Biking to a Brookie Bucketlist Bonanza

[SHigSpeed]

This water has been on "the list" for a while now, and I can emphatically check it off - and I'll be back!

Got to the trailhead before sunrise, but a bit delayed as I'd overshot it a bit and had to turn on the trusty GPS to get to where I should've been...

Strapped and ready to go:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5087848857_42a7994dec_z_d.jpg

Yeah, it's an old-school bike. I actually used it to fling the Bee back in the late 80's! Still get's me where I need to go, er, more on that later...

Hopped on and started looking for the road. Not having been there before, I chased my tail in the brightening morning for a good bit before heading the right direction.

Even being middle-aged and weak, the road wasn't too bad, but I did have to get off and push on a few of the steeper hills.

Here's one:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5088450872_f8eed1ff20_z_d.jpg

Might not look it but it basically goes straight up! :) The fall colors were gorgeous though!

Leveling out towards the lake:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5088453170_bcc8dc34d3_z_d.jpg

"So this is what I've been waiting for?":

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5087859111_2c6d8cd2c0_z_d.jpg

There's one guy on the lake already - tubing. As I'm setting up, another group shows up (I had passed them on the road). Fish are rising, and though my tube is set up, I choose to throw "a few casts" from shore. What could it hurt right?

Well, as the light gets a bit better, there are fish everywhere! All I can see are cruising white-tipped fins. One of the other guys gets into one, and misses a few takes. I get hit a couple of times, but not cashing in. I'm frantically going through my streamer box one by one - even trying some crazy Pyramid patterns.

The group heads out in their tubes, others show, head out...

Finally, I figure out what they'll eat, and it's game on!

Fatty!:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5088460320_3419289067_z_d.jpg

Brute!:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5088461118_da5d12acac_z_d.jpg

Prettiest of the day:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5088469366_0d222d84b6_z_d.jpg

Got a handful more of the same. Awesome! Most guys with me on shore or floating had skunk/1/2 days - first timer's luck right? ;)

By lunchtime I felt like I was fishing at Rancho Seco during trout derby though:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5087877839_8512142623_z_d.jpg

If you're looking for some solitude, guess this ain't it.

The bite didn't last for too long though, and I'd had my fill of brookzillas, so I packed up (never got the tube wet!) and pedaled towards the car. The ride back made the torture in worth it! Mostly coasting downhill with minor uphill stretches. Thing was, the bumps on the road and the rocks had shaken my rack mounting screws something fierce and I soon had lost one leg. The rack tweaked off center and started dragging on the tire. Looking for the lost screw was a fool's errand, so I got creative:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5087879663_268c139d57_z_d.jpg

I guess necessity IS the mother of invention.

Didn't have any more issues all the way back.

Had to do the gawky thing here. The vista way cool:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5087883277_5dbc077f30_z_d.jpg

Road towards home (gotta clean the windshield!):

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5088484692_2949e359e2_z_d.jpg

So that was my day. Stopped by Heenan on the way home to see if Scott and Gene were still there and it was a ghost town! I'd never seen it so empty. Guess they all came out to join me instead?

Next time (and there will be a next time) maybe I'll actually get in the tube, and maybe I'll get my 20"er. Wondering if the pre-spawn ritual caused the lockjaw, and I should've been there earlier? Or later? Were they only concentrated where I was? Or are they this thick everywhere? Is there a fly or technique that would have gotten more of these guys to hit? How's this place fish the rest of the season?

Gotta love new water...

_SHig

[BillB]

Dang! Those are beauts!

[gene goss]

Hey Shig....Sorry to have missed you at Hennan....love those colors on the brookies...so are you going to trick out that bike for the next trip.

[Scott V]

Nice trip shig, looks like I need to get a rack for my bike. I want to make a couple trips there next year. Those big brookies are just beautiful.

[stanbery]

Shig

The guys you past on the road up was my group.

Glad you were able to get into some fish on your trip up.


You still owe me $15 buckets for the use of the pump:razz:JK

Jon

[Bob Laskodi]

And people say the Kenai is crowded!!!!!

[SHigSpeed]

Shig

The guys you past on the road up was my group.

Glad you were able to get into some fish on your trip up.


You still owe me $15 buckets for the use of the pump:razz:JK

Jon

<lol> Oh yeah, I neglected to pay up. BUT, I never did float your "air" as I stayed on shore. I'll just give your air back when we hook up agian! :P

Small world this...

One thing I keep wondering is if I'd actually gone out and floated and worked my normal techniques, could I have done as well or better?

Damn Monday morning QBing...

_SHig

[Scott V]

One thing I keep wondering is if I'd actually gone out and floated and worked my normal techniques, could I have done as well or better?_SHig

Probably would have done the best in you life you'll ever do, good job on blowing it.

[SHigSpeed]

Probably would have done the best in you life you'll ever do, good job on blowing it.

I knew it!!! ARGHHH!!!

heh...

_SHig

[OceanSunfish]

Nice!

Did you pack out a fish for the smoker? Those Kirman Brookies are supposedly very tasty with rich red meat.... When I fished the lake in '96 we were encouraged to take a limit home. The reasoning was that those fish die prematurely due to heart failure.... Apparently they have too rich of a diet and die of heart failure.

I remember that steep grade you took a picture of.....

As for the bike..... I'm right there with ya.... I have a very early 90's era Rockhopper Comp with LX parts and the old fashioned RIGID suspension!

[RenoLipRipper]

As far as the hill in the pic goes. I ride a road bicycle a fair amount to stay in shape and also a mountain bike to stay in shape, ( doc says go for bod doing aerobic exercise) and I have seen that hill many times and even with the latest and greatest in mountain bike equip. don't think I would try that hill with all the fishing gear. It is a fairly short but steep climb with usually quite abit of water running down it. Was there about 3 weeks ago with some friends, and they (three of them) gave the bike in a try, I walked after having all my bike gear etc. on, and just didn't see the advantage, (balance etc.) so I walked in. They rode, and none of them ride (in shape) and they did have to walk the hills and some of the sandy/gravel sections and the hill. I did get there before they did. All three were pretty tired when they got to the lake. However going back to the entance they were there about 25 minutes quicker than I was. So going a bit of a pain, but comming back it is a nice bit of downhill. Just make sure you control your speed down that hill and have good brakes, loss of brakes down that hill and you slam into the gate like a cheese grater. Plus the water and slippery conditions.

As far as a older bike, the ones you guys have will work great for that sort of stuff. No need for anything else unless you actually ride alot of mtn. biking.

[RenoLipRipper]

And as far as the area were you launch having fish there. Seems they are always right there. So not real different than anyother year.

I had a rockhopper with the same setup, it was a great bike. Donated it to good will. Now I have three full suspension and one hard tail that flys.

[novofish]

Awesome post/pics!
Been wanting to do that same trip.
Probably next year - as it's getting kinda late in the year.

[Dave Neal]

Novara! I built/sold plenty of those while growing up in Sac!!!!!

Very nice report and pics...

That lake is not always that crowded, but it's always that beautiful.