In the Sierra: Intake II fishing derby. Part 1

The five Rainbow Anglers headed out toward the Sierras. We each prepared ourselves to win the rainbow trout tournament. El perico, who more often than not, returns empty-handed, was in good spirits. Lil Dave was relaxed and ready to claim the first place. El dormido, the current champion,  was still in high spirits over having vanquished, Bob, the Trout Slayer. He persistently taunted him on his loss, " You are all washed up Bob.  You can't handle it anymore". For his part, Bob, who enjoys the give and take, was mostly silent, taking it all in. This was not at all like him. For my part, I concentrated on driving, maintaining the peace and taking in the beauty of the drive. As we approached Lone Pine along the mighty Sierra Nevada, we decided to make a pit stop at the Visitor's Center facing Mount Whitney.

Javier was very eager to get started, ever since he earned the championship during the
Mammoth Lakes Challenge Cup by besting the long time title holder, Bob. "I opened up a can of
whip ass and laid it all over him," he boasted to this reporter. 

Lil Dave on the left is a recent member of the team. During the few tournaments he has
 attended, he has consistently placed second. His enthusiasm for fishing is contagious, 
he is positive and always willing to assist other anglers. David is eager to give advice, 
share his magic dust-fish attractor or share his snacks and cold beers. When Javier stole 
his bag of snacks, he just said "Go ahead.  Take as much as you want" which he did.

El perico, on the right, seems to be the one who brings everything: a small refrigerator with 
deli food, maintained at a constant temperature, his medications, boutique lounge chair 
and slippers.The first thing he does is find a shady spot near the lake to set up his chair. 
He won't move from there for the duration of the tournament. No wonder he is always last... 

Bob is the senior member of the team, he eats, dreams, drinks and lives fishing. He fishes
 about 300 days a year. Some of the locations where he fishes, want to charge him rent. As far
as we know, he was undefeated in tournaments until el dormido unleashed an assault on him
 and walked away with the championship. Bob was just overconfident! After the 
loss he seems lethargic and on a decline. But we are all pulling for him.

Bob finally broke his silence, "Let's stop at Baker's Pond and see what's biting." Everyone eagerly agreed. We made a left turn on Baker Road, just as we passed the town of Big Pine. Soon we were at the waters edge, casting out power bait, gigs, plastic worms and rat tails tempting those fussy rainbow trouts into our custody.

Baker's Creek feeds this small pond.  It's an ideal place to catch some lunkers for lunch. 
Just as we were getting ready to leave, the Department of Fish and Game showed up.

... and deposited a tankful of rainbow trout for our enjoyment.We fished here 
a while longer before continuing towards Intake II for tomorrow's challenge. 

Stay tuned for part II.