Mouth of the Feather River -Spring 1970ish?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I was working at "West Capitol Rod-N-Gun" in West Sacramento about 40 years ago.

My friends Al Perryman and Cal Guin showed up around noon with a big Striper they caught at the Mouth of the Feather.

It weighed 40# out front of the bait shop on our big scale.

I have a picture somewhere of Al and Cal too. This is Cal with his big one.

Notice the old Fenwick fiberglass fly rod and the Pflueger Supreme saltwater fly reel.

Locals Al Perryman, Cal Guin, Jimmy Potter and Larry Cullens were fly fishing for Stripers from small anchored prams back in those days so they really pioneered it for the rest of us. That was a long time ago.....

PS: These guys are all in the new movie: "Rivers of a Lost Coast" too.

Some of their favorite spots where the mouth of the American, mouth of the Feather and down around Walnut Grove. They fished sunset to sunrise, all night long, back in those days.

They fish in the night time around bridges down near Walnut Grove in the winter? Too cold for me.......

[David Lee]

Everytime you post one of these 'old days' things , Bill ..... it makes my skin crawl -

We stand on the backs of the greats ..... I can only imagine what it was like for those guys way back when the world was full of promise and ANYTHING was possible !

D.~

[STEELIES/26c3]

Hey Where is CAL?

He sent me that photo several years back... said something about a fly/line class record...

He's one of the few AR old timers who hunted pig stripers in the winter months...

The law of diminishing returns... make Steelhead a better choice in the cold and wet months...

[gene goss]

WoW what a flash back.....When i first started fly fishing (1982)....i got invited to striper fish with these guys....we all had small 8ft. prams, and we would cast lead core all night....i remember one cold night potter turn over his pram.....i pulled my anchor up and drift down to him....he still had his rod in his hand, we grab everything that was floating and i draged him and his pram over to shore.....i still fly fish at night for stripers but from a bigger boat.....Bill thanks for the flash back.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

David, when I was a teenager, 50 years ago, there were so many Stripers, Salmon, Shad and Steelhead that almost anyone who tried could catch them.

I think all those fisheries have gone down about 90% since that time.

I can only imagine the numbers of fish 100 years ago in the rivers of California?

With logging at a an all time low and the removal of some dams we might see some of the fisheries start to rebound in our lifetimes?

[matt johnson]

Thanks for the story and picture Bill. That is a big ol' bass and a really cool "period" photo.

When I finish building my flyfishing time machine I'll take you and old Joe Shirshac back there and we'll get a few of those ourselves. I don't think the prams will fit in my machine though, so we will just have to wade the sand bar. Matt

[Tracy Chimenti]

I can still remember the 67-pounder caught around Shanhai on a pencil popper on (I think) 10-pound test! And that was only 20-years ago. Just yesterday!... wait...

WHAT AM I SAYING? Holly crap, am I really that old?

Tracy

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think there are 60 pounders swimming out there somewhere still today but they don't have any suicidal tendencies.

[frivolousflyphisher]

Al Perryman showed up on my doorstep early that morning with the photo of Cal's fish and explained it was a tippet class record for fly. I asked,"Where did you guys get that?". Stupid me for opening that door! Al responded, "On the Sacramento River." My follow up: "Where on the Sacramento?" Al: "The Sacramento is something like 75 miles long from the delta to the first upstream dam (or some such), you figure it out!" Typical Al! He then filled me in on how many fish surrounded their boat that night. WOW! Will that ever become normal around here again? Will the ones in charge see the wisdom in "managing the State's resources for the people" the way we all see it? My solution to the fiscal crisis we experience each and every year of late is fire every one we can when there election is due! My motto, "Every incumbent must go!" Sorry to go political. It is just that political is what is controling all our pursuits of happiness!

[OceanSunfish]

Al Perryman showed up on my doorstep early that morning with the photo of Cal's fish and explained it was a tippet class record for fly. I asked,"Where did you guys get that?". Stupid me for opening that door! Al responded, "On the Sacramento River." My follow up: "Where on the Sacramento?" Al: "The Sacramento is something like 75 miles long from the delta to the first upstream dam (or some such), you figure it out!" Typical Al! He then filled me in on how many fish surrounded their boat that night. WOW! Will that ever become normal around here again? Will the ones in charge see the wisdom in "managing the State's resources for the people" the way we all see it? My solution to the fiscal crisis we experience each and every year of late is fire every one we can when there election is due! My motto, "Every incumbent must go!" Sorry to go political. It is just that political is what is controling all our pursuits of happiness!

No apologies about being "political", etc.

Unfortunately, the only way now to get maintenance and improvements of our vanishing fisheries requires politics and the court of law. If you're a lawmaker/attorney, you gotta love how the system is set up now <grin>

70's fishing..... I remember prams and fly fisherman lined up on the San Lorenzo on those sunny coastal days in Santa Cruz. I was climbing down the "gorge" back then too. I can still see those beautiful Coho salmon that were caught too.

I remember boats launching from slings on Bethel Island and seeing the guys trolling rebels with stripers longer than I was tall...... Surf Perch fishing was for FOOD too back then. I gotta a good taste of it all as a kid and it sparked my love affair with sportfishing. Now it's vanishing so quickly.

Sadly, not enough voters left, I guess, from that era, otherwise, why would my district elect a guy that needed a GPS from Thousand Oaks (Southern CA) to find his consitituents a year ago. Ugh.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It is almost unimaginable how many fish there were only 50 short years ago and how few are left now?