fishing the jmt

I highly recommend tenkara. I used to bring a spinning setup and it worked well in lakes but not so well on streams. Once I switched it was much easier to fish streams and it still worked good on lakes. The best part is how easy and simple it is to get set up and fishing.

If you're trying to do it on the cheap for your kids, you could try one of the options in this thread: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=77542

I bought a knockoff telescoping carbon rod somewhat resembling a tenkara setup on eBay for very little, and it worked reasonably well for me last summer in the Sierra.

On day seven of our JMT thruhike this year, our trail family of 5 found a nice campsite at the south end of Rosalie Lake. We were headed into Red's the next day for resupply so everyone was running somewhat low on food.

The lake was boiling with fish. I ran out to a small rock at the lakeshore and pulled in three sizeable trout within a few minutes. We filleted them and had a lovely dinner. As the sun went down, the fish only got more aggressive. It was so easy to catch fish and so fun to fight 12" brookies on a tenkara rod that after I landed ten or more and threw them back, I handed the rod off to each of the other four people I was hiking with and let them catch a fish. They each landed a fish within 15 minutes. Everyone was super happy to supplement their diet with fresh fish.

This is only one day. I caught over 300 fish on the trail, of which we ate a little more than 50.

I carried a 13' Fountainhead Stonefly Rod, a TrailLite Designs Ebira (cuben tenkara rod sleeve), an altoids tin with about 50 flies (only two patterns, an elk hair caddis and a sakasa kebari, both size 14), a small spool of tippet, and a fillet knife.

Total weight was 9 ounces. The California fishing license is steep but bringing a tenkara rod is definitely worth the weight.

Waiting for the ferry? Fish the inlet of Thomas Edison Lake.

There be giants in Marie Lake.

Lots of fishes in Rae Lakes.

I let this giant back at Silver Pass Lake. Couldn't kill such a beautiful fish.

The fish were very plentiful and hungry on the JMT when I was there. I took a 9' 4wt fly rod rather than my tenkara. My pack weight was still at 15 pounds plus food and water. I felt it was worth taking the fly rod, but the streams suit tenkara well so that is certainly an option. If I were buying a rod for the trip I would probably go with a short (6'?) 3 or 4 wt fly rod.

An ultralight spinning rod would work well too. You could fish spinners or flies with a bubble.

I didn't have any luck in the lakes, but caught fish in pretty much every stream. I didn't see or hear of anyone else having much luck in the lakes. I found the fish in the streams to not be very particular about fly selection and just used an elk hair caddis most of the time. They might have liked the little black ant that I briefly tried better, but it was harder for me to see so I went back to the elk hair caddis. I suspect that they would have hit just about any fly that was presented reasonably well, but the elk hair caddis was one that worked and was easy to fish, so if going again I'd take a bunch of them.

It's hard to tell but that last fish looks like a Golden / Rainbow hybrid… I don't eat those either. They're somewhat rare. For every 20 rainbows I catch I will catch 1 golden or a hybrid.

They're amazingly beautiful in person.

I am going to try a Tenkara outfit this year. But for the last, well three decades, I have fished with a spinning rig, with 2 lb. test and a fly bobber from Plastilite #23C. With bushes or rocks behind you can cast or flip this bobber, the bobber will release it line pinch and slide towards the hook once you set the hook. You can learn to guide that bobber down current into the feeding zone with a little practice. Enough weight for those long lake side cast as well. You do know the bigger ones are out in the middle. Hah,hah!
Last season a 9 year boy who was on his first backpacking trip, caught his first stream trout using this setup. Normal access for fly cast was very limited with the all bushes and trees. And throwing spinners was a waste of money in the stream.

Jeff

The biggest fish may be in the middle, but they're also at the bottom and probably not eating what you're throwing. In these high mountain lakes, fish circle the shores near the bugs waiting for mosquitoes, ants, and other stupid insects to fall in the water. During July and August, the mountain lakes along the JMT are extremely easy to fish with tenkara.

eric
help me help you by disclosing:
how versed are you at:
catching WILD trout?
fishing smallish trout streams?
using lures in streams?

the stream fishing is consistent & predictable
the lakes are less consistent, sometimes moody

to deepen your enjoyment of the whole experience, i recommend the bible on this subject,
Sierra Trout Guide by Ralph Cutter

Hi Brian. Just curious what Sierra Trout Guide looks like inside. Is it a primer on high mountain fishing in general, or a guide to specific streams and lakes in the Sierra? Thanks for the recommendation!

It is both of those. A soup-to-nuts study & natural history of trout in the range. It's not so much a how-to. It's very thorough on trout foods, and will enlighten you with the concept – for example – of "up-slope blow-in".

How qualified is Cutter? He has spend literally hundreds of hours observing trout while swimming alongside them in scuba gear in back country lakes! Sometimes making 2 trips from the trailhead to pack in the gear. "NUL" = non-ultralight ;)

And the quality of the photography is coffee-table-worthy. The index contains a species breakdown for most of the [named] lakes in the high sierra, itself a major undertaking.

Thanks – much better info than the description of amazon. Sounds like it would make a great Valentine's Day gift to myself.

+1 for Ralph and Lisa Cutter

His Sierra Trout Guide is priceless. His book "Fish Food" helps simplify and understand fish behavior. I have been on Sierra lakes using his advice and caught 10 in an hour while 3 others on either side got skunked. All you need is a couple of knots, I use double surgeons and uni-knot, learn to roll cast and your set. It doesn't have to be pretty. Tried Tenkara and went back to my western rig.

google california school of fly fishing

Brian
I am a novice at fishing. My fishing consists of an annual trip in the Pacific or the Gulf. I am open to any type of fishing. I am looking for lightweight gear that will not break the bank. My son and I took a fly fishing lesson. I realized how difficult that is. Any suggestions will be welcomed. I will pick up the recommended book.
Thanks
Eric

i would think the easiest, low maintenance approach is to use small spinners, like mepps or rooster tail or panther martin, in the 2 smallest sizes. with LW gear it will become clear whats works – retrieve upstream, let the current spin the blade, vary the speed / depth of retrieve, dont be shy about positioning yourself in the right spot, so that your cast and retrieve route cover the juicy spots. anything more than 4-6 lb test is overkill. smash down the barbs on the hooks, they'll be much easier to remove from fish and shirts, and since you will release many [too small etc] their mouths will be much less torn up. multi-piece or telescoping rods, the lighter the better, would be great. this is a much shorter learning curve than the flyrod.

** a golden from headwaters of the Kern near Forrester Pass, ~11,000 ft:

Brian,
Thanks! Again I am a novice. What is an LW and any specfic sites to purchase.
Eric

LW = Light Weight

Yes, please.

I have experience fishing with traditional fly and spinning rods, but no experience with tenkara. Looking for a good beginner tenkara setup that would be light enough to take on the JMT this summer.

Tenkara Bum Starter Kit.

Lots of info and a wide variety of gear.

Mainsteam Tenkara in the USA.

Unlimited Lifetime Guarantee. Higher cost. Limited choices. Good traditional tutorials.

Teton Tenkara The best “Rod Review” around.

There are a Lot of tenkara sites, but between these three, you will know what to look for.

Muchas gracias!

eric,
lightweight spinning gear is easy to find, sporting goods stores, big box stores, theres an endless supply of used rods in thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist.
a 6ft rod is plenty. i recommend a new, small, spinning reel, cos w/ used, reliability is an issue. get a lil practice w/ it ahead o time, you'll b glad u did!

I am new to backpacking light, signed up last night. I am "spur of the moment" planning a hike along the entire length of the JMT in July. I recently purchased a Sato Tenkara pole which arrived this week, dragged it to the top of Mt. Woodson today in hopes of casting in Poway Lake when I came down but was waaaayyyyy to tired. I have been HOPING there would be good fishing along the JMT as I have fished tons of lakes and streams in the Eastern Sierras over the past 20 years. Whalllaaaaa! You have confirmed it! Not that I can PLAN on eating fish, but supplementing sure would ease my fears. I will be hiking solo from South to North should my permit come through. Apparently it is quite a few days to the next resupply which makes me nervous.

Any fly tips? Beige caddis, mosquito fly, black ant after it rains….

How about lakes / streams? I hope EVERYWHERE is your answer! lol

Ah, Mt Woodson and Lake Poway – those are in my backyard. The fish along the JMT will be found in lakes and streams. They will be very eager to take a parachute adams, just as they are all along the High Sierra. That and an elk hair caddis should be in your fly box. Bring along a couple of nymph patterns (I like a hare's ear) and an ant pattern or two and you should be set to go.

Just about all of the streams had hungry trout. I used an elk hair caddis almost exclusively. I did try a black ant and thought they just might have liked it better, but it was harder for me to see and I caught fish on the elk hair caddis too so when I lost the ant I switched back to the caddis. I suspect that almost anything properly presented would work, but I never bothered to try anything else.

My understanding is that some of the lakes don't have any trout. Others do and I saw trout cruising along near the shore there, but I didn't have any luck with them. I saw others fishing the lakes and didn't see anyone catch any trout there. I didn't see anyone else fishing the small streams, but they were almost all teeming with small but very hungry trout.

Unless my experience was unusual, it will be pretty easy to supplement your meals with some trout. My experience is that if you can catch trout anywhere you can catch them on the JMT.

Oh and I am a self taught novice at fly fishing, who may have good instincts, but I certainly am not an especially skillful fishermen.

I will make sure I have the fly selections in my tool kit! I wish BPL had an automatic notification for answers to questions posed on the boards… I had no idea you guys responded!

So glad I found this site. Every day that passes I am more excited about this adventure and looking forward to realizing a long time dream!