Fish Hatchery

Saturday morning Chad, Maggie and I took a little drive up to Friant to check out the San Joaquin Fish Hatchery. This specific hatchery is one of the largest in the state and produces fish for lakes and streams all over Northern, Central and Southern California. The focus is on varieties of rainbow trout, but there is a small hatchery there for Kokanee salmon as well. We were able to feed the fish and they loved us for it. Walking along the troughs we saw small, medium, large and double-big-gulp-super-sized monsters that would pop my arm off if I caught one on my fishing line. Apparently some of the larger fish in the hatchery are 3+ years old and weigh over 10 pounds. Hello! Anyway, the three of us spent the morning watching and feeding the bigger fish before going inside to see the actual hatchery with the little baby fish. They look like feeder fish and there are billions of them. Before we left we got to see a man (I don't know if he was a ranger or just a regular State employee, but he was a man so...) drive a golf cart type thing along the rows of troughs. This little car had a mechanical spout that shot food out at the fish. When his cart came near the fish they went wild, splashing, frantically swimming and acting like crazy happy fish. It was interesting to watch and a neat way to end our fun morning at the hatchery.

Weaver Lake

For the past five years Chad, my dad and their friend Mike go fishing at some point during the month of June. And they always go to Jennie Lake. It's a strenuous hike of nearly 11 miles round-trip. For the most part the lake is secluded so they can fish in peace, eat a sack lunch, and mentally prepare for the hike back down the mountain in the afternoon. There have been some years where they've encountered lots of snow on the trail and some years with very little. This year was one of the former and upon arrival they found that the only choice they had was to hike to a different spot. Weaver Lake is where they ended up going and, because of the amount of snow on the trails, Weaver became the landing spot for lots of other fishermen and campers too. 

Maybe they'll give Jennie another shot next year.

Shaver Lake Thanksgiving

Our family had a great Thanksgiving at Shaver Lake. We played games, fed the ducks at the lake, walked around the shops in town, spent some time at the swing, and overall had a nice long weekend with the family. The weather was cool and wintery and it even snowed the second night of our stay. The one bummer: A nasty stomach flu bug made the rounds between the two cabins and 19 of the 21 of us there caught it at some point. Fortunately it was a quick illness and didn't put a damper on our weekend.

Busy Weekend

Chad and I spent the weekend with my parents at Shaver Lake. Saturday after breakfast we headed to the lake where we rented a pontoon boat for the afternoon. We trolled for awhile and I actually caught a fish. I can't brag about my technique or my mad skills because really, I have no idea when it happened. We decided to take a break from fishing and he was hooked on my line when I reeled in. Surprise! The golden-green colored bass was small, I'd say only about 8-10 inches or so.
After a quick photo op we let him go.

Sunday we woke up early and fished at Huntington Lake. We didn't have much luck but the view was nice! After fishing we were off to the annual Loggers Jamboree back at Shaver Lake. We had lunch and watched a chainsaw and a handsaw competition. It was quite a sight. I'm glad we went.

Camping

Here's where we spent our weekend. Friday afternoon we drove to Hume Lake in the Sequoia National Forest to a campsite we reserved near the lake. Immediately after we arrived we unloaded the car and set up the tent so we could explore for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Before dark we managed to walk around the entire lake and then make dinner at our camp. Saturday we fished for a good part of the day, sat at the lake and enjoyed the views, ate lunch at the snack bar, walked around the campgrounds and listened to a talk from a naturalist about birds. Sunday morning we fished some more before packing up our camp and heading off. On the way home we stopped by Grant's Grove to see the General Grant tree, the third largest tree in the world.

Jennie Lake

This weekend my dad, Chad, and a friend went on their annual hiking and fishing trip to Jennie Lake. It's an 11-mile hike and from the tales they tell it's a grueling but fun trip to a remote area in our local mountains. They each caught their limit of rainbow trout and enjoyed the day spent in the mountains. Here's a photo of the three taken by a camper there that day.