CHT Challenge - NorCal - Part One

The following series was posted to another web-based bulletin board that I used to frequent.  I've modified it a little to make it fit hear...

July 2004

My nine-year old son Simon and I completed our Heritage Trout Challenge!

We ventured off to the far reaches of Northern California in search of native trout from their historic drainages.  Our fishing partners this weekend were our good friends Ken and his son Johan – both of whom are new to flyfishing – but are traditional “outdoorsmen”.  Simon had already caught two native trout, the Lahonton Cutthroat and the coastal rainbow, and I had caught three, adding the California Golden to Simon's list.  To complete the challenge, you need to catch six of the (remaining) eleven forms of trout that are native to California.  The Challenge is designed to educate fishermen and women of the state’s natural resources, and hopefully to bring awareness and concern to the conservation of these sometimes fragile waters.

To learn more about the Challenge, visit the DFG website: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/html/AnglerRecognition/HeritageTroutChallenge/HeritageTroutChallenge_0.htm

I need to recognize the work of Roger Bloom and Dave Lentz (biologists with CA DFG) who put the challenge together and helped us out with some of the logistics of our trip.

Our quest for this trip was to introduce Ken and Johan to the Challenge, and to get them going in this great sport.  We were targeting three native fish – the redband trout from the McCloud River drainage, Goose Lake, and Warner Lakes.  We figured  we’d be lucky to get two of the fish…

We started out with the long drive up I-5 to the Mt. Shasta area.  There are only a few streams that have pure strains of our quarry that have not been hybridized with the coastal rainbow, which has been stocked heavily throughout the state.

Our first stop was a small creek on the east slope of Mt. Shasta.  We found a nice campsite and headed down to the creek for a snoop.  A darting fish had our hopes high, and we were all upbeat after the long drive.  We slept under the stars, woke the next morning excited, and headed for the creek.  All four of us caught fish over the next two hours.

Fishing consisted of stalking small pools and lies, gently dappling a dry fly and hoping for the reward.  The kids both did great, and after a few spooked pools, they learned that walking quietly and moving slowly paid off.

The fish were your typical backcountry trout.  A big one was 10 inches.  Average was about six inches – but man are they beautiful.