I fished Benbow Drive above and around the campground Thursday, beautiful conditions but nary a touch. Drove the Avenue of the Giants, and even though there were people in every decent run, not much was happening.

Fished the Mad this morning, and it is just that. The hatchery is closed so it’s a long hike to get above the hatchery. I could find almost nowhere with enough room to swing until a good 1/2 mile upstream of the hatchery. One of my friends went 1/4 on Thursday fishing beads under a bobber, and the one was probably close to 15#. Another buddy got a nice one this morning on beads, but it’s incredibly crowded, even for the Mad. I continued my string of nada from Thursday.

On a positive note, I joined two of my buddies and one of their wives for a great evening of good food, good drink, and great conversation at their place in McKinleyville. It almost felt normal - I’d forgotten how much I’ve missed that sort of thing.