50 years of fishing @ Watt Avenue?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

My folks use to drop me off at Watt Avenue when I was 14 years old, now I'm 64?

Back then there was also a concrete low water bridge just immediately above the the one that is there now. You could cross the river on it as it was 5 feet out of the water. There was also big hop fields on the south side of the river then. There was no bridge at Howe then either. You could actually drive on dirt roads inside the river level back then.

Back then there was tons of Stripers in the river because they let the smolts go from the hatchery.

There were more salmon and steelhead back then too.

I had a pair of cheap boot foot waders with rubber soles. Talk about dangerous.

We went to Edwoldt's Rod & Reel Repair in those days and they helped me build my own one piece spinning rods from Lamiglas fly rod blanks. I used a Shakespeare 2052 spinning reel because I had read an article about light tackle spinning for Bonefish back then by Lefty Kreh. I used 6# Berkeley grey Tylene mono and Eagle Claw 181 #6 bait holder hooks with split shot and night crawlers to catch Steelhead in the fall.

Later I used Mepps and rooster Tail spinners.

Finally I started fly fishing for them over 40 years ago.

Having worked over 40 years in a tackle shop just miles from the river the Watt Avenue access means a lot to me. For years when i was younger I had my tackle in my car and would drive there or another access before and after work when the daylight allowed it. I was always amazed at how nice it was down on the river right in this fairly large city.

Floating on the river in a boat you can stand in is another treat where you can see the bottom mid-day and all the fish.

A large group of us use to fish the river "back in the day".

Many of us fished the river like Al Perryman, Bob Long, Al Fong, Craig Ziegler, Mike Ziem, Bob Giannoni, my brother Dick Kiene, Hal Jannsen, Cal Guin, Jimmy Potter, Larry Cullins, Skip Orr, Jeff Blunden......

Then you have the real old timers like Joe Shirshac, George Martin, Henry Starr, Walt Bennett, Chuck Campana, Stan Inoye, Art Rathburn, Neil Hansen, Bill Lynch.....it just goes on forever.

Years ago famous fly fishers like Jimmy Green and Ted Trueblood use to come to fish the famous Shad run on the lower American River.

We are lucky to have this river..........

[Frank Alessio]

Great post Bill.....

I am a few months younger. I started Fly Fishing in Dunsmuir when I was 8....

I lived on Prospect Ave... The sign now says Prospect St. A mistake in making the new sign.

I used to walk to the River from the family's Rock House.... What a Life... I caught a 11lbs

4oz. Striper last week on a fly I tied. What a great sport. Keep up the good work Bill....

Frank B. Alesio

[Frank Alessio]

Great I misspelled my own last name..... What were we ........

[David Lee]

Great I misspelled my own last name..... What were we ........


It's cool - I can't remember mine half the time .......

D. -

[Scott V]

I caught my first steelhead on the first fly I tied at Watt Ave. A clouser of all things.

[lee s.]

GREAT post Bill,
We have enjoyed EVERY venture we have taken on your river. Yes, it does amaze us that one can enjoy THIS in the very middle of such dense population.

[Tony Buzolich]

I remember that old concrete bridge under the new one at Watt. I also remember racing up and down the levee there on my Honda Trail 55 and seeing how far we could jump it out into the river.

Hey, what about Pennsylvania Ave. in Fair Oaks? You used to be able to drive the old De Soto right on out to the gravel and even launch a small plywood boat and motor upstream a ways. There was no Sunrise bridge just the old one that is a walking bridge now. It was there 50+ years ago that my dad got me started on fly fishing for shad. Learned to wrap a white hackle around a lead bodied hook with a little red thread. That's all a 10 year old boy would need.

Later Frank would come over with his grandpa's old 52 ? Dodge truck loaded to the side boards with shad from the same Sunrise riffle.

We had a rock oven BBQ/Smoker in the backyard that we used to smoke shad in. My dad had made large wooden and screen trays to hold the brined fillets and it was my job to keep adding chunks of oak to the fire just enough to make it smolder.

God, it's fun to reminise but all of a sudden I'm feeling old.

[bonneville54]

GREAT post Bill,

Indeed! I guess I'm getting old, but I love stories about the old day's...thanks, Bill and Tony.

My childhood fishing consisted of chucking treble hooks loaded with Pautzke's eggs and a bobber at Puddingstone Reservoir....even then, it was boring.

[Terry Thomas]

I bought my first fly rod from Lee. Wasn't it "Ewolts?" I remember taking my second fly tying class at Lee's store. Guess who taught the class? Joe Shirshac. Wow, that was a long time ago. Our first fly tying class was in the basement of the YWCA. Yes, the Y"W" CA. One of the real old time Sacramento fly fishermen taught the class: Col Joe Gray.

[dryflychico]

I'm not too old (mid-30's) but I love hearing about these stories. Reminds me of all the stories I hear from my Dad, uncle, grandpa and other extended family about many rivers in eastern Idaho from "back in the day", mid-50's and early 60's.

Keep it up guys!

[CODY]

Well, I'm only 16, but this reminds me of the fish stories my Dad has told me over the years.

[k.hanley]

Bill that's an excellent post. I love the personal perspective you bring to our rich history of CA flyfishing and light tackle adventures.

My first forays into the shad world came while dating a gal who, at the time, was a student at Sac State. I'd visit her twice a week. Brought my fishing gear on every trip (light spinning). Learned much of the shad game during the years of '72 through '76. Didn't really expand into the fly game for shad until around '80.

Fine tuned the fly game by hitting the river with my buddies Al Smatsky and Dave Howard. Continued to share great adventures with Jay Murakoshi and Bill Lowe. Man this has been an amazing ride!!!!!!!
Cheers, Ken

PS: Frank that's hilarious about your last name. You aren't alone on that one! Dang it's weird getting older.

[frequent flyer]

Another regular on the American was Mike Fong. He grew up in Sacramento, so knew the river very well and had friends who still lived there, like Al Perryman, Jim Potter, Alfred Fong and many others. When he lived in SF, he often spent New Year's Eve camped at Sailor Bar so he could be first in the water when the upper river opened for steelhead on Jan.1. If anybody caught a steelhead, it was Mike. He not only knew the river well, but had an uncanny fish sense that worked almost anywhere.

Mike also often spent Opening Day of trout season at Verona. He always said he'd let the crowds have the trout streams on the opener because he knew that shad would be at the mouth of the American that weekend. He was usually right.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Great Tony.........it is no wonder we are so attached the rivers.

Fishing is like a genetic disposition that you either have it or don't.

We have had old customers who were in the 80s and not doing to well but they still
wanted to go on one more fishing trip.

Being born right after WWII was pretty lucky for us. I was good times for everyone.

My grandma took me to William Land Park by the Sacramento Zoo when I was maybe 8 years old. She bought me a solid fiberglass spinning rod from Sears and put a fly reel on it with some braided line. We caught mostly carp. I was not watching my rod once and a carp? took it into the pond. Sad...

We live a block from the Sacramento River near the "Captain's Table Marina & Restaurant.

The owner was a customer on my paper route so he let us fish there all day and night on Mondays when they were closed. We had to agree not to burn it down. We caught huge carp with hand lines and dough balls we made at home.

We were only a few mile from the famed "Minnow Hole" which was actually the sewer outflow in south Sacramento. Lots of Shad and Stripers caught there.

Fishing gets in your blood and it is lucky for those who feel that way.

People like Lee, Wanda and Mike Ewolt were wonderful people who enjoyed helping us all. It was great tackle shop.

Old timers like Col Joe Gray and Joe Shirshac influenced many in their lifetimes too.

[Mike Stroud]

back in the day... I do remember... for most of the 30 some odd yrs I've fished under Watt... I would always get a steelhead... not so much anymore... We still have a great fishery, better than any metropolitan area... but, how can we bring our river back?

[Tracy Chimenti]

My buddy and I spent what seemed like entire summers in Brown's Ravine, the Penninsula, and the south fork of the lake. My dad had a Catalina sail boat and would dump us off on some god-forsaken place on the lake and we would wade the grass beds all day catchin sunfish, bass and an occaisional trout. As he pulled away in the boat, dad would chuck us two boxes of K-rations, and a gallon of water. When fishing for bass with Texas-rigged worms, we would spot carp balls-- 20-males all over one big fat hen. We would pull the hook out of the work, throw in intp the melee, set-up, and the fight was on. It was then the guy fighting the massive carp would see a pod of big bass cruising and the other guys would turn the hook back into the worm and switch right back to bassin-- this always gernated great animosity for the guy hooked up with the damn carp!

From 7th grade on, we would ride 30-miles per day to get to ponds and streams all over Placer and Sacramento County. We regularly crossed Douglas Blvd. (Roseville), parked our bikes by the old "Bonanza sign" complete with likes of Hoss, lil Joe, and dad, and headed across the "prairie" to enter the creek near the presnt-day giant orange metal structure. We threw spinners and caught beautiful wild trout (steelhead?). Some were 14-inches. We would proceed up Minors Ravine catching ungodly numbers of bass and other sunfish and I caught a few nice rainbows in riffles directly below Roseville Parkway and Olympus Drive. We could then go cross-country to the SP reservoir, down the hill the Secret Ravine where the main course was indeed trout!, then up the creek to the PG&E reservoir and another beautiful pond and three granite quarries. We sometomes crossed under the freeway in Rocklin via culvert pipe (on hands and knees), to fish a few hidden quarries in a Rocklin trailer park.

We also leanred how to build rods at Ewoldt's. When Walt Cruise asked us if we wanted to learn how to make our own bass rods... in the back of the shop with all the gear, cigarette smoke and going's on... well, we just about pissed our pants! We were allowed into the "Inner Circle" of fishing dieties. These guys were gods! Walt Cruise once caught what I believe is still the lake record for a limit of bass-- 55-some-odd pounds on Hair Raisers at Rattlesnake Bar. I still have the picture. This was when bass fishing was a "craft", not a way to make a living. There were no earings or tats on these guys other than the ship they were on during Korea or 'Nam.

Tracy Chimenti

[gryhackl]

This was a wonderful post Bill. I don't go back that far as I moved to Sac in '74 but I remember fishing at Watt Ave. without getting my car broken in to.

[castnpedal]

Mr. Bill Kiene,

Thanks for a good post, and a view into the past of a local waterway many of us have fished. My Dad was one of 'members' of the group back then.

Before he introduced me to fly fishing I spent some time bouncing pencil lead weight with a glo bug in many of the runs. I like to think that some of what my Dad passed along to me was a result of the comraderie of many of those you mentioned.

- Chris Orr

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Chris

As you know your dad, Skip Orr, was a member of our special group of Sacramento fly fishers back in the day.

I could write for days about all the good times we all had together but I have to get into the shop.

My brother Dick knew your dad well being in the same industry.

I will write something tonight about our fabulous adventures with your dad.

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We had an interesting group of fishing buddies back in the 1960-70s. Most all of us belonged to the CFFU, California Fly Fishermen Unlimited, one of the oldest clubs in California. Back then we were the younger crowd and we had the older guys too who really helped pioneered fly fishing in Nor Cal and founded the club.

We had a Shad Outing every year at Goethe Park at the riffle way above the bridge (that did not exist then). We had smoked Shad and a big barbeque too. This was all fiberglass rods with Pflueger or hardy reels and shooting heads with mono running line.

Skip showed up with a new gold Fin-Nor big game fly reel on his Fenwick fiberglass fly rod. When we were taking a break on the bank people would come over just to see Skip's fly reel. It was the "Cadillac' of reels in that era.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _

We also had a tradition back then of fishing the Pit River in the fall. My brother Dick would cook big steaks with corn on the cob on Saturday night around the campfire. We were always at Deep Creek camp ground which was very remote and we usually had it to our selves. We fished hard all day which was usually good but what I remember most those great times around the campfire.

Skip and I had came in very late at dark and the campfire was already going well. We were telling stories of our great fishing way up river. We still had our waders on and with a very big gesture Skip fell back into the campfire. I never saw anyone bounce out of a fire that fast before. I don't think it even effected his waders. That brought on a big laugh and still does to this day.

We had so much fun in those good old days when we were all younger and a little crazier.

[inclinejj]

Great post Bill!!!

My dad bought me my first fly rod kit at Grant's Dept store..had the fly rod, reel, fly line a couple packs of leaders, and a fly kit..He took me up to the high school field and showed me how to fly cast..

I was always amazed coming up to fish the AR from Pacifica and having people walk up to me saying..Wow, I grew up in Sacramento and never knew the river had fish!!!

[castnpedal]

Bill,

Thanks for posting those extra stories about your outings with my Dad. I inherited the fly fishing gear, my favorite piece being an old Scott 7'6" fiberglass rod from the late 70's personalized with my Dad's name. It is my go to small stream rod. I likely have the Fenwick Fiberglass rod you mentioned, but the 'Cadillac' of reels was something that I believe was sold many years ago. I do remember seeing it, and it was still an eye-turner.

We exchanged some emails after he passed, and you mentioned Deep Creek then as well. Part of the family is living near Burney now, so my brother-in-law and I did make a trip to the Deep Creek Campground. Remote it is, but really beautiful. It was a quick day trip, so not a lot of fishing time, but it is on the list for a full day of fishing the next time I am up there this year.

Thanks again for those stories. It is great to read about them, and I can only imagine how much fun they were. Fishing definitely makes for outstanding experiences and memories.

- Chris Orr