This post brought to you by the photo prompt
“Most Un-Frame Worthy Outdoor Photo You Got”
from the Outdoor Blogger Network (OBN)
Let’s be clear. Fishing small high-country streams means the trophies taken home are usually limited to skinned knees, a sore back or scratches inflicted by any one or multiple species of vegetation.
Those who ask how the fishing was probably won’t understand that the trip is more than just fishing. It’s fishing that entails a walk that, longer than expected, become a hike; the stalking of trout so skittish its remarkable they aren’t afraid of the bugs they eat; and the creation of memories that draw a fisherman back time after time.
Where I fish, at elevations of 6,000-plus feet in the Sierra Nevadas and often above 8,000 feet, there are incredible opportunities to sink back into forests most notable for the lack of human visitation. In the small creeks and rivers found under lodgepole and western white pines, red firs, mountain hemlock and aspens, wild trout live a hardscrabble life during a summer that rarely lasts more then eight weeks. The small size of these trout truly belies their spirit.
But that’s not why they don’t end up in a framed photo on my wall. These trout are so darn small that holding a fish in one handle while using the other to fiddle with camera’s macro setting invariably results in a photo that’s too fuzzy to be called “arty” of a fish that would be a snack for what’s traditionally deemed a trophy trout.
But since so many of these high-country trout to obligingly rise to any of the customary trout flies, seemingly regardless of size, the outcome of a photo op can be a bit unpredictable.
the photo that shall not be framed
However, the one photo that will never be framed I also hesitate to share in the blogosphere. Because the fish is so small? Because the photo is so blurry? Yes to both questions.
…but mostly because I don’t know what the heck it might be it’s not a trout.
From the South Fork of the Tuolumne River: Pikeminnow? Squawfish? Hardhead? Your guess?
P.S. I’ve since upgraded to a better and waterproof camera to compensate for my lack of photographic skill.
fishing for words 
March 23, 2011 at 8:11 am
Hey Patrick. I have to agree with you about the little ones in the high mountain creeks. Last year I fished several up the highway 50 & 88 corridors and they were all small, but fun to catch when they rise to that dry placed just so. -Mark
March 23, 2011 at 9:20 am
Absolutely Mark…I’m hoping to get up to Beaver Creek early in the season for some of those small but willing trout. Never been, told it’s fun.
March 23, 2011 at 9:07 am
I’m gonna go with Squawfi— er…Pikeminnow, mainly because I don’t know what a hardhead is in terms of fish species. Although the photo is SO bad it’s hard to make out the details necessary for proper identification. 😉 I’ve caught a few, though much larger (like a whopping 7-10 inches).
March 23, 2011 at 9:24 am
Sure about that size? Could it be an optical illusion with those undersized mitts of yours?
March 23, 2011 at 10:22 am
I’d say your top fish was indeed ambitious and a tad on the over zealous side. Or just really hungry! Hopefully you meet up with his bigger than his britches attitude again when he’s all grown up.
As for that unknown bambino. I’d say in politically correct terms–pikeminnow and it has the minnow part down pat.
And I agree with you, Kirk’s calculations on the size of a fish can no longer be a trusted estimate of anything…
Glad you shared these!
March 23, 2011 at 11:29 am
I love the title “from the writing prompt.” Nicholas and Nathan are up to their eyeballs in writing prompts at school…have to show them Uncle Pat does them too! 🙂
Enjoyed the blog and photos!
March 23, 2011 at 10:39 pm
Wow, tough TOUGH crowd here today!