The Jaded Trout

Well no good fishing experience is without its sonic backdrop. My preferred music comes from a plunge and the champagne-like fizz of bubbles mixed with but a drop of light slaps as the water laps against a sheer rock face along the opposite bank. That said, the electric guitar still circles the runway at 11 thousand feet (11, you know, Spinal Tap!). I snuck out a few nights ago and hung out with some serious rock and rollers. Dressed as my evil twin "Vince" I tortured my eardrums and caroused with the finest. The streams will have to wait.

Pictured above: Yours truly, Phil Jaurigui of Swinghouse Studios, Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls and Frankie Infante of Blondie. Oh yeah ... Merry Christmas!

It Never Rains in California

Remember that song? Word on the street is rain. This morning the weather as I entered the San Gabriel Mountains was CHILLY. The bite was off and Sandro got one small trout but it was a great trout. The trout shouted "I am here, I am alive and I am hungry". Not too far away the empty bottles of powerbait rattled on the stream floor; clinking against one another against the walls of a pool devoid of fish.

Trout Gone Wild

Wow two obscure trout treks in So. Cal. in one week. This time in December, years ago, I did an amazing hike in the Santa Monica mountains on an equally sunny day with a great friend who later died too young. I dedicate this day to Jacqui. This midweek trek ( Dec. 10 ) was not in the Santa Monica mountains but close as hell to Los Angeles. Like the "Pearl Harbor Day" trek on Dec. 7, this trip brought some weird surprises. Recent rains must have stimulated some movement from some very eager trout. One normally doesn't associate migratory behavior in So. Cal. with early December but a voice inside from my trout-o-meter said: GO GO GO! I was accompanied by Rob who took this photo for me.

I have some fun footage of him that I'll try and add to this post soon. Now in addition to the fact that the fishing wasn't half bad, what was weirder was the presence of stockers mixed-in with the natives. I am not a fan of planted trout but as Rob pointed out, ya gotta respect them for trying to go wild. This is a very odd occurrence. They really had to travel FAR and there is no convenient spot for a DFG truck to purge any surplus brood stock. Here's one of the better specimens taken on a dead-drifted #8 conehead muddler.

The Obama Trout

Somewhere in Southern California is a stream or should I say a section of stream? Dead by most accounts and heavily tormented by the manipulations of men and the elements. The last few years were brutal. With heavy heart I wandered back to see how it has fared. The fish were fewer and smaller but they were there. Perhaps there's HOPE. Taken Pearl Harbor Day 2008.

Here's what I and some friends used to find in this stream (photo currently being used by Cal Trout at their site).

Note the signature "arched thumb for dramatic effect".

It's Bloody December 2008

Well this internet thing is nothing but a headache. It's a friggin' bottomless pit of crap like a city lake carpeted by shopping carts, rubber worms, rubbers and bodies. Man my last post was over a year ago. Now that's shameful. 2008 kicked-ass for fishing and rock and roll and I still have three weeks to go. Do or die I shall be more diligent with entries. Onward!