The L&T and I arrived back in Mt. Shasta Sunday evening, and while the long, boring drive merits few words, we did eyeball a couple forest fires burning near the lower end of the Upper Sacramento River.

The fire nearest the river was coming over the ridge to the west of I-5 near Lakehead; we could see the flames just topping the ridge.

Seconds later, we saw a twin-engine water bomber barreling down the canyon just a few hundred feet over the freeway (sadly, the camera was tucked away in my backpack).

It’s dramatic stuff on the Upper Sacramento (another fire burned a little farther up-canyon, but farther from the river), yet the only news report I could find is here.

Planning to fish the lower end of the Upper Sac this week? Check before you do.

See you at the fire, Tom Chandler.

forest fire, wildfire, upper sacramento river

• Blog accuses Idaho governor of “Photo-op Environmentalism” on Salmon issues: http://tinyurl.com/5zgpo6 #
• Fish & seafood recipes from frequent Underground commenter Chile Underground: http://tinyurl.com/69yhuv #

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The sun is out, the Wonderdog’s sprawled at my feet, the pool is waiting, and I’m writing this from a shaded back porch in Healdsburg (California’s wine country).

There aren’t many trout here (the Russian River is nearby, but I didn’t bring a rod), but that matters little; I’m here celebrating my third wedding anniversary.

Fortunately, one of us is good looking.

I know. It amazes me too.

Not the lack of a fly rod. More the fact the L&T has put up with me (and the Trout Underground) for three whole years.

We were married alongside the Upper Sacramento River (the little amphitheater at Dunsmuir City Park), and because I have a strong survival instinct, I spent the three days prior to the wedding out of town - fishing the Williamson river with Chris Raine, Dave Edmondson, and Steve Bertrand.

The fishing wasn’t spectacular, but that’s OK because the wedding was (OK, it was mostly a blur for me, though others remember it better and assure me it pegged the meter).

And yes, the man performing the ceremony leaned heavily on water/river/wilderness metaphors in the ceremony (fortunately, he didn’t reference stocked trout), and the rest is history.

Hell, I even got to fly fish a little on my honeymoon.

Three years later, I still wake up every morning alongside someone who wants me to go fly fishing more often than I do (I’m still unsure if that’s because of the attitude I develop when I haven’t been on the water).

Among fishermen in general, there’s a tendency to emphasize the sport’s anti-social tendencies; a bass fisherman I know joined a club and at his first meeting, proudly announced he was on his third wife, bass fishing having claimed the first two.

It drew a knowing laugh from several in the room, but in truth, it always bothered me.

Bass fishing wasn’t to blame, and it’s possible his former wives weren’t either.

We fly fish for different reasons, but I like to think most of us are moving towards something positive instead of running away from something less so, but then, humanity isn’t a monolith as much as a scattered population of individuals, only some of whom fall under the bell curve.

In the end, I’d like to think I got married for the same reasons I go fly fishing - I’m moving towards something good instead of running from something bad, even if I’m not always sure what that looks like.

So far, I can say that’s exactly how it’s playing out.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

L&T, wedding anniversary, fly fishing, fishing,

• Fly fishing in the future? We hope not: http://tinyurl.com/67ljds #
• Writing & Fly Fishing from Neil Creek Chronicles: http://tinyurl.com/6ypbpq #
• Why does North Carolina still allow gillnetting when every other state realizes it’s pure, unadulterated bullshit? http://tinyurl.com/6ldg42 #

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If sporting clays competition and fly fishing had a love child, would it look something like Orvis’ just-announced Old Mill Casting Course?

The Orvis shop in Old Mill lies at the start and finish of an 18-station casting course.

Most of the growth in “outdoor” sports is occurring courtesy a competitive angle (e.g. competitive bass fishing, competitive hunting, “action” pistol events, retriever competition, etc.), yet competitive fly fishing has yet to take hold in the USA (despite several attempts).

But competitive casting on a closed, “real-world” style course? Hmmmm.

Let’s face it; wild trout and their environs aren’t particularly well suited to competitions, but the technical act of fly casting almost certainly is.

And while regular readers know I’m hardly a cheerleader for the fly fishing industry, I do think this is an idea with merit.

We don’t force our wild trout populations through the competitive ringer, and I could see weekend competitions acquiring the patina of a social event - much like the action pistol competitions (the fastest-growing shooting sports), where largely low-key competition is almost always followed by a barbecue.

Of course, I see growth in a worthy sport. The fly fishing industry no doubt sees growth in sales of a new line of competition-only fly rods.

How’s the course work?

Like golf, each station on the course will have a par score. Depending on the station, experts will be able to hit par in one to two casts, intermediates in three to four casts and beginners in five to six casts.

Scorecards will be distributed at the store, and those with the best scores will have their names affixed to a store plaque, Tibbett said.

The course will be free and open to the public. It is being developed in partnership with The Old Mill District.

“Really, the whole fly-fishing business is abuzz about it because it could be the start of a whole new thing,” Tibbett said. “It’s been talked about, apart from grass-roots events where you throw a Hula-Hoop on the lawn, but it’s never been taken to this level. The Old Mill (District) really has gone out of its way to make this happen.”

Did they mention golf? Damnit. Fly fishermen already look ridiculous, and adding lime-green plus fours to our competitive outfits isn’t going to help.

I’m trying to get past it.

So I’m putting the question to the Undergrounders (especially those living in urban areas): would a “Casting Course” style competition (with hints of sporting clays, golf, and barbecued food) interest you? Or should urban anglers get used to fishing ditches for carp?

Is this a Big Thing for the industry, or just a recession-mired fly fishing industry making hopeful noises?

As always, Undergrounders, the floor is yours:

fly fishing, fly casting, fly rod, orvis, bend, casting course, old mill

As perhaps the only blog on the planet not covering the Democrat or Republican conventions, the Underground’s Crack Team of Political Analysts (we’re avaible for lucrative television gigs) has decided to take a second look at Alaska’s defeat of the Ballot Measure 4 - the anti-Pebble initiative.

After all, if Jon Stewart proves anything, it’s that politics are far more palatable when viewed as comedy as opposed to tragedy.

First, the surprise nomination of Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin (hilarious YouTube alert) for the Republican VP spot could vault the Measure 4 issue into the national political spotlight; she’s been accused of violating state guidelines for taking sides on the Measure 4 fight.

Then there are the other elements of great drama: the shadowy, behind-the-scenes rich guys with an unclear agenda; the government regulatory agency parroting industry talking points (and getting blasted for it by another government agency); and some muttering among proponents that the whole thing was a waste of time.

Simple? Clear? Not for a second.

Meet the New Boss (Nominated)

Alaska’s governor has gone from political nobody to media superstar in a matter of days - a reality sure to focus a little light on her actions surrounding Ballot Measure 4.

Palin - who’s been touted as a “reformer” and anti-corruption candidate - doesn’t fare quite so well in this KTUU-TV Web site report:

Gov. Sarah Palin spoke out against it [ed: Measure 4] earlier this week, drawing sharp criticism from a group that supports Ballot Measure 4.

It is against the law for the governor to officially advocate for or against a ballot measure; however, Palin took what she calls “personal privelege” to discuss one of this year’s most contentious initiatives, which voters will decide Tuesday.

“Let me take my governor’s hat off just for a minute here and tell you, personally, Prop 4 — I vote no on that. I have all the confidence in the world that (the Department of Environmental Conservation) and our (Department of Natural Resources) have great, very stringent regulations and policies already in place,” Palin said. “We’re going to make sure that mines operate only safely, soundly.”

The State of Confusion Department

Then there’s the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), who foisted a misleading Web site on the public (apparently it even used graphics from the mining company’s presentation) which was promptly ordered offline by that zany crew of legal nitpickers at the State Department of Public Offices:

The state’s website on Ballot Measure 4, the so-called Clean Water initiative has been ordered to be shut down at least until Friday at 2 p.m.

After hours of testimony and deliberations Thursday, commissioners say the website was not fair and neutral in certain areas and that unless both sides can come up with a new website in which they agree is balanced, the website may be offline forever.

Measure 4 supporter Bruce Switzer said the intent of Measure 4 opponents was always to confuse, not inform:

We didn’t think it [ed: Palin's comments] was appropriate coming out this late, but similarly the DNR came out with the web page at the very end of the day that was essentially identical to the mining presentations that have been made around the state for the last few months. So it wasn’t surprising.

Exit polls indicate many voters grew confused by the contradictory advertising and simply threw up their hands (which pretty much describes the Modern American political process).

Then There Are The Other Guys

If all that wasn’t fodder enough for a cheesy political thriller movie (I’m thinking straight to DVD, and I want a percentage of the gross, not the net), then there’s source of much of the pro-initiative funding - a bazillionaire/Bristol Bay lodge owner and a shadowy Washington DC lobbying group.

Pebble foes, including Anchorage millionaire
Bob Gillam and the Americans for Job Security — a secretive,
Republican-oriented group in Virginia that doesn’t identify its members
– contributed nearly $3 million to back Measure 4.

Gillam
disclosed giving $570,000. The Americans for Job Security disclosed
giving $1.2 million to the “Yes” campaign, but it also funded “issue”
ads in the form of mailers and radio spots. The cost of those ads was
not disclosed.

Some proponents can’t quite seem to get over the source of the funding. Others have suggested the whole Measure 4 thing was a waste of time and resources.

As always, we turn to the Undergrounders for Universal Truth and Clarity. Of course, such things aren’t possible in today’s political environment, so rather than waste our time, we’ll ask the only question left to us:

Where did everybody go fishing over Labor Day?

UPDATE: Murdock of Flyfishmagazine.com reports from the front lines.

sarah palin, measure 4, pebble mine, americans for job security,

• Singlebarbed (finally) figures out he’s seriously undergunned for carp: http://tinyurl.com/67terb #

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The Undergrounders know of my dislike for multinational corporate predators Nestle Waters, a water bottling divison of Nestle which - despite all the Underground’s helpful advice - still seems incapable of playing nice with others.

In a brazen attempt to help Nestle Waters understand the error of their ways, I launched something that will no doubt brighten the mood around their corporate offices: StopNestleWaters.org

Go ahead and click through. We don’t bite - not you anyway.

Despite the fact Nestle’s recently taken a beating, they’re still up to their old tricks: suing tiny towns for their water, negotiating secret deals out of site of the public, and just generally being a massive corporate pain in the ass.

Undeniably, they’ve provided many hours of mirth and lazy target practice for the Undergrounders, and that hasn’t wholly ended.

It was just time to ramp things up a bit.

Bad Multinational: Put That Rural Town Down

You see, Nestle’s doing less-than-pleasant things in small communities around the country, and while citizens groups form to fight the Chocolate-Covered Swiss Menace (which sounds better than it is), they tend to remain local in their focus.

In other words, there are a lot of people fighting the same fight - but in different places.

Why not a site that brings them together?

Viola! (or) Voila!

A couple weeks of sleepless nights, and StopNestleWaters.org was born.

As much as anything, it’s an exploration of the idea that the Internet can level the playing field between a handful of locals and the world’s largest food and beverage company - complete with multi-bazillion dollar PR budgets and people in suits dedicated to turning the world’s freshwater supply into one big Nestle bottling plant.

Today is the site’s soft launch; I’m slowly letting the online world in on the joke gig.

Why am I telling you? Because some of the Undergrounders may simply want Nestle to keep their filthy paws off the McCloud River’s water.

Others may want to check in from time to time, or register for the site’s RSS or email feeds.

Maybe you’ll even want to participate in the discussion, which - given Nestle’s prediliction for shooting itself in the foot - promises to be amusing. In the meantime, expect regular service on the Underground (if such a thing exists) to resume.

So please place your tray and seat in the upright and locked position: We’re ready for takeoff.

See you on StopNestleWaters.org, Tom Chandler.

Nobody gets more mileage out of “matching” conservation funding than Orvis; they’ve successfully used the program to raise some serious cash for everything from the McCloud Redband (better than $120K was raised) to helping restore the Penobscot River.

Now they’re offering a new twist on matching donations for Project Healing Waters, and asking those who buy from them in the month of September to “round up” their purchases.

In addition to donating $20,000 to the effort, Orvis is also helping out through our “Round Up” campaign starting September 2nd. You can choose to increase your order total for online purchases and we’ll match each dollar amount, thus doubling your donation to this very worthy cause.

A few bucks per order doesn’t sound like a lot, but given the sheer volume of stuff that goes out of the Orvis eCommerce site every day, I bet it turns into some real coin for a pretty damned good cause. (The Underground would also like to point out that those looking for an excuse to purchase something from Orvis be aware that Wally the Wonderdog is sleeping on a ratty old dog bed…)

Of courses, you can always choose to snub the Wonderdog and donate directly to the cause via a snail mail address on the Orvis site.

Because they threw down for the McCloud Redband trout, I’m even going to post their ever-so-slightly maudlin YouTube video.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

fly fishing, orvis, project healing waters

• Back from the high country; sans brookies, but with video of Wally the Wonderdog stealing our lunch. #
• Urban Angler on a Ahab-esque quest for a dougle-digit Pike: http://tinyurl.com/6bycma #
• Ian Rutter on yet another hike to a brookie stream (bastard): http://tinyurl.com/5hhczp #
• Ed Engle discusses how not to become Bear Food in Alaska: http://tinyurl.com/5sowod #

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Fly fishermen are always happy to tumble for easy fish, but we have a weird streak in us that adds style points if getting to those fish involves a little suffering.

Mahogany soft hackle: it hooked two, but didn’t land them.

Yesterday - with an old friend from the Bay Area in town and the L&T chomping at the bit for something fun to do - we loaded Wally the Wonderdog into the truck and headed for the hills.

Ahead of us was a 3.5 mile hike involving a rolling trail and one big ridgeline to climb over. At the end of that was a brookie lake - a pretty little place I hadn’t fished since spring.

Suspense in a fishing report is overrated, so I’ll get to the point: I got skunked (hooked two, but neither for more than a couple seconds), Wally the Wonderdog ate the humans’ lunch, and - after all the office hours the last two weeks - the hike was damned nice.

The L&T and Kim: Underground hiking babes buddies.

The Wonderdog Fuel Stop

Wally the Wonderdog loves hiking in the mountains; he ranges up and down the trail, fat rolling, ears flopping, and nose filtering all the wild smells he doesn’t routinely encounter in the Trout Underground/Man Cave World Headquarters living room.

This time, he’ll also have fond memories of lunch.

Mine, that is.

The Wonderdog - ever vigilant for rising trout (and pork).

The prior evening we had an outdoor barbecue party for, well, a bunch of people. Because I am the Lord of the Grill, I spent much of the day carefully layering a cinnamon/chipotle dry rub on a six-pound pork shoulder roast before slow-cooking it in my charcoal Weber.

The result was Pure Porcine Perfection: the deep red, perfectly caramelized crust sealed in the pork juice, so the meat was juicy and falling-apart tender.

Did we pack some to enjoy at the lake? Was I anticipating the rich, spicy taste? Is the Wonderdog smarter than I am?

Sadly, the answer to all three was Yes.

As I rigged my fly rod, the wily Wonderdog only pretended to be eating the dry dog food we’d carried in; instead, he was ripping the lid off the larger, pork-filled Tupperware container right next to it.

Without pausing to breathe (I’m assuming this part because the three-person helping of succulent, spiced pork disappeared in 1.42 seconds), the Wonderdog performed three amazing feats:

• Ate our lunch
• Licked every bit of sauce off the container
• Set the stage for a walk home that was - at times - very unpleasant (depending on wind direction)

There went lunch.

No matter - there was always the fishing, right?

Skunk-O-Rama

Not so much. The last two nights have found temperatures falling below 40 degrees here at the TU compound (a couple thousand feet below the lake), and water temps at the Brookie must have plummeted.

Instead of a brookie bonanza, I briefly hooked two on a #16 Mahogany silk soft hackle, saw two more follow the fly.

Dries? Hoppers? A small leech?

Nada.

As close as I came to landing a trout

Fortunately, the hike out was as pretty as the hike in, though with the added attraction of a bear sighting.

The three of us saw a bear heading down the ridge behind us, suggesting he crossed the top of the ridge (and the trail) after we’d passed (about a minute before).

I’ve seen plenty of bears around here, but this was a big sucker, and I’m glad the Wonderdog didn’t feel compelled to chase after him.

Fall Falling?

We’ve still got plenty of warm days ahead, but right now, we’re getting a taste of fall; acorns are falling, nighttime temps are growing uncomfortably cool, and the light is acquiring that clear, cool quality that reminds me of crystal clear water.

That means two things:

• You’re running out of time to fish all those places you wanted to fish but haven’t
• Fall fishing - which is typically great - is just around the corner

See you this fall, Tom Chandler.

fly fishing, alpine fly fishing, fishing, brook trout, wally the wonderdog

• Despite ban on salmon fishing, fishermen harassing spawning salmon on American River: http://aquafornia.com/archives/4556 #

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