[ajgoodkids]

I used to fish, but it's been a while. I'd like to bring some gear on alpine lakes bp trips for c&r and maybe some eats. I'd love to bring both fly and spin gear, but I'm already heavy carrying for myself and two kids. I have reasonably light gear for either, about 1-1/4 pounds each. I like fly fishing on streams, but I've never had any luck at all with flies in lakes. Back when, I had good success with spinners in lakes. Question 1: Fly or spin? I only carry an MSR stove and two small pots. My largest pot lid is 5 inches across at its bottom. If I actually catch something larger than 5 inches, and we actually decide to eat it, I suppose I could cut the fish up and use the lid as a frying pan. Question 2: Any other cooking suggestions?

[Vine Maple Victim]

The answer to the fly or spin question is another question: how much do you REALLY want trout for dinner? If you really want to eat, you'll need a couple standard spinners, mepps aglia, rooster tails, panther martins, a super-duper, and some powerbait. With all that, you're pretty much guaranteed a fish, if there is a good population. For flyfishing in lakes, either cast a dry fly like an elk hair caddis to a likely spot, or cast a sinker like a dragonfly/damselfly nymph (wooly bugger) or a golden hare's ear nymph. Those are the only patterns I've ever caught trout on. For cooking, I do what you are thinking: use the lid as fry pan, and if they're to big, cut 'em in half. In the backcountry, there's not much need for presentation Brian

[MtnGoat]

Hooking injuries are far higher on bait and spinners, so if you intend to let smaller ones go, or catch and release anyway, flies are a lot easier on the fish population. Mortality among fish caught on bait and released is 60-70% from the studies I've seen, because fish swallow the bait and not only is it very hard to remove the hook without damage, during the fight they sustain internal injuries to esophagus, stomach, gills, etc, so even if you let them go they are not in good shape. Todays regs reflect this, fish caught on bait count as part of your catch limit even if you release them because they probably will not survive. Spinning gear is easier on them, personally, I'd cut all but one hook off trebles and debarb them too. If you're getting strikes one hook works fine anyway! Of course I may have revealed myself as a fly snob of sorts, but then I get pretty good results with flies only, I stopped carrying my spinning outfit years ago. Injuries are minimized, especially with dry flies (the floating type) since the fish's approach to surface feeding is usually an upwards dash followed by a simultaneous bite for the fly and a sharp turn to get back down deep quickly. Most of the time, when you land the fish the fly is hooked right near the jawline and very easy to remove without damage. Dry flies I use: orange and brown "attractor" patterns, Joes Hopper, Bivisible, parachute bug, caddis, and bead head nymphs if they are not feeding on the surface.

[Odonata]

If you can get away with a small cooking fire, nothing beats fish wrapped in tin foil w/butter and spices. De-bones easily after meat is tender. Sometimes I bring a cheap 12" teflon frying pan with no handle and tin foil lid. Use leather gloves to handle pan. Makes me wonder if you can judge the angler by the size of his pan? For gear, I would recomend a gold bouyant spoon w/single barbless hook and black,brown or olive woolly buggers. Wee Dick Nights (really, thats their name) can be good too. I imagine you could quickly fill up a tool box with gear if everyone made suggestions. You usually don't need too much gear( in my opinion), some PCT hikers carry their tackle in a Tic Tac container. Sometimes we need to cut the fish in pieces even with the 12" pan. Like VMV said about presentation, high-lake trout aren't usually known for their pickiness. Whoops, read VMV wrong, its the humans that don't need presentation! Good Luck! -DH

[MtnGoat]

I second the foil and butter in the coals method, IMO by far the best tasting way to chow on trouts.

[Brian Curtis]

If you are a casual angler I recommend spinning gear. You can still fish a fly with a bubble. By far, the most fun way to catch fish is with fly gear, but it isn't always practical so I carry both. I just stick my spinning reel on a fly rod.

[Odonata]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one breaking the rule of not using spin gear w/fly rods . Makes things much less complicated when switching methods.

[Brian Curtis]

I have never seen anyone else do that. Nice to finally meet someone else! I would never have believed this (and, in fact didn't), had I not tasted the results myself, but the absolute best way to cook a large fish is to throw it straight on the coals. It has to have its head still on, but the coals peel off with the skin and the fish tastes absolutely fantastic. None of that is practical in areas where you can't, or shouldn't, have a fire, of course. I carry a light weight cake pan that serves as my fry pan. I carry a bit of oil and cover the fish with foil. I'll use different sets of spices depending on my mood when packing.

[Tom]

[Brian Curtis]

Yes, you turn the fish over. That is the hard part. Experience, more than anything else, tells you when it is done. You are pretty much committed to flipping it without testing and if you flip it too soon you have to let it cook longer on side 2.

[Newt]

So what do you backpackin' fishermen suggest for a decent spin or fly pack pole? Thanks, NN

[salish]

I usually fly fish in most high lakes, but I also use spinning gear on occasion if the terrain makes it really difficult to cast. I used to do what Brian does and simply put a lightweight spinning reel on my loomis 9' 5wt, but last year I bought a cheapo 7.5' W&M spin/fly combo rod with the handle that reverses and it works very well. For $39.99 it casts every bit as well as my expensive (as in 2nd mortgage costs) rods and if I break it I'm not going to go into a deep funk. These combo spin/fly rods used to be atrocious - I know because I have owned a couple of them in the past, but these latest generation rods have a fast tip and can really throw a 5 wt line. My success with flies is usually with traditional wet flies such as hares ears, pheasant tail, zug bugs, prince nymphs, etc. If I'm working a rocky ledge with a deep drop off I'll use the above flies in a bead head pattern. I usually fish them off a floating line with 10-12' leader. I sometimes fish dries but I tend to have more luck with wets. I think one pattern that should never be ignored on high lakes are terrestrials. I like to carry black & cinnamon ants, and some foam beetles, and a couple of hopper patterns. If I fish dries it's usually #12 to #16 para adams, yellow humpies, and elk hair caddis. I think mountain lakes have their share of chironimids, too, and although I carry quite a few, I get bored fishing them. I also have a 10' sink tip line which I sometimes use, but it's really more at home when trolling from a tube or raft. For spinning gear I use the Quantum MS00 reel (4-something oz) with 4 lb Berkley ultralthin line (discontinued). My lures of choice are 1/12 & 1/8 oz Kastmasters, Z-Rays, and other spoons. I also use Mepps Spin flies. I almost always remove the trebles and put on single siwash hooks, and pinch the barbs down. I don't think I've ever lost a fish because of using a single barbless hook (I've lost plenty because of my own stupidity) and if I want to release my fish I almost always can that way. One of my favorite ways to fish spinning gear is with a casting bubble and a wet fly on the end, especially a bead head nymph. I'm going to have to try Brian's way of cooking fish. I've heard of it, just never tried it. I also use foil to cook fish with butter and lemon pepper, but my favorite way is the old fashioned way with the trout rolled in corn meal or cracker crumb and cooked in a frying pan with lard or bacon grease. I know that will chill most people, but sometimes I think that may be what the creator had in mind when it comes to cooking trout. The foil method is a heck of a lot easier to clean up after, though.

[Vine Maple Victim]

I use a combo spin/fly rod as well, it's a pflueger 4 peice. Works quite nicely. It's probably more of a spinning rod than a fly rod, but I don't think I've ever not caught fish cuz I didn't have a real fly rod. Plus, with a well placed double haul I can usually get my 6 weight line far enough out. Brian

[RainierRidgeRunner]

Is flyfishing harder than regular reel fishing? My daddy took me fishing once but I casted a spoon and caught my daddy's cheek prior to release. Needless to say, daddy never took me fishing again.

[salish]

I don't think it is, especially if you are new to fishing. If you already spin fish you have to get used to a whole new concept which is quite different from what you are used to. And I personally feel that females are quicker to learn than men, since they don't try to muscle the rod around like a guy tends to do. It's an asthetically beautiful sport. It doesn't take much effort or money to get started and if you are really interested your best bet would probably be to contact a local fly angling club or a good fly shop and ask for some casting lessons. there are also lessons taught at Greenlake that have probably been going on for 40 years or more. I can give you some info on clubs and shops if you would care to send a private message. Good luck. Cliff