I call it Fishing on the Wild Side. It is my version of adding a little extra adventure to a fishing outing. Fishing the wild side has taken me on some unforgettable escapades, sometimes incredible, occasionally a little frightening, but never boring.
The first step is to scour a topographical map https://wildfishingman.com/best-ice-fishing-line/ of an area you want to visit. For me that is almost always California's rugged Sierra Nevada. Before long I spot a lake, or possibly a stretch of river, that matches my criteria of what constitutes a good wild side fishing destination.
My favorite lakes or streams are the ones that, because of their location, are overlooked my most anglers. Sometimes they have no name. Often they are small. They are not on the way to anything else. Usually they are just far enough off the beaten track that most fishermen overlooked, dazzled by other, closer, larger, or more famous bodies of water. Sometimes they are tucked away up a side-canyon only a mile from one of the big attractions. Every year thousands of anglers toss their hooks into the Virginia Lakes near Yosemite, but how many bother to trek less than half a mile up to Moat Lake? If they did, they would have a chance at some golden trout.