So for my Spring 08 vacation I tried to do some of it. No airport for me! I'll link lots of info on these places, this way you can have your own adventure looking around.
A week ago Sunday I spent the day fishing with some friends off Alameda and the Berkeley/Emeryville flats. Since salmon is not happening this year and maybe for a while lots of boats are hanging out inside the bay for halibut. On my boat was Mike Hudson of SalmonAid. Think FarmAid for fish. Mike has been a small boat commercial salmon fisherman for many years. If you bought salmon at a Berkeley or El Cerrito farmers market it was probably caughht by Mike. Commercial guys like him don't drag huge nets and pick out fish. It is a long line they use and the salmon are handled one by one. It is lots of work.
The SalmonAid Festival will celebrate wild salmon and steelhead with a free, family-friendly, music festival in Oakland's famed Jack London Square on May 31 and June 1, 2008.
Organized by the largest ever coalition of West Coast salmon advocates (including commercial, recreational and tribal fishermen, conservation organizations, chefs, restaurants, scientists, and many others), SalmonAid will raise awareness of the plight of west coast salmon populations, the rivers and streams they spawn in, and the many coastal and inland communities that rely on salmon for their livelihoods and survival.
The festival will feature educational booths, activities and foods highlighting the natural history of salmon, as well as the history, culture and traditions of salmon towns and the peoples connected through our west coast salmon heritage - from Morro Bay, California to Bellingham, Washington, and inland to Idaho and Nevada.
Anyway we caught some halibut, had a good time hanging out, and so far so good.
Tuesday my buddy my Pete and I went to Fairfax to do some mountain biking. There is a pretty epic set of trails up there called Tamarancho. It is private property with really fun single track. Honestly it slapped me around pretty good. I only made it to the first fireroad. I was beat, the climb killed my energy. But the ride back down to the trail head was an epic 1 mile :). Too bad I wasn't able to ride the other 10! We'll be back for sure.
Wednesday I took a drive up to Zamora. It is a farming area just off 505 above Winters and below Williams. It was almost the last weekend to do some bird hunting. I went to Quail Point Hunt Club. I met Frank and his dog Belle. We reserved a field and Belle went off in search of quail and chukar, the Kurdish National Bird, and the National bird of Pakistan. His dog did a great job tracking down the birds, and I got some good tips on improving on my 3 shot misses early on. :( How embarrassing! By the time we flushed the last 3 or 4 birds I had some good quick one shot birds. They cleaned them and I took 'em home for the bbq.
Thursday I spent a day on the Delta fishing with a long time friend. The fishing was slow, but the day was fun catching up with a good friend. The delta is an interesting place, each corner changes the scenery, there is lots of wild life, and I mean human as well as the other!
Friday I met a friend at the Richmond launch ramp for some bay striped bass fishing. He tossed fly's I tossed bucktail jigs.
We worked over Red Rock, Marin Islands, The Sisters, and The Brothers.
We worked over each place pretty hard for just a few fish. None for me. Dang. But it was a really warm and windless afternoon on the bay. That doesn't happen often, so we were liking that. After a couple more places we headed home. We were north of Red Rocks, and decided to give it one more try on the way back. The tide was going out, so maybe it was stacking up bait fish on the beach on the island. If so maybe the stripers were there.
Yes they were! I switched to a Yo_Zuri F-11 black and silver Crystal Minnow. It rocked. We were both on a fish about every 3 casts. Boom Boom Boom. And these fish fight hard. They are really fun to catch. It was truly epic. I did have a few LDR's (long distance release's) that led to a very brief cussin' foot stompin' temper tantrum. But the next fish I brought to the boat made up for it. We didn't have big fish, but did have lots of them at this last stop. We had to leave biting fish at sundown, but did so with big smiles on our faces.
Oh we also caught Bay Area Legend (that few around here have ever heard of) Howard Arneson's boat making high speed runs in the bay off Marin. Was he going his typical 170+ mph? Maybe, it sure looked like it!
He's quite a guy:
Arneson was born on May 25, 1921, in Benicia, California, a seaside city north of San Francisco. Growing up near the water, he was interested in boats as far back as he can remember. His first job was with a gold dredge manufacturer. He also worked at a nearby naval shipyard and entered the U.S. Navy as an aviation gunnery instructor. In this capacity he taught and trained pilots in skeet and trap shooting to familiarize them with shooting at moving targets. A world class shooter, Arneson won the California State Trap Shooting Championship in 1947. After leaving the Navy, Arneson sold color televisions for Sears and Roebuck when they first became available and raced 225 cubic inch hydroplanes. His racing career was short lived when he flipped his boat and woke up in the hospital.
Soon after, Arneson was hired to work on a project to develop a system to clean swimming pools. After completing the project and selling the system, he developed and patented a swimming pool sweeper.
His fame now comes from his high speed boats sold world wide.
The Stienstra-esque vacation ended up with 2 days at Clear Lake. Biggest bass caught was about 4 pounds. The lake was beautiful, and I spent Sunday morning with a cup of coffee watching the master fisherman of them all the Blue Heron doing his thing a few docks away.
My hands are all dinged up with cuts and scrapes. My mountain bike needs a new chain and brake pads. My shotgun could use a cleaning.
Guess I had a good time! Thanks Tom for the inspiration!
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