Uncle J approaching Sheep Lake
Heather loving her Gore-Tex boots as she stood on a rock in the water.
The first fish on the new Fly Pole. Finally something other than bushes. I actually caught 4 to 5 fish at Sheep Lake. Granted they were all small Brookies.
Line in the water waiting for the fish to really take a bite out of the fly... Right about here is when one of the oddest things that has ever happened to me while fly fishing happened. I kept casting to the same spot and kept getting bites from the same fish. I figured it was either too small of a fish to take the hook or I kept missing it. So I drew back into a backcast to relay the fly on the lake. Low and behold as I watch my fly start to arch back I noticed that the fly was huge! There was a little 3" Brookie hanging on for dear life on my fly in the backcast. As I yelled ah $#!t, dropped my pole and ran back to small bushes behind me trying to find the flopping fish, I'm sure everyone was wondering what the hell I was doing... I picked up the fish and rushed it back to the water after I made sure it was ok and it swam quickly away. Then shortly there after I got another mystery bite in the same spot... So I moved before another fish went flying!
Uncle J fly fishing.
Me doing some more fly fishing.
Aaron fishing.
Washing out my wading shoes.
Fishing out the cookset to boil water for a FBC lunch for Heather and I.
Sourdough Gap from Sheep Lake.
How the skeeters loved me on this day... Too bad you can't see the swarms around my head as I tried to eat.
The various meadows on the way down the trail.
How not to pack. I feel sorry for this guy, it was a large Jansport pack not even sitting on his hips and crap hanging everywhere.
J, Aaron and Elizabeth hiking on the last mile section of trail before the trailhead.
J, Heather, Elizabeth and Aaron within the last mile of trail to the car.
Elizabeth, Aaron and J hiking on the last mile of trail on the way back to the car.
J, Elizabeth and Aaron on the home stretch to the car.
Overall it was an excellent short hike with some really good times, some great company, and some decent fishing for little trout.
Hi Jared,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog while trying to find some info on Sheep Lake. My family (2 kids under 7) and I are thinking of backpacking there this weekend. But have concerns about the bugs. I can handle the bugs, but my son seems to be "pretty sweet" to the buggers and gets eaten pretty bad. Were the bugs really bad? Are there camp sites that seem to be away from the bugs? I've never been to this lake. Thanks for any tips you can give me. Happy trails!
I have fairly sweet blood, and out of the group they were swarming me the most. We didn't have a huge problem until we sat still for awhile while we were fishing. Granted we were also about empty on deet, so most of what was left probably didn't have a lot of deet left in it. I'd suggest a a headnet, some high concentration DEET, and longer sleeves and pants if possible. The bugs are definately out, but how bad really depends on the recent weather. All the alpine lakes that I have been to recently have been and will be fairly buggy. There are 3 to 5 camps right on the lake and there are a few way trails before the lake, along and after that could access more a little further away from the lake. It's been a couple years since I looked for camps there but after the bridge over the outlet there used to be a way trail to the right that did access a camping spot further away from the lake. If you are planning on camping When we were moving or were further away from the lake the bugs weren't as bad when we were there. If you don't have a map yet, the map I posted is full size and can be printed out if you click on it.
ReplyDeletePretreating your hiking clothes in permitherine could also help, perimetherine can be found at REI, Cabelas and some other outdoor stores.
ReplyDelete