Grape Flavored Trout Beer

Today's overdue entry celebrates craftsmanship from good ol' Bakersfield. A recent session at my friend Jordan's studio had me play on one of these delightful beasts. We worked on music that was, dare I say, as twangy as any bizarre Ventures + B-52s coupling.

On the trout side of the discussion, a recent trek into the local hills of So. Cal. with Chad Simcox showed the fisheries thriving and even now (May) still in a pre-spring mode. This means chilly waters and insect life not yet at a fevered pitch. Despite this, no complaints.

Nature Wins

Just like a plant forces its way through the asphalt, one local stream has gone "richter" with quality fish. Plants are in bloom and I grabbed some wild onion for an experimental omelette. Life is good in the So. Cal. mountains this year. Thanks Noah and Rob for good company.

Blinded Me with Science

Technlogy, like a thermometer, has me salivating. We've had a good year and the locals are going to be great! Observe the dleightful daily dance as one of our local streams ebbs and flows with snowmelt. As this smooths out and the temps warm, one of our beloved friends will be rejoicing; The Trout!

The Hills Are Dead and Alive

A recent trek had not only trout make an appearance but also a number of random characters such as a dead fox, a cougar slaughtered deer(?), a VERY alive rattler and the telltale signs of Smokey himself! Hmmm am I forgeting anything? It was life and death in a nutshell. Pretty intense.





The gloves, for you black diamond trout folk, help reduce sun damage but really shine in giving you less fear when grabbing branches, bushwhacking, leaning on boulders and clearing plants that could be toxic. The gloves are certainly not ideal fish handling items but these were soaking wet and the fish was gently handled and quickly released.

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.