Desert Trout Adventure

   

 Growing up in a bird hunting and fly fishing family, you do a lot of exploring for untouched areas. Seldomly though, do you discover a gem such as a lake in the middle of the desert that holds a bounty of trophy Rainbows, Cuttbows, and even the elusive and very rare Tiger Trout while hunting for chukar, even with help. Hours of driving on highways and hours of gravel and 4x4 roads put you smack dab in the middle of no where and present you with an adventure of a lifetime. Climbing a couple thousand feet in elevation on 4x4 trails is one thing, doing it with four fishing kayaks on top of a UTV is a whole other beast.

     This October fishing trip started off with high expectations and the desert did not disappoint. Four wheeling into beautiful country, seeing wild horses, mule deer, and coyotes (just to name a few); and then tent camping in a rugged landscape with no trees, but rocks to provide shelter is enough to make an excellent weekend. Throw in the frigid below freezing night time and morning temperatures and you have yourself the perfect trout fishing conditions. The fishing started off with two back to back 21 inch Rainbows caught by my dad and myself from the camp fishing rock. It was time to hit the water.       

The UTV goes a little faster than the truck...

                                    

A rough road to paradise.

                                    


Our fishing rock providing another hard fighting fish!

23 inch rainbow on the Cuda

Our camp in the rocks. The tents are in the rocks on the right.

Taking a break from fishing and hunting for Chukar and Hungarian Patridge.

Dinner fish. Weighing in close to 6 lbs I'd say.

Things were cold in the morning with ice on the boats and the guides on our rods.

Plenty of beautiful fish, in beautiful water, in a beautiful place.

This one had a gut.

WHUUUUUTTT

Getting windy. That desert air dries you out in a hurry.

Desert Surf and Turf. (Cotton Tail and Trout. We also had Chukar one night)

Such amazing fish.

One of two tiger trout caught on the trip. We couldn't find the big predators this trip.

On our way out.

                                             

Racing against the storm that could have snowed us in. We won!

                                               

And our good fortune ran out, especially since we forgot the spare. With some Redneck ingenuity we were back on the road.

                                      

     After Three nights of sleeping in the cold we were ready to go home, but not without missing the fishing and shedding a few tears. The shredded tire and the storm that dumped 16 inches of snow in the Sierras turned an eight hour drive into roughly a fourteen hour one. It was a miserable trip home that I thought was never going to end. I accepted that I would be living on Chukar and desert trout for the rest of the winter, but luckily we made. My father Rick, my Uncle Mike, and our good friend Les provided amazing company on an unforgettable trip. Stay tuned for the video that includes more fish and our travels!