Posts tagged: joe kimsey

Welcome, New Trout Season (and, Good-Bye, Joe)

May 1, 2011, by Tom Chandler 4 comments

The L&T is on a biz trip and I’m Mr. Mom all this week, which means this blog post gets written during Little M’s short afternoon nap.

After which I bundle her into the car and we get the hell out of the house, because:

1) The weather’s nice (much nicer than yesterday), and

2) If we stay, she’ll drive me crazy

So much for the sensitive father.

The Opener

Yesterday’s general trout season opener saw crowds on the McCloud, a fair number of bodies on the Upper Sacramento, and a generous turnout at Joe Kimsey’s remembrance at Dunsmuir City Park.

(Which is a lot to cover during a short nap.)

A "Rough Skinned Newt"

Here’s the fly fishing story: Wayne suggested a place where he thought we could catch some trout despite the high water, and I knew exactly where he was talking about.

We’d both fished it independently over the years, both liked it, and this time, it produced (as it has in the past).

No real shortage of trout or rafts

With Joe Kimsey’s remembrance at 3:00 — and us the victim of a Meski-delayed start — we basically fished 150 feet of river — and had six grabs between us.

I even got one to eat a dry, but speed set him. Later, I nymphed one up, but he was downstream, and neatly wrapped me on a branch (I saw him just before he broke me off, which I assume was on purpose).

Just in case anyone forgot what I look like just before losing a trout...

Wayne got four grabs, landed one, and our time was up.

My take?

It’s pretty much as advertised; the river is high but wholly fishable… in places.

And in those places, the fish could be pretty good.

Still, with temperatures finally set to hit 70 degrees this week, we’re seeing the Upper Sacramento in what is probably the best shape it’ll be until most of the way through June.

In other words, enjoy it.

Joe Kimsey

At the Dunsmuir City Park gathering for Joe Kimsey, one person noted that all the elements of a successful Joe Kimsey day were present: cookies, cake, a trout river, and women…

Those that knew Joe will miss him. Those that didn’t might wonder what all the fuss is about, but how do you explain a true character?

Instead, here are a few photographs:

A few photos of Joe -- right in front of his Upper Sac (he let the rest of us fish it)

I could only fit a portion of the attendees into this photograph

See you on the river,
Tom Chandler

Bad News Thursday: Fly Fishing Loses Upper Sac Legend Joe Kimsey

March 24, 2011, by Tom Chandler 22 comments

Undergrounders, we have lost us a good one.

Sadly, I have to report the passing of Upper Sacramento legend Joe Kimsey.

Joe Kimsey holds a nice bass he caught at Trout Lake. We will miss him.

Those who met Joe already hold a strong picture of him in their minds; he was a character whose wit never failed him – and whose charm never failed to make a strong impression.

For those who never met him, well, you missed your chance. In addition to being a character, Joe was a living connection to Upper Sacramento history, a man who – as a small boy – remembered when salmon and steelhead still swam in the McCloud and Upper Sacramento River.

He’s well known for his love of small streams and those big old Ted Fay Bomber style nymphs that he tied by the bazillions.

Until his illness forced a move to Redding, you could find him most days tying Bombers at the Ted Fay Fly Shop, which he’d sold to Bob Grace, but continued to hang out at because (as he told me) “That’s where all the girls are.”

I described going fly fishing with Joe in this post, which also tells the story of the first time I met Joe.

Many years ago, I was waiting for the Ted Fay Fly Shop to open, and when Joe walked up, I introduced myself and naively asked him if he was Ted Fay.

He looked at me for a second, and said – without a hitch – “Boy I sure hope not. He’s been dead better than ten years.”

That’s the kind of style only God gives you.

See you on the river, Joe.

Fly Fishing With Style: The Upper Sacramento’s Joe Kimsey

June 3, 2008, by Tom Chandler 10 comments

When I first met Dunsmuir legend Joe Kimsey, I was standing outside the Ted Fay Fly Shop (at its old location).

He returned from lunch, and as he unlocked the door, I asked him if he was Ted Fay.

He looked at me and said “Boy, I sure hope not. He’s been dead better than ten years.”

An Upper Sacramento Original

Sunday found myself, Steve Bertrand and the legendary Joe Kimsey fishing Trout Lake — a manmade reservoir on the Shasta Wildlife Refuge. (And no, I don’t know why they call it Trout Lake — it’s home to damn few trout, housing mostly largemouth bass and bluegill.)

It’s not the world’s prettiest lake, but it holds the potential for some decent largemouth bass, a fish not often found in this area.

And frankly, the lake wasn’t the main attraction; it was a chance to fish with Joe — a local legend who remembers the Upper Sacramento and McCloud Rivers when they ran thick with salmon and steelhead.

Joe Kimsey and largemouth bass
Joe Kimsey and a good-sized Trout Lake largemouth bass

You ignore access to that kind of history at your own peril, and I never get tired of soaking up Joe’s stories — like the origins of the battered red canteen he brought on the trip.

“Some guy left this in my truck more than 30 years ago, and I guess he isn’t going to want it back now.”

On the sometimes-windy lake, we fished poppers and streamers (the streamers we fished on slow-sinking lines — fast sinking lines tend to foul in the weeds).

In the end, hanging out with Joe eclipsed the fishing by a fair amount; we landed two bass, lost three others, and — embarrassingly — didn’t get a single rush from a bluegill.

Trout Lake, California
Trout Lake is an unremarkable lake where the winds blow in the afternoon.

Still, when you get to hear stories about what this county was like before Shasta Dam went in — and also learn where a guy looking to shoot a deer might want to hang out this fall — then the day simply isn’t wasted.

For those of you who haven’t met Joe, he holds court at the Ted Fay Fly Shop, and though he sold it to Bob Grace many years ago, he still works there because — as he famously told me right after his 70th birthday — “that’s where all the girls are.”

He might be wrong about that, but the right attitude garners him all kinds of style points.

Joe’s a little bent from age and he doesn’t hear as well as he used to, but his cast remains fluid, smooth and straight.

A few years ago – in the middle of an alpine meadow – I stared enviously while he peppered a small stream’s undercut bank with casts.

Each time, the fly landed on the edge of the current, and he deftly drifted it down the seam, using imperceptible flicks of the rod tip to keep the dry bouncing off the blades of grass lining the bank

It was an impressive demonstration; one I’ve neither forgotten – nor successfully imitated. (Though I’ll keep trying.)

Joe rarely fly fishes the Upper Sacramento any more, preferring calmer waters, though he still ties the famous Ted Fay Bomber nymphs by the dozen.

He also still tries to shoot a deer every fall, and at times, it seems like he knows every logging road, campsite and small stream in the surrounding mountains.

Plus, he’s got a wicked sense of humor, and that’s why — despite landing exactly one largemouth bass and losing two others — the day’s fishing was far from pointless.

lakejoeboat
Joe Kimsey, waiting for the trailer to arrive.