I also go out occasionally with
my neighbor, Rich Collins. He doesn't usually go out for the tuna.
When he did this summer, his boat sprung a nasty leak 30 miles
out. I'm glad I didn't go on that one!Anyone who knows me, knows that I've been fishin' since I was knee-high to a bullfrog. I used to fish in farm ponds when I was a kid. When I was in high school, we rented boats and cruised around Mosquito or Pymatuning Reservoir. We tried to catch some fish, but spent more time clubbing carp and just being teenagers. In college at FIT, I surf fished and bushwacked down Crane Creek to catch nice Largemouth Bass up to 5 pounds. In the ocean, whiting and pompano were in the creel. After two years, the FIT daze were over. I moved my act to OU. There, I caught my first trout, albeit the store-bought variety. We caught some bass too, but mostly little 'uns.
After college, it was back to Florida. I fished the canals of Alligator Alley, and the backwaters of Loxahatchee NWR. I caught a few nice bass, including an 8 pounder at Loxahatchee. The best action, however, was out at Everglades City. I'd sleep at Eigner's National Cockroach Refuge and head out early in the morning. We'd rent a fiberglass boat with a 25 horse Johnson off ol' Jim. It was about a 45 minute ride through Chokoloskee, out Indian Key Pass to Dean's Shoal, right on the Gulf of Mexico. We'd buy up to 12 dozen live shrimp and use 'em all. We used two poles and baited the shrimp below a bobber. You never knew what you'd catch. Could be a little Mangrove Snapper, or a Dog Snapper, or Nassau Grouper. Then again, you could get some Speckled Seatrout, a catfish or a 6 foot Hammerhead Shark, or Blackfin Shark, or Whitefin Shark, for that matter. What we really wanted though, was Snook, Redfish or Tarpon. We caught a few. I wonder what it's like there now? In north Florida, I'd fill a gunny sack with Blue Crabs in a few hours. Then, I'd eat crab cakes, crab salad, crab sandwiches, crab casserole, and just plain crab. I felt like Bubba on Forrest Gump. On the other hand, you could buy a bushel of oysters at Eastpoint or Appalachicola for six bucks. Large Shrimp were $2.89 a pound, heads-on at Carabelle.
After 1978, I've lived and fished here on the west coast. I've fished some bass, but mostly fished for trout, salmon and ocean fish. The pictures posted here are from the west coast. I couldn't afford a camera back in the earlier days. Actually, some of these pictures are from the east coast...of Baja, that is.
The prettiest trout of all is the Golden Trout. These ones were taken from, well, I ain't-a-gonna tell you where they came from: you'll have to ask. It's up in the Sierras though. It really was me that caught it. Down in Fish Creek, there were Brookies, too damn many of them in fact. I must have pitched 50 in the bushes. Mr. Bear probably retraced my footsteps that night. The one in the picture was one of the few I threw back. I figured he was big enough to eat some of the rest. I'm usually a lazy fisherman.
I've been Salmon fishing up in the Smith and/or Chetco every fall since 1982, except for this year. It's lucky I didn't go this year, because the rivers have been fishable for about one day. It started to rain and hasn't quit yet (11/22/98). In past years, we've had bad years and good years. In 1989, I caught a 35-pounder on the Smith. Eddie's caught some nice ones. This day, he limited out. On another day, he fought a 20 pounder while Geoff was perched on the Rock, ready to net it. we got this one in. 1995 was the best year of all. It was like trout fishing. Geoff had this 17 pounder in before I came back with my license. Why I didn't buy it on the way in remains unanswerable. Above the Rock, the flyboys line up ntb.
Down in Baja, everyone catches fish. the only variables are how many and how big. Life is good when the Corvina are in. They have been absent for the last couple years when we were down there. The gill netters have hit them pretty hard. During the October 1998 trip, they were back. It's hard to beat Corvina on the table. Barbecued-up on the grill, they're tops. they make good fish tacos too. Over the years, Cathy's caught some nice ones, Tracy has got a few. I've caught a lot over the years. This 8 pounder was taken at Pompano Cove. The Cove has been the hot spot lately. When the water is cooler (not in the summer of in October, the Yellowtail are frequently found out by the Islas Encantadas, just off shore from our Campo. When they're there, they're there, and you'll probably catch them. When they ain't, they're pretty hard to catch. Sometimes, they're accompanied by Sierra, a hard-fighting, good tasting member of the Mackerel family. Daniel caught a nice one over Christmas, 1996. Pandro fought a good one, that same year. Mike has caught some nice ones too. This one fought me hard. If you drop down to the bottom at the Seamount, you might catch a nice fat Goldspotted Bass, like this 4 pound "Grandpa" like Hutch got. The staple fish is ths Spotted Bay Bass. Sometimes, you really do catch them two at a time. Mark Hobbs got a nice one out by Isla Chollito. The prime fish of Baja is the "toutava", actually not a real Toutava, but rather, the White Seabass. It's hard to get 'em bigger than this one Eddie caught off the beach a couple years back. I've yet to catch one. After 8 years of fishing Baja, we finally caught some Barred Pargo. They're supposedly yummy, being members of the Snapper family and all. These "Kings of the Reef" can get up to 50 - 60 pounds, however, so we let these youngsters go. C'mon back when you can chomp a lobster whole and use the shell for roughage, like Niel Kelly says. Bruce and I both caught Pargo the exact same size as this one. Maybe their spawn is tied to big influxes of fresh water, such as the one that came from Nora in September 1997, but who knows? That's why they call it fishin' and not catchin'.
Offshore, I go out occasionally on the Sea
Bear, courtesy of Captain Jim. He runs his own website. You can
link to it hereI also go out occasionally with
my neighbor, Rich Collins. He doesn't usually go out for the tuna.
When he did this summer, his boat sprung a nasty leak 30 miles
out. I'm glad I didn't go on that one!
This page hasn't been updated for so long, I almost forgot it existed! A websurfer recently found it and inquired about Golden Trout. Given the fact that my ambition level generally limits me from taking long remote backpack trips, I've decided to make available my secret information sources on secret fishing spots. Undoubtedly, many of you out there in cyberspace know about the source about which I speak, but I'll betcha, I'll just betcha that plenty of y'all don't!
What I'm talking about are the Anglers' Guide series published by CA DFG back in the 1950s and 1960s. Affectionately known as the "Ol' Know It All Guides", they've been out of print for the most part now for 35 - 50 years. Some USFS Forest Visitor's Maps and guides use the information in them as references, but I've not seen the actual OKIAGs available.
As one might expect from 40-year old information, they're not always accurate, but more times than not, they're surprisingly accurate to this day. One thing they're notoriously inaccurate on is Brown Trout. CADFG to the best of my knowledge doesn't spend time stocking Brownies in high country lakes any more, but that's not necessarily bad, as they tend to eat all the other fish. On the other hand, I can think of a few Brookie-laden lakes that could use a few Browns though!
As it were, I'm making the guides available as PDFs upon request. They're too big to allow them to hog file space on my website, so if you want one, you'll have to ask. I have a few of them scanned already and I figure requests will incentivize me. Below is a list of the guides currently available. Click on a link and it will open an e-mail window. I might eventually use how to use a cgi request, but for now, this will do.
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