[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by Dezert4Runner

I just searched juvenile rainbow and they also have the parr marks. Seems like both species as juveniles are very close in apprearance.

You might be right. It's hard to tell but the tail on your fish is pretty square. Brooks tend to have more of a v in the tail. I'm sure an actual biologist could tell you, I'm just some dude who fishes a lot. lol

I forgot to say congrats on the Slam before. It's pretty cool to do. There's more then a few drainages in the Sierra where it's possible. Rock creek is the most accessible and has some of the shortest hikes to make it happen. Plus it's a damn pretty cirque back there.

If you ever want any fishing or wheeling advise feel free to ask. I almost named the thread "theesotericone's Unofficial East Side Questions" thread. I wouldn't trade where I live for anywhere else in the US. I've traveled all over it climbing so that's saying a lot.

Originally Posted by Unner

It's about time! I don't think I've seen but one picture of your rig, but I also don't frequent the What did you do today thread.

Looking forward to see where all the rig will take you! It's fun just taking the truck out and wheeling it/exploring and not trying to build it at the same time. So far for me it's been mostly maintenance and a few small mods here and there but a lot more trips this past year.

Yeah, it is about time I guess. My New Years resolution was to get better about taking photo's and organizing them. I'm only 9 months late starting that. But you know, things like climbing, fishing and wheeling tend to get in the way. Plus the wife and work. The real 4 letter words. lol

You should frequent the What Did thread more. It's actually a great thread. A guy with your experience could lend a hand or some ideas to the thread. It's got some good content albeit spread over a lot of pages.

[Dezert4Runner]

Originally Posted by theesotericone

You might be right. It's hard to tell but the tail on your fish is pretty square. Brooks tend to have more of a v in the tail. I'm sure an actual biologist could tell you, I'm just some dude who fishes a lot. lol

I forgot to say congrats on the Slam before. It's pretty cool to do. There's more then a few drainages in the Sierra where it's possible. Rock creek is the most accessible and has some of the shortest hikes to make it happen. Plus it's a damn pretty cirque back there.

If you ever want any fishing or wheeling advise feel free to ask. I almost named the thread "theesotericone's Unofficial East Side Questions" thread. I wouldn't trade where I live for anywhere else in the US. I've traveled all over it climbing so that's saying a lot.

Looking at some more photos, the Brook Trout have mostly yellow spots as their base pattern and some red circled in blue spots mixed in. Rainbows have all black spots as their base pattern along with the pink stripe so I've concluded that this one was a young Rainbow. The parr markings are now in my vocabulary, so thanks for that tid bit of info!

Regarding the fishing spots and trails, I really appreciate the insight. You know how fishing is, you might give up some of your good spots but the best ones are your ace up the sleeve that you only share with your closest friends. That was only my third time in the Sierras fishing, and my first being in 2014. Only make it up there once a year if that so it will probably be next summer for fishing but might possibly head out to the southern ranges like Coyote Flat or Kennedy Meadows for some off roading and camping in the cooler months when it's passable after the snow melts later in the spring.

First photo is a more colorful Brook Trout from this trip, and second and third photos are from 2014, all at the same lake (Hidden Lake):

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by Dezert4Runner

Regarding the fishing spots and trails, I really appreciate the insight. You know how fishing is, you might give up some of your good spots but the best ones are your ace up the sleeve that you only share with your closest friends.

My "secret" spots are pretty easy to find if you look. They 're all also more then 8 miles from the nearest trailhead. Well not all of them but most of them. If there's good lakes that you can 4x4 to I'm more than happy to share them. The stevenojal site you linked above has been a resource I've used for years. It's a great site. To find the secret lakes get a topo map and use his site. Any lakes he doesn't have labeled that are over 10,000' are worth checking out. There's a lot of lakes that DFG lists as "fishless". It's a joke. One of my favorite lakes is "fishless" status. I keep catching these 16" Goldens out of it though.

Nice choice on the mini-jig. I fish them 80% of the time. The other 20% is spent chucking my flyrod. My mini-jig rod is a 9' rig with 3lb test. 2lb works but I fish a lot of lakes around Bishop that hold big fish. That extra pound allows me to get them in a little quicker so there healthier for release. With that setup I can huck a 1/32oz jig as far as most guys can huck a kastmaster.


This is a 9lb 6oz hog I pulled out of South Lake in 2012. The biggest Rainbow I have ever landed. I tried to release it for about ten minutes but he couldn't swim away. I finally gave up and had a buddy smoke him.

[Dezert4Runner]

Originally Posted by theesotericone

My "secret" spots are pretty easy to find if you look. They 're all also more then 8 miles from the nearest trailhead. Well not all of them but most of them. If there's good lakes that you can 4x4 to I'm more than happy to share them. The stevenojal site you linked above has been a resource I've used for years. It's a great site. To find the secret lakes get a topo map and use his site. Any lakes he doesn't have labeled that are over 10,000' are worth checking out. There's a lot of lakes that DFG lists as "fishless". It's a joke. One of my favorite lakes is "fishless" status. I keep catching these 16" Goldens out of it though.

Nice choice on the mini-jig. I fish them 80% of the time. The other 20% is spent chucking my flyrod. My mini-jig rod is a 9' rig with 3lb test. 2lb works but I fish a lot of lakes around Bishop that hold big fish. That extra pound allows me to get them in a little quicker so there healthier for release. With that setup I can huck a 1/32oz jig as far as most guys can huck a kastmaster.


This is a 9lb 6oz hog I pulled out of South Lake in 2012. The biggest Rainbow I personally have ever landed. I tried to release it for about ten minutes but he couldn't swim away. I finally gave up and had a buddy smoke him.

That's a monster Rainbow! I'm not much of a fresh water fisherman but I do get out and spearfish every now and the and do some sport boat fishing for Yellowfin, Yellowtail and Dorado offshore, and Calico Bass, Sheephead, Halibut and rockfish inshore depending on the time of year.

We were using the 1/64 Trout traps on 2-4 lb line with a 6.5-7ft ultralight rods. Got the job done! We weren't having any luck with the dry flies on a 2ft leader with a clear bobber like we did in trips past, so it was crucial to master the mini jigs to get our fish count! We were striking out on Kastmasters and Thomas Bouyants too. All the stuff that works at our local lakes with stocked trout is hit or miss in the Sierras. Too many seasonal factors with these wild trout and what bugs they're eating and also the water thaw/ flow conditions are factors depending on the area.

[BigFishAllDay]

The ichthyological information posted in this thread so far has been tough for me to read.

1. Rainbows and cutthroats are spring spawners, while browns and brook trout are fall spawners. In nature you will never see a cross between two species which spawn at opposite times of year. Even at high elevations, their spawning seasons are separated by a month or more. Cutt-bows, sure. Tiger trout (brook/brown), sure. Rain-brook... no way. Cutt-brown... nope.

2. Brook trout have square tails, not a v. A common nickname for them is "squaretail", look it up.

3. VERMICULATIONS. That is the only word you need to know when it comes to identifying a brook trout. Only brookies and lake trout have them. Brookies and lakers are both fall spawners, which sometimes cross in nature to produce a fish known as a Splake, which would make for a third possibility. Lakers and splake both have a deeply forked tail, aka a "v", in the tail. Brookies have square tails.

That is all. I had to get it out of my system.

[Dezert4Runner]

Originally Posted by BigFishAllDay

The ichthyological information posted in this thread so far has been tough for me to read.

1. Rainbows and cutthroats are spring spawners, while browns and brook trout are fall spawners. In nature you will never see a cross between two species which spawn at opposite times of year. Even at high elevations, their spawning seasons are separated by a month or more. Cutt-bows, sure. Tiger trout (brook/brown), sure. Rain-brook... no way. Cutt-brown... nope.

2. Brook trout have square tails, not a v. A common nickname for them is "squaretail", look it up.

3. VERMICULATIONS. That is the only word you need to know when it comes to identifying a brook trout. Only brookies and lake trout have them. Brookies and lakers are both fall spawners, which sometimes cross in nature to produce a fish known as a Splake, which would make for a third possibility. Lakers and splake both have a deeply forked, aka v, in the tail. Brookies have square tails.

That is all. I had to get it out of my system.

BFAD--> <--me

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by BigFishAllDay

That is all. I had to get it out of my system.

LMAO. Thanks for clearing that up for us. I can't believe I mixed up the tails of Lakers and Brooks. I grew up back east and caught both all the time. Epic fail.

To make it up to you I re-did the OP to better reflect the style of this site so well crafted by you and many others. Hope that passes mustard. lol

[BigFishAllDay]

Originally Posted by Dezert4Runner

BFAD--> <--me

Originally Posted by theesotericone

LMAO. Thanks for clearing that up for us. I can't believe I mixed up the tails of Lakers and Brooks. I grew up back east and caught both all the time. Epic fail.

To make it up to you I re-did the OP to better reflect the style of this site so well crafted by you and many others. Hope that passes mustard. lol

I couldn't stand the idea of you two standing in a tackle shop showing people pictures of your trophy Rainbrooks. I had to save you from what would surely have ended with them laughing you right out of the shop.

Do you guys know about using beer to catch the big ones?

[Dezert4Runner]

Originally Posted by BigFishAllDay

I couldn't stand the idea of you two standing in a tackle shop showing people pictures of your trophy Rainbrooks. I had to save you from what would surely have ended with them laughing you right out of the shop.

Do you guys know about using beer to catch the big ones?

Attachment 264756

Like I said, I'm a saltwater guy! I'm pleading ignornace lol. No luck fishing with the cerveza for me but this fish liked Diet A&W
The largest male Sheephead is 10.8 lbs and the pink one (female) at the top is a 2 lb legal sized one for reference. Second photo is the full catch for the trip diving in the local kelp beds just outside of the surf with me and a buddy. Any of you guys want to get on some fish in SoCal (saltwater, of course) let me know!

[theesotericone]

Originally Posted by Dezert4Runner

Any of you guys want to get on some fish in SoCal (saltwater, of course) let me know!

I'd be down for sure. Last time I made it down was 2015. We killed the Yellowtail and got a couple of Bluefin in the boat. The fish where holding really close. I don't think we ever went more then a mile out of Dana Point.

Do you have access to a boat or you thinking charter? Let me know when the fish are on and we'll get something together.

[Dezert4Runner]

Originally Posted by theesotericone

I'd be down for sure. Last time I made it down was 2015. We killed the Yellowtail and got a couple of Bluefin in the boat. The fish where holding really close. I don't think we ever went more then a mile out of Dana Point.

Do you have access to a boat or you thinking charter? Let me know when the fish are on and we'll get something together.

2015 was the best year of fishing I can remember. We caught Yellowfin about 5 miles off of Carlsbad. Most of the time you have to go out at least 10-20 miles to get into the palegics in the summer unless you fish out of Point Loma in San Diego but people were catching fish all up and down the coast as close as you did. I saw my first hammerhead circling our boat too! My buddy knows a guy that took us out in his 18ft center console boat, but he only goes last minute when the bite is red hot and during the week so it's hard to coordinate trips with
him.

I only have full time access to a tandem sea kayak or have to go on a sport boat for a 1/2 or 3/4 day trip. They run them all the time in the summer so you don't have to charter a boat if you just want to get a quick trip in. Usually make reservations a week or two out and fish on a Saturday morning. I usually fish out of Dana Point myself since Groupon runs discounted tickets regularly. Kayak fishing can be good in the kelp beds if you bring some plastic swim baits and some squid, but can only do it when the surf is flat or it's a biotch to make it out past the breakers. I know of some good shore fishing spots for Spotfin Croaker and Corbina too. Just depends on what you want to target.

[theesotericone]

Just got an email from Savage that my hi-lift mount shipped. Also ordered a few more rotopax goodies for the rear bumper. And that nifty rotopax water spigot from Go Westy(thanks @Dirtco for that). Plus some AC Delco steering rack bushings to fix the blown apart Energy Suspension one.

I have a trip planned for Sat-Mon to go to Cal Dome to do a bit of climbing and a bit of fishing. Not really a wheeling trip but I'm sure I'll find some way to get off the beaten path. Hopefully all this stuff gets here so I can get it on by Friday night.

I was debating on adding an aux tank and still might in the future. For now though, there will be 6 gallons of gas and 4 gallons of water mounted on the rear bumper. That should be enough gas to get me another 90 miles in a pinch.

This weekend will be the first real camping test of the system so I'm pretty stoked. Plus Cal Dome is a hidden gem of Cali climbing. It's big. It's steep. It's hard. It's not crowded. It's perfect basically. lol

[theesotericone]

Just got done installing my extended bump stops. Super easy and kinda cheap. My kind of set-up.

I purchased some Daystar 4 1/2" bump stops from Amazon warehouse for pretty cheap. About 35 bucks for like new condition. They where indeed like new. Not a scratch.

They compress to 2 1/2" under load. Since my rear is about 4" over stock I decided to use some 2" x 2" .12 wall hot rolled steel tubing. The Daystars have a larger stud then the factory mounts anyway and I didn't want to drill it like some guys do(looking at you @AssBurns lol). I also purchased the steel from Amazon for 12 bucks for 24". So out the door I'm looking at 47 bucks for bump stops. Not bad.

First measure and drill the steel. I used a 3/8 bit for the factory stud and the daystar stud cause I couldn't find my 5/16th to drill the factory side with. Next I drilled a 1" hole with a hole saw on the sides to allow access to tighten the unit. Then I cut the steel with my angler grinder to 5". The Daystar bumps determine that for you. Notice I cut the steel last? It's way easier to drill into a 24" piece of steel then a 5" piece. This isn't my first rodeo.

After the prep it was just a matter of bolting them on. Eventually I'll get under there and cut the front and rear top sides of the mount and bend it up to keep them from spinning. My dremels at work and there tight enough for now.

[Unner]

I did something very similar for my rear bump stops. I wouldn't worry about doing anything to them to keep them from rotating. They only see forces in the vertical direction. I've had mine on there for 50k+ miles and they haven't moved at all I haven't touched them since I installed them either.

[xdustin]

Feel like I stumbled into my future. A build thread with pictures of gorgeous fish! Exactly what I'm hoping to bring to the table in the near future as well!! All my catches have been much smaller, but only got my fly rod a month or so ago and have been out a couple of times.