59 Years Ago - Lake Washington & the Deep Water Channel

[Tony Buzolich]

Growing up in the Sacramento area my dad and I had lots of places to fish and hunt. Lake Washington back then was a real lake fed and drained by a couple sloughs and ditches. I think Lisbon was one of them.

I remember them digging the Deep Water Channel and developing the Port of Sacramento in West Sacramento. They had installed locks then too which joined the Sacramento River and were actually used then. Lake Washington was dug out then to accommodate the large freighters that would be traveling up and down the channel from the bay and the delta. Fishing back then was mostly with bait for catfish, carp, and occasionally a striped bass if you were lucky.

On my 14th birthday my dad took me over to Sears on Arden Way and bought me a really nice spinning rod with a D.A.M.Quick reel big enough to fish with in the ocean or the delta. The next weekend I couldn't wait to try it out and we headed for the deep water channel.

A few miles down from Lake Washington there was an inlet to the channel where we could drive the old DeSoto right down to the water's edge. Dad would help me bait my hook first and then his, then we'd set out a couple of folding chairs, cast, and wait.

Cast, wait, change baits, and wait some more. Repeat again, and again. But nothing was happening. Before long I start getting bored and needed something to do besides wait. I shuffled down closer to the water and grabbed a piece of driftwood and began to whittle with my pocket knife. My dad, sitting a couple of yards away, says to watch my pole and be ready if I get a bite.

I keep whittling and sure enough my rod gets bent over big time. My dad yells for me again to grab my rod before it gets pulled into the water. He wasn't going to pick the rod up as this was MY new rod and he wanted me to land whatever had grabbed my bait.

Geez, this was great. The fish pulled harder than anything I'd ever caught before. Before long I was getting the fish closer to shore and we could see it was a big striper. After a lot of coaching Dad got the gaff out and slide down the bank and grabbed the fish. (gaffs were legal then)

Yahoo! My biggest fish ever, close to 20 lbs., on my new rod, on my birthday weekend. That was 59 years ago, in October.

Maybe this will help if you guys are looking for a time go to Lake Washington.
Tony