Sierra Grand Slam This Summer (I hope!) - California Fishing

Wahoo! · 06-01-2006, 10:40 AM

Well, now that I'm back from my first Sierra trip of the season and saw how much snow is still up there, I think it's time to start planning on getting out there and getting my first sierra grand slam - catching a brook, rainbow, brown, and golden trout in the same trip. Definitely not an easy thing to do, but I'm going to give it a shot this year. My trip planning will start today and I'd like to get some input on a few different aspects of the trip -

1. Location - Where the heck is the best spot to chase the grand slam?
2. Time - How long will it take to hike into the right location?
3. Date - What's the best month to do this in terms of water level and weather?
4. Tackle - Since I'll most likely need to hike in, what tackle should I take?
5. Who - I know Chris is going to join me on this expedition. Anyone else?

PlatinumHooks · 06-01-2006, 10:58 AM

what are the dates you're looking at?

Keep in mind, Deuces Wild (July 7-9), ICAST show in Vegas (July 19-21) and the annual Hook Up Taco Trip sometime in late August (have to start planning it soon).

as far as slamming.......it's about 100% chance it's not happening in one region. Best bet would be to hit up the Golden Trout Wilderness above Kern(on the way up to the Sierras); this way you have a shot at "California Golden Trout" (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita) or "Little Kern Golden Trout" (Oncorhynchus mykiss whitei) and it will count towards the DFG's Trout Heritage program:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/html/A...hallenge_0.htm

This way when you get up to the Sierras you can concentrate on Coastal Rainbows and Browns (no Brooks though) that I know of.

These are the actual indigineous scientific species that count for the program:

coastal rainbow trout (common rainbow trout)
Eagle Lake rainbow trout
McCloud River redband trout
Goose Lake redband trout
Warner Lakes redband trout
Kern River rainbow trout
California golden trout
Little Kern golden trout
coastal cutthroat trout
Lahontan cutthroat trout
Paiute cutthroat trout

(Need to catch 6 out the list to qualify) I'm 3 down, but have to do it over,because I need pictures of them. I want that plaque!

Wahoo! · 06-01-2006, 11:22 AM

I know for a fact the JMT (John Muir Trail) will take me through waters that will produce all 4 species I'm looking for. I'm just not certain how much time I'll need to hit the right spots. The rainbow and brown will be the easier two being found in many lakes/streams. The problem is going to be finding a lake with brook trout close enough to the lakes with golden trout to get to on a relatively short trip.

I've also heard that the San Joaquin river holds all 4 of those trout so hiking in along the San Joaquin might be an option as well.

kayakfishermen · 06-01-2006, 12:53 PM

I think your hardest two fish to get together will be the golden and the brown. I would also edit it to be a natural slam (all natives). I've done it twice, it took a week though (I was on a week long backpacking trek with my scout troop)

If you are into driving and a lot of hiking, it shouldn't be a problem. In one day it will be tough. If you have a couple days and like backpacking, I could give you some more options.

For the Golden, you need to be above 10,000 ft for starters (higher is better). That would mean your entrance would be somewhere high like Rock Creek Lake, Bishop, or even maybe Sheperds Pass area.

Out of Bishop - I do know for a fact that you can catch the brown, brook, and rainbow out of Long Lake of of the South Lake Trailhead. ( I caught all three here). But to my knowledge the lake right before Bishop pass as well as the lakes in Dusy Basin don't have goldens (I will have to go back and look at pics). Out of North Lake, supposedly Loch Lleven lake has browns, never seen one caught though. I think leaving from North Lake and getting up over Paiute and heading north would be your best bet for Goldens in this area.

Rock Creek Lakes area is another option.

Supposedly the upper Hilton lake has goldens, and the lower ones have the other 3. I don't know since I've never hiked or fished the area. Its a crowded trail.

Tamarack is another option, but again its rumored that the upper lake has goldens mixed with brooks. I have never seen goldens mixed with brooks, the brooks eat the goldens.

Couple other lakes which might have the Goldens would be Dade, Treasure, or maybe the Upper Morgan lake.

As for gear, all my backcountry browns have come on rainbow color CD7. Brooks, rainbows, and goldens will hit the usual array of lures.

Wahoo! · 06-01-2006, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayakfishermen

I think your hardest two fish to get together will be the golden and the brown. I would also edit it to be a natural slam (all natives). I've done it twice, it took a week though (I was on a week long backpacking trek with my scout troop)

If you are into driving and a lot of hiking, it shouldn't be a problem. In one day it will be tough. If you have a couple days and like backpacking, I could give you some more options.

For the Golden, you need to be above 10,000 ft for starters (higher is better). That would mean your entrance would be somewhere high like Rock Creek Lake, Bishop, or even maybe Sheperds Pass area.

Out of Bishop - I do know for a fact that you can catch the brown, brook, and rainbow out of Long Lake of of the South Lake Trailhead. ( I caught all three here). But to my knowledge the lake right before Bishop pass as well as the lakes in Dusy Basin don't have goldens (I will have to go back and look at pics). Out of North Lake, supposedly Loch Lleven lake has browns, never seen one caught though. I think leaving from North Lake and getting up over Paiute and heading north would be your best bet for Goldens in this area.

Rock Creek Lakes area is another option.

Supposedly the upper Hilton lake has goldens, and the lower ones have the other 3. I don't know since I've never hiked or fished the area. Its a crowded trail.

Tamarack is another option, but again its rumored that the upper lake has goldens mixed with brooks. I have never seen goldens mixed with brooks, the brooks eat the goldens.

Couple other lakes which might have the Goldens would be Dade, Treasure, or maybe the Upper Morgan lake.

As for gear, all my backcountry browns have come on rainbow color CD7. Brooks, rainbows, and goldens will hit the usual array of lures.

Thanks for the advice. I'm definitely not thinking of doing this in 1 day. I'd like to keep it within 3 days and 2 nights if possible, but would be willing to extend if necessary. All natives is a good idea.

Hiking out of the Rock Creek trailhead really interests me - I love the area, but it would probably be a little more crowded that I'd like.

Although, having other people around might not be too bad since I haven't done this type of trip in over 5 years and this will be Chris' first multiday hike.

The South Lake trailhead would be great if we could verify goldens in the area somewhere.

As I get info in my research, I'll post to get some input. Thanks again!

PlatinumHooks · 06-01-2006, 01:47 PM

I've spoken to the DFG about this many times. If you wanna produce a "slam" whether you wanna call it a Grand slam or a natural slam or whatever;

#1 - If you are interested in having this count towards the DFG's very honorable Trout Heritage Program (which it would a shame to do this and have it not count), then you need to catch these "real" species in their designated "native" geographic niche. If you don't they don't count. Brooks or Browns are not native to California and will not count. If you're doing this just to say you caught all these species, then it's a different story.

#2 - Golden Trout (actual factual real species Golden Trout) can only be caught in certain areas. Unfortunately you will not find a "California Golden" or a "Little Kern Golden" in the Eastern Sierras(natively)...so again, unfortunately no, the JMT won't produce all those for you in the same region. Also, you don't have to catch Goldens above 10,000 ft.; I've caught them well below.

Wahoo! · 06-01-2006, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony"PltnmHooks"Z.

I've spoken to the DFG about this many times. If you wanna produce a "slam" whether you wanna call it a Grand slam or a natural slam or whatever;

#1 - If you are interested in having this count towards the DFG's very honorable Trout Heritage Program (which it would a shame to do this and have it not count), then you need to catch these "real" species in their designated "native" geographic niche. If you don't they don't count. Brooks or Browns are not native to California and will not count. If you're doing this just to say you caught all these species, then it's a different story.

#2 - Golden Trout (actual factual real species Golden Trout) can only be caught in certain areas. Unfortunately you will not find a "California Golden" or a "Little Kern Golden" in the Eastern Sierras(natively)...so again, unfortunately no, the JMT won't produce all those for you in the same region. Also, you don't have to catch Goldens above 10,000 ft.; I've caught them well below.

The sierra slam is something different from the DFG program. The challenge is to find and catch those 4 trout species in 1 trip in the sierras. The DFG program looks cool, but not what I'm looking to do on this trip - unless there are rainbows and browns in the Golden trout wilderness. I've never fished that area so I'm not sure what's available. The golden trout wilderness could be a good location for this if the other trout are available as well.

PlatinumHooks · 06-01-2006, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wahoo!

The sierra slam is something different from the DFG program. The challenge is to find and catch those 4 trout species in 1 trip in the sierras. The DFG program looks cool, but not what I'm looking to do on this trip - unless there are rainbows and browns in the Golden trout wilderness. I've never fished that area so I'm not sure what's available. The golden trout wilderness could be a good location for this if the other trout are available as well.

Oh, I see. Coastals (a.k.a. Rainbow Trout) are available there, but I'm pretty sure Browns are not there.

kayakfishermen · 06-01-2006, 03:38 PM

Yeah I highly doubt browns would exist there as well.

As for Goldens below 10,000 its a tough find on the Eastern side, the western side is a completely different story.

PlatinumHooks · 06-01-2006, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayakfishermen

Yeah I highly doubt browns would exist there as well.

As for Goldens below 10,000 its a tough find on the Eastern side, the western side is a completely different story.

KF,

Oh, I thought you meant anywhere. Sorry. I was talking more along the lines of the Kern/ Golden Trout Wilderness area in regards to being below 10,000.

Wahoo! · 06-01-2006, 04:08 PM

Ok, how about this -

Starting at Hummingbird Lake in the Hoover wilderness (just past saddlebag lake), continue through Lundy Pass to Odell Lake, then over to Helen Lake. Then climb the ridge to Shamrock, Excelsior and Steelhead and head back. If we don't find the goldens at Odell, just off the loop are other waters like the Conness Lakes with goldens so we could have a second chance at the goldens. The brooks and rainbows will be all through the loop. The only fish not in the loop are browns, but we could pick those up below the dam at saddlebag. This might be one of the better options for a weekend trip since the distance we'd have to cover is relatively short.

cst · 06-01-2006, 04:23 PM

sounds good. rainbows are an easy fish to find and we can go to one of the brown trout spots we hit last week.

Local Rookie · 06-01-2006, 04:54 PM

For a lot of hiking I would highly recommend purchasing the Kencor SP4-2V 4' 2 piece rated for 1-4lbs. You can take this bakpacking, its light, durable, and cast a great distance specially for a little 4' rod when required. I don't know if you remember mine?

For the reel, I like the shimano Sahara 750 FB. It has similar feature to the Stradic 1000FH. Its lightweight, compact and smooth!

For line, nothing can compare to the Sunline FC Sniper 2lb line. It an easy casting 100% Fluorocarbon line, solid knot strength (using the right knot), invisible in water.

Let me know when you guys are heading out there... depending on the time, I might be able to join you guys.

cst · 06-01-2006, 05:09 PM

what about clothing? how cold do you think it will be harold?

Local Rookie · 06-01-2006, 05:30 PM

If you guys are going in the summer, you can wear shorts

Anyway, incase it might be cold, I suggest getting a Columbia Omnidry convertible pants and shirt. I fished with this particular outfit in Lake Hemet and all the sudden it started to snow. All I can say the only thing that was cold was my hands and my ears. They are lightweight, they dry quickly, sun screened and they block a lot of wind. If its warm, you can roll up the sleeves, and convert your pants to shorts.

I would suggest a fishing vest to take on the trip or a fanny pack and put all your gear there. If that is not your forte, I would get a 1 litter hydration pack, or a small backpack and you can put your 4' 2piece rod inside, your reel, and other gear.

If you want to be extra careful, you an bring a Sierra Design 100% nylon rain jackets and pants. These are lightweight material that can be stored in a little pack the length of my hand. I take these with me whenever I go camping or out of the state/country - just in cast. Store some protein bars or maybe some snickers

and/or beef jerky and you should be set.