has also because a "crowded" place at times. My next video will be Parker, which I was debating on keeping un-named until seeing over 100 people there on this last visit...

[@robdogj]

I tried once to hike up to that lake with my float tube. I couldn't hang because of the altitude. I ended up quitting & going to Virginia Lakes, where the fishing was a lot easier 😛

[@highcountrychronicles]

🤣 Speaking of easier float tube treks. The next video is Parker. 😅

[@corymcdowell191]

​@@highcountrychronicles hope you bring a 4" countdown rapala(Brown or Brook trout) trust.

[@highcountrychronicles]

@@corymcdowell191 To Parker? Nah. Had a cone head muddler and some parachute caddis for those March Flies. 😅

[@markvanderstelt8999]

trout like cold water but until the water warms up a bit after winter the fish can be Lethargic and they hardly move.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Right. This lake is particularly hard to time. We tend to wait until late afternoon before leaving to see if they're going to come around. We also try to fish the springs.

[@BigDoeJ424]

Jim, I would figure they would be up near the inlet preparing for spawn as goldens do around June. I've always done well on scuds up there...

[@highcountrychronicles]

Yeah, Roger has done well there as well. Beta from the guys that had been there a couple of days was that they weren't in there. Admittedly, we relied a lot on their feedback as opposed to checking for ourselves.

[@andykeister7028]

Nice video. You guys need some microspikes.

[@highcountrychronicles]

Thanks! I was carrying micro spikes and snowshoes. Chose not to use them. :D

[@davidmaxwell1821]

Trek up to where?

[@highcountrychronicles]

Where indeed....😅