The Emigrant Wilderness
 

June 21, 2003
Time:10:00am- 5:00pm
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Cool
Water Level: High
Insects Observed: None
Hours fished: ~6
# of fish caught: 0 at Camp, 10+ at Bear

Looking back at the year, I see that I my fishing records have been somewhat lacking this year. These trip reports on the Pish Page serve as entertainment to most but to me they’re my fishing notes. If it doesn’t get written here, then most likely it doesn’t get written anywhere. That’s bad. My memory isn’t what it used to be and often I can’t remember a trip and which flies and techniques worked some months later. I’m writing this two weeks late and already the trip is starting to fade…..

Fishing Camp Lake isn’t what it used to be. Fish and game hasn’t planted in years and fish don’t seem to be fairing well. This year, for the first time we were skunked at Camp. This wasn’t unexpected or disappointing but it was sad. Sad because this was once a great fishery. Especially for kids.

We fished Camp Lake for just over an hour and hiked further on to Bear Lake. Bear was somewhat crowded and we ran into 2 or 3 groups of campers and fishers. My brother in law and I made our way to the inlet stream which feeds Bear. There were fewer fish than last year but in a very short time we were both into fish. The fishing wasn’t terribly difficult but had to be accomplished with stealth. The water was crystal clear and the fish a tad spooky. Miss a fish and you’d better tie on a different fly or come back in an hour or two.

We fished the inlet down to the lake. We would sight fish mostly, look for fish to drop a fly in front of. We both fished bead head Princes and if we were patient and timed the hook set right, this worked.

The big fish of the day was 13 inches, the average was 7. The catch rate was good.
 

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