Vacation Tuesday

We left Bridgeport and went to Bodie State Historic Park. The town of Bodie was named after Waterman S. Body (also known as Bodey) who discovered gold there in 1859. The change in spelling of the town has often been attributed to an illiterate sign painter, but it was a deliberate change by the citizenry to ensure proper pronunciation. Body died the following year and it was two more years before the site was rediscovered. In 1879 Bodie boasted a population of 10,000 and was second to none for wickedness, badmen, and "the worst climate out of doors". One little girl, whose family was taking her to the remote and infamous town, wrote in her diary: "Goodbye God, I'm going to Bodie". A phrase that became known throughout the West. More on this after I get back. I took a gazillion photos and will share a bunch.

After we left Bodie, drove to a little town called Lee Vining. Right on the edge of Yosemite National Park. Got our motel and wandered over to the local sports shop to find out where to fish. Lee Vining sits on the edge of Mono Lake. A lake reduced in size by the water being diverted to Los Angeles starting in 1941. The size of the lake has been reduced by 1/2 and the salinity has doubled. The change in the ecosystem of the lake caused calcium-carbonate spires and knobs to form and are now called Tufa Towers. I have pictures and more later.

Back to the sports shop. Mono Lake was obviously out, so the next option would be stream or lake. Guy sent me to a lake called Lundy Lake. Seven miles back and five miles up the canyon. Beautiful high mountain lake. Crystal clear water, surrounded by snow covered mountains, and fairly easy access. He said, fish with salmon eggs. I picked up a jar at the store (got to pay for info, you know) and drove over to the lake. On the way to the lake, I noticed a small stream running along side the road. More about that later. Got to the lake, set up where he said (left of the boat docks) and put out one rod with salmon eggs on a slip sinker rig. Yeh, the other one went out with Rainbow Power Bait. Who am I to listen to the locals that are supposed to know everything. You guys know me better than that.

The rig with the salmon eggs produced one nice fat 12", and I might add, beautifully colored Rainbow. Pictures of the fish in the water to follow. I released him for another day. But the Power Bait, the first one I caught was in the area of one to one and a half pounds and again, beautifully colored. I gave that one to some young ladies fishing next to me that had a few on a stringer and were taking them back home. The third one was smaller, about 11", so I released him for another day (pictures to follow). It was warm, but windy on the lake, so I called it after about 45 minutes. Gave the girls some info on the fluorocarbon leader, couple of cards for my blog and rolled down the road. By this time is was 1600 and the sun was dipping behind the mountains. Sun dips fast when the mountain is 8000 or 9000 ft.

But on the way back, I HAD to stop at that stream since I wouldn't be by here again. Rigged up my fly rod with floating line, a small red bait hook, and a pink Power Egg. I drifted a small area at a day use site and I think I had one hit right by a bunch of bushes hanging over the water. Tried a couple of smaller areas, but didn't see anything. Hard to get to the creek after that. Too many bushes on the side, no access.

Well, that's day 2. Today we're off to Bishop and planning to stop on the June Lake Loop and see what I can turn up there.

Till I can get back online.

Mark (Shoreman)