Eventually, all things merge into one . . .

With my best fishing buddy at a super-private, friends-only, ultra-secret pond stocked with Alpers Trout.

Henry David Thoreau famously said, "Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not the fish they are after."

Isn't that the truth. Thoreau may have been talking about more than just fishing, but those of us who have made a serious effort in the wonderful past time of angling understand this one thing: It ain't about the fish.

You want meat? Go to Costco.

On the other hand, standing knee-deep in a cold trout stream at the edge of a riffle, with no one else around, and the only thing you hear is water . . . man, that is one of my happy places.

Weaverville
I fell in love with fishing back in the early 1990s while living up in the gold rush town of Weaverville, CA, which is the last stop on the way to heaven. The below pic was the very first fish I hooked, a nice brown trout, caught on a Flatfish in the riffle behind the Wellock's place on the Trinity River in nearby Lewiston. You might say we were both hooked on that day.

My daughter was impressed, and that is all that matters.

The pic below was taken in the backyard of our old 1860s-era home one November during the late fall run of kings on the Trinity River. We caught those fish downstream about an hour from town, 100 yards below Hell Hole, where the tail out forms another run. I was drifting my own Borax-cured roe with 30lb test braided mainline and a 10lb Maxima leader, with size 1/0 Gamakatsu hooks, on a 7-ft Fenwick spinning rod with a Quantum Blue Runner reel. It is funny how I can't remember my kids' birthdays, but I can tell you minute details about fishing adventures. (Just kidding- Nov 9, Dec 8, Mar 12). I worked with the youth in my church, and the two of the boys (Paul & Chris) were fishing buddies. The one on the far left is a cousin whose name I can't recall. Sorry Fackrell Cousin. Anyway, it was an epic day.

Fishing was a lot of fun during the Weaverville era, and when the fish were in, you can't believe the excitement. On more than one occasion I was on the river by 5:30AM, caught a salmon, tossed it in the fridge, then took a shower and went to work. Some areas are combat fishing, where folks stood elbow to elbow, coordinating their casting and catching almost melodically to prevent tangles. The running joke was "safety glasses required, soft-cups optional."

Weaverville is reminiscent of Lake Wobegon, "Where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

I miss living in Weaverville.

Yentna River with guide Dewar, friend Peter Lassen, me and my dad. Three sessions of fishing per day!

North to Alaska
The picture above was great trip to Alaska, where we flew into Anchorage, then jumped on a float plane, a Cessna 208 Caravan, at Hood Lake.  We flew about an hour northwest of Anchorage to a lodge where we fished the Yentna, Lake Creek, and a bunch of sloughs and tributaries. (With no cell phone service!) We caught silver (coho), red (sockeye), pink (humpy) and chum (dog) salmon, the only Pacific salmon not fishable were kings (chinook). We also caught some northern pike, which slam into your lures like a freight train. Everyone should experience a trip like this, at least once in their lives.

Alaska is the mecca for fishing, especially for those of us who like salmon and halibut, but I initially never wanted to spend the money. Then I was engaged on a project on the Kenai Peninsula, so I knew I had to get some time in on the water while up there. I went fishing out of Ninilchik the first day and landed some halibuts the size of my front door. The next day, I took a de Havilland Beaver float plane from Soldotna to Wolverine Creek to get in on the big run of reds. As we landed, I caught a look at a black bear and started shooting pictures like crazy, and the guide told me to save my film. (Remember film?) Within an hour, we had half a dozen grizzlies fishing right near us. A month later I was back there with my dad and brother. It turned out that I actually do want to spend the money to fish in Alaska.

My first Alaskan sockeye, with Smokey over my shoulder.

Fishing around those bears was pretty surreal, they would dive in right by out boats. The rule was to not land a fish when a bear was near by, so they don't look at fisherman as a source of food. I wouldn't be all that tasty anyways, too much marbling.

There are plenty of fish to go around.

Family Fun

My dad and I soon after had a project in British Columbia, and had some work to do over in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. We hired a guide to take us on a walk & wade trip on the Cowichan River and I was set up fishing with a 2-handed fly rod called a spey rod. I thought it would be cool to try to catch a king on a fly, and I did!

What I didn't anticipate was the knuckle-busting reel had no drag, so I had to slow that little torpedo down by palming the reel. Now, palming the reel may be nice and all for a trout, but for a salmon? I ended up with a blister the size of a half-dollar on the palm of my hand. But definitely worth it. Anyone else YOU know catch a king on a fly?

Cowichan River, BC - Caught that 30lb king on a fly!

Nice king my dad caught on the Cowichan.

My dad and I have enjoyed other fun trips to Alaska and other places. One memorable one was steelhead fishing on the Rogue River in Oregon, where my grandpa spent many days fishing. Steelhead, which is an anadromous (ocean going) rainbow trout, pull hard, can be acrobatic, and are unpredictable fighters. There is probably nothing more fun than fighting a steelhead. Late in the day, while we were drifting in a Mackenzie style Willie Boat through a riffle, I saw a fly line in the water. Our guide rowed over to it, and we picked up the line, and it took off on us. Turns out some other fisherman had gotten spooled earlier, and the fish was still on the line!

For probably the first half of Tracy and my marriage, maybe a little less, we spent every Thanksgiving at her folks' place in Vernal, UT. I fished with my brothers-in-law in sub-freezing weather many times, where the line kept freezing to the guides on the rod, and ice formed on my waders.  But when you catch fish like that bad boy below, who cares how cold it is?

28-inch German Brown that hangs on my wall, Green River, six miles below the dam at "Little Hole"

Fishing is fun, but I don't do it for the fish. (Unless I pay a guide. I don't pay to fish, I pay to catch!) I love being with friends and family, and more particularly, I have had some great fun fishing with my boy Jake. We have gone pretty much every fall since he was 7 up to the Mammoth Lakes area.

Jake's first fish at age 7, Twin Lakes, CA.

The first time we went up, we were with a bunch of friends, and we hit up a handful of small lakes between Mammoth and Bridgeport. We were fishing with night crawlers primarily, and I ran out, so I ran to the bait shop to get some more, as well for a bunch of the other guys. The guy behind the counter told me that I don't want night crawlers, what I really wanted were these artificial worms that were infused with garlic oil. I told him that if I returned to my buddies with rubber worms instead of night crawlers, I would catch heck. He said, "Ok, buy night crawlers for them, but YOU get these."

I went with his advice, and pretty soon (after breakfast at Schat's) we were all lining the banks at Lake George. Everyone was getting their lines in the water, but there was no action yet. Since Jake was 7, I spent a lot of time rigging up his rod, so I eventually got the artificial worm on Jake's rod, and he casted it out.  As I started to get my rod rigged up, bingo. Jake had one on. I helped him land it it, re-rig and cast out, and again, before I could get going, bam. Another trout. This happened twice more immediately, and no one else had yet to even get a nibble.

Best thing ever to hear, from my innocent little 7 year old boy, was him exclaim how weird it was that we were the only ones catching any fish! Loudly.

Pretty soon the jig was up, and my friends were "borrowing" my artificial worms. Hey, that is what it is about . . . everyone having fun. If you got the secret sauce, you share it.

Jake at age 12, legit catcher of fish, Lake Mary

We have had some great times up there. Seeing your kid land a 3 pound rainbow is pretty darn cool. The first shot at the beginning was taken at a pond shown in the Tom Cruise flick "Oblivion."

On one of our trips, we got out of the car at Virginia Lakes, and I was about to say something about yanking and banking a boatload of fish, but Jake put it into perspective . . . "Come on dad, let's go make some memories!"

Nothing better. The time visiting in the car, the time fishing in the water, and the overall renewal make fishing the ultimate catharsis.


"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters."

-Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It