fishing for words

(and tossing out random thoughts)

Category Archives: Family


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sunshine in Seattle…in January?

We again took our time crawling out from under the bed sheets this morning, to be greeted by the wafting smell of waffles. Moms – at least my/our mom – never forget how to take care of their kids. Stuffed with waffles we read the paper and awaited the arrival of my brother Mark with his kids. It was heart-warming to have Kaden enthusiastically jump into a hug with me. Little brother Levi was a bit more standoffish, but by the end of our trip would warm up to having Uncle Pat and big Cousin Sean around. We had a quick visit of about an hour, but after being away too long, it’s always great to find that we can quickly fall into the comfortable rhythms of being family. And despite distance, infrequent visits and the years that have past it seems that my brother and I always quickly fall into the goofiness that makes brotherhood so fun. …it was a good morning of reconnecting with my nephews.

Under threatening clouds Sean and I headed out the door in the direction of Seattle. It might be a reflection of the patience that comes with age, or the fact that we left when traffic would be minimal, or both, but it seemed that we pulled into Seattle quickly. Luck or perhaps our sunny dispositions must have influence the weather as we found sun and blue sky in the Emerald City. Without an specific goals in mind we wandered Pike Place market, where we bought some “Jazz” apples (a hybrid of Fuji and Braeburn apples). On the waterfront we fought cold winds as we walked between various shops.

We departed late afternoon to head east to Issaquah, the town (now a city) that established my first real connection to Washington, to accommodate Sean’s desire for a visit to Boehm’s Candies. Alas, he was to be disappointed as Boehm’s now focuses on their chocolates and does not carry the rice candy “fly saucers” that he recalled from his younger days. A drive through town dredged up some of my old memories of the fears and struggles of my younger days. Despite being so long ago the memories seem so fresh.

As if we planed it, we pulled into my parent’s driveway just in time for dinner…

Space Needle
Capitol Hill Area
Seattle Waterfront
Puget Sound
More Puget Sound
And more Puget Sound
Look toward the Olympic Pennisula
Looking WNW
Another view north.
Looking toward Lake Union
More NW
Pike Place Market


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first full day of 2008 in Washington

It’s good to have connections. Rolled out of bed this morning, not too early, not too late. Buying into being “on vacation” and taking advantage of the guest room at the home of retired parents really does push one to take some time. Time for a bit of conversation over breakfast. Time to pursue the newspaper.

About mid morning we headed out to a Microsoft campus to meet with our “insider,” who then provided entrance into the company story. We took advantage of this opportunity to pick up a few upgrades and accessories…a couple of XBox 360 controller batteries and a few Microsoft applications.

We stocked up on some cold cuts and condiments before heading home, where we spent the afternoon simply hanging around, with sprinkles of conversation and technical support surrounding an old PDA that I bequeathed to my dad. For my parents it may have been more of a regular day, but for Sean and I was a day without the worries, deadlines or pressures of everyday life.


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the start of a great adventure?

With my prayers and best wishes my son left on the bus yesterday, headed to extreme Northern California to begin an adventure with the California Conservation Corps in Fortuna. I and a few friends at work are a bit envious, wishing we had known about such a possibility at a younger and more carefree age. Here’s to hoping that it can lead to great opportunities for Christopher. He called this morning to say it was cold, but it was only about 4° cooler than home…but I guess you find out how cold the morning can be when you’re out of bed before the sun!


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proud and scary moment

My son called this morning to let me know he’s quickly following in my footsteps…he passed the DMV M1 test and in a few weeks, like me, will have a new license with the motorcycle endorsement.  I’m looking forward to a spring ride together.  Congrats Sean!


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quick trip to fish a new place

I made deal with myself to try new waters this season. I’ve done so twice already, but earlier this week got the bug to do so again. I quickly rearranged my schedule for a quick overnight trip with my son. Morning comes and my son needs to do a bit of running around, we stop for Wild Trout from Beardsleylunch instead of eating on the run, linger a bit too long at the local fly shop and mistakenly followed my GPS’ idea of a shorter route. (Led us down some unpaved forest service roads – some of the same roads a friend took us down in his 4×4.) Then, because we were led down the wrong roads, we are faced with a .8-mile walk down a dirt road with at least eight switchbacks. (Does that hint at how STEEP this road is?)

What I had hoped would be an afternoon and evening in the water turns into an hour and a half of twilight wading. But it turned out to be a good ninety minutes.

The destination was Beardsley Afterbay. I had heard hints that the afterbay was a great place to fish in the fall and I wasn’t led astray. I first picked a good pool with a strong seam about three quarters of the way across. After fishing the near water, less than a dozen casts later, a small 6-7” rainbow hint my prince nymph harder that one would normally expect. (I apologize for the blurry images related to this post.)

Without another fisherman in sight, my son and I moved, bypassing some “flats” and ending up across from some undercut banks. I picked up a small, maybe 7-8” rainbow in an eddy behind a boulder. Taking a bit of time to watch upstream, I spotted some subtle rises about two feet out from the undercut bank. Getting lucky, I set my dry/dropper right in the lane. The dry dipped and with a quick strike I had the biggest fish of the evening, an honest 12-13” rainbow.

With bats chasing our dry flies and the sun’s light disappearing, we headed back toward the car and I was rewarded with one last fish, a decent rainbow; wild from the looks of it.

Then the climb began. I estimate it only took 30 minutes, but it was a tough climb. (Remember that before this hike we were wading and boulder-hopping in the river. And now it was nearly dark.) Obviously, we made it up the hill. Panting, we shed our fishing gear and started the drive back. Again, the GPS was looking for the shortest route down these single-lane, rock-strewn forest service roads. Just as it began to look unfamiliar we were confronted by a deep ditch…the same ditch that our friend with the 4×4 had to gently navigate. But I had to turn around. Thank goodness there was a wide turn just behind us. We finally made it to the highway and breathed a sigh of relief.

Saturday morning we slowly showered, dressed, changed the bed sheets, etc., and about 11:15 a.m. were fishing Moccasin Creek. I was counting on some fish still being in the stream even though it hadn’t been stocked in quite a while. Last month, when Sean and I visited, it was brimming with fish.

My guess was correct, and a few casts into a deep pool and I had a chuck ol’ planter in hand. We spent the next hour or so casting ‘n catching. Christopher had a few strikes and brought one fish to shore. I netted about six, with a few lost to LDR (long-distance release). About an hour and a half later we were on the way home.

It was a quick but fun fishing adventure.


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a quick getaway

Two (unshaven) “mountain men.”  One spinning rod.  One fly rod.  One stream.  Fifty trout hooked and twenty-seven landed in five hours.  What a morning!

Sean and I made a quick weekend getaway to the cabin Friday afternoon and hit Moccasin Creek early Saturday morning. Before the sun was up we had parked the car and ambled down to the creek. The cloud cover kept the sunrise at bay a bit longer than usual, but we didn’t have any rain until later in the morning.

Sean's First Rainbow of the MorningWith a spinning rig, Sean began working a favorite pool with a gold-on-gold Panther Martin. I set up my fly pole with an indicator fly (Parachute Adams), with a Copper John nymph (small, a size 18) about 12 inches below. It couldn’t have been more than 20 minutes and we had both landed a decent stocker rainbow, in the 13- to 14-inch range. It was good to see Sean enjoying fishing as he sort of abandoned the sport a few years ago. See, I figure there are those who are lucky at fishing and those who aren’t, or maybe some are born with an intuitive skill. Sean, like me, has to work at catching fish. But that work can pay off, as it obviously did that Saturday.

Rain began to fall in earnest about mid morning, but thanks to the trees lining the stream banks, we were spared from getting too damp.  During the morning we switched up our lures. Me and my (bigger) fish.Sean went to my favorite gold-on-red Panther Martin while I opted for a Zebra Beadhead Nymph. I don’t think we went more than 30 minutes without one of us hooking a fish. In the end, Sean’s tally was sixteen trout hooked with nine landed; my record was thirty-four hooked and 16 landed. (Keep in mind that we only counted fish we touched or netted, meaning that we played some to shore, only to have them self release.)

After quick showers about noon, we headed to Columbia for some sarsaparilla and a gander at the town and a visit to the candy shop. We grabbed an early dinner of great hamburgers at the Diamondback Grill in Sonora. (I’m loving those buffalo burgers!) Driving back to the cabin we were entertained by a bit of lightning and thunder, and after watching a movie, it was early to bed.

It was a nice little break from everyday life, and maybe I can get Sean to go fishing again…


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another boy and his (first) car

This weekend I drove my son Sean some 200 miles to find this first car, which ended up being less than 15 miles away from home. But in the end he kept a streak of Honda ownership alive with a 1994 Honda Civic LX sedan.  (That should make his maternal grandfather proud!)

Hondas in general and Civic specifically attract a rather fanatical community ranging from teenage kids bent on building upon their dreams of being the next big tuner/racer/drifter to the more practical citizen simply looking for a reliable commuter car. I think we got lucky with this one, swooping in before any other buyer showed up with cash in hand. Particularly considering that this 13-year-old Civic has amazingly low 97,000-some miles on it. Even more amazing is that it was purchased in Chicago and driven here (California).
This little car is a far cry from my first car — a 1971 VW Beetle. I hope that Sean will offer thanks every time he cranks up the air conditioning or sets the cruise control. Of course, car ownership has thrust him into another aspect of adulthood…with the pride comes a price: new tires, new timing belt and water pump (a must on any small car) and dealing with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Sean’s 1994 Civic LX

I’m hoping this car turns out to be a good find. We only happened upon it after a long-delayed e-mail response to an ad; and then only because we still had yet to drive through the city in which it was located. You can see the picture that was in the ad to the right. Stay tuned, however, I might post some more once Sean washes and waxes it, assuming he’ll stop driving it long enough for a picture.


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back to the “westside”

Crowley Lake/Rock Creek Fishing Trip, Part 5 of 5

Sunrise over the Sierra Nevada.

Sunrise over the Sierra Nevada.

Sunday was a day of travel and the end of our adventure in Eastern Sierra fishing, probably for this summer. (Fall is coming up though!) We headed up Hwy 395 for Hwy 120, and made a quick stop on Lee Vining Creek just below Tioga Lake. The water was low and the fish were slow. A few bumps and some following lures, but no bites. Quickly moving along, we were over Sonora Pass and at the cabin by two thirty that afternoon. Soon after we were sitting on the sand at Twain Harte Lake with my sister and her boys.

In planning this trip I had given thought to taking a chance on a local put-and-take creek, figuring that any fish that weren’t caught over the weekend might be good targets Monday morning, when I hoped only a few folks would be fishing. Five thirty Monday morning came and I was up. I poked Christopher but he opted for extra sleep rather than extra fishing.

I was on the creek about six thirty, with the sun still behind the ridge. This creek is in a canyon of sorts with plenty of streamside trees keeping it cool. Without sunlight the water had an inky cast and I could not see beyond the surface of the water. Guess at likely holding locations for feeding trout, I cast a dropper/midge in position to float it (looking natural I hoped) through the pool.

On my fifth cast it was “fish on!” In fact, it surprised me so much that I involuntarily made a good hookset (in other words, I jerked my pole). Soon I had landed a decent thirteen-inch rainbow trout, my fist on my fly pole. For the next few hours it was constant action with a mix of fish to the net and a number of LDRs and missed strikes.

When the sun finally began to filter through the trees, I could make out quite a few trout schooling in two different locations. But off in the distance, about ten feet downstream, a single fish was watching a specific feeding lane. Based on the color difference in this trout’s profile, I figured it just might be one of the broodstock brook trout that were put into this creek weeks ago. Maybe one in ten of my casts were good enough to float down the feeding lane, but my dry fly did get some attention. I lost count of the number of casts and of the passing time, but on one particularly good cast he attacked the dry fly, breaking the surface and immediately turning downstream. A quick tug and he was hooked. These brook trout put on a good fight…a lot of head shaking, jumping and runs…so it took about three or four minutes before I had him in the net. It was a big fish. But I had misjudged how played out he might have been. With a mighty flop of his tail he was out of my net and back into the stream.

It was a heck of a morning that Monday. Eighteen rainbow trout and the single brook to the net with probably another ten LDRs and half a dozen missed strikes. I was finally off the water about eleven o’clock, when the bite died down. This little adventure surely falls under the adage “The early bird catches the worm.”

Monday afternoon and Tuesday were filled with typical fun cabin activities. We spent time at the lake, visited Columbia, played bingo, and ate well. I did, however, take time to clean off all of the cabin gear, so we could just store the equipment when we got home.

I will remember this trip fondly. I found out that I can indeed catch trout on a fly.


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Sean on the court

Sean played in the Seniors vs. Faculty basketball game last night.  He rattled off some post-game figures…something like six minutes of playing time, a number of steals and a respectable number of goals.  (Thank God he didn’t break anyone’s wrist! …but that’s another story.)  It was a fun game, with the staff taking the lead early and never relinquishing it.  I did a double-take, however, in the last quarter…the clock had ticked down to less than a few minutes…suddenly it was back at 6:00.  Gotta keep your eyes on those high school kids!  The faculty won, but it was all smiles afterwards. 

My apologies in advance for the quality of the photos below.  I had to use a “sport” setting, which combined with the fluorescent lighting, lead to some graininess.

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