Cap’n Randy took us our for a spin on his badass sled. I love shooting from the water on the bay.

Baseball playoff season signals the start of Striped Bass season in the Delta. I got a call from Sensei Mr. T and rapidly ditched work and headed for the harbor. Last night was a shout back to the old days. It has been rare in the past couple of fall seasons that I have hit a solid topwater bite with fish over 10 lbs. Last night was off the hook with multiple big toilet flush style blowups, doubles on 15# fish and non-stop action for a couple of hours. We had no net or boga grip so a few of the fish never made it on the boat for pics as they were too big to hand into the boat! Top secret location for sure.

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https://youtu.be/g7AmfpPIq8Y

I have been drawn to the coast this summer in a very strong way. Is it the heat? I feel at peace near the ocean.

My birthday is May 30th. For many years that and the Memorial Day holiday were my excuse to go camping. I booked an RV resort in Redding for the weekend. The number of truly amazing outdoor opportunities within a hour or so of Redding is mind-boggling. I towed the boat but it sat all weekend due to crazy 100 degree + hot temperatures. So I scoped out a loop drive to get us up in some altitude and hopefully out of the heat.

Very rewarding trip. Plan for a good solid 6-8 hrs on the road if you plan to hike to all of the falls and hang out a bit. The first stop was Potem falls about an hour east of Redding on 299.

The falls are on a creek off of the Pitt river about 9 miles in on an easy gravel road. The sign for the trail is about a mile past the Pitt bridge.

A moderately difficult 1/2 mile hike is required to get the the base of the falls.

So worth it.

It was a bit tricky for Deb but she got down in one piece.

As did my buds

Off to Burney for lunch at the cafe across from the bowling alley

We thought about Burney Falls but it was a seething mass of post-pandemic lockdown escapees. We hit 89 north and crossed over Lake Britton which looked very inviting. Excellent accessible pier. This PGE impoundment was full. EVERY waterway up there is tinkered with by PGE.

Another 40 miles north to the next stop, the 3 falls on the Mcloud River aptly named , Upper mid and lower. You can drive to all three but best to park a car at Upper and hike.

Hard to comprehend that Salmon previously made it all they way up here!

My companions were impressed.

I missed the Middle Falls. By the time we got to the lower falls the crowds were building.

The scenery on this entire drive is top notch with views of Shasta, Lassen, Castle Crags etc,

After passing through the town of McCloud we hit 5 south for 25 miles and hit Hedge Creek Falls.

This one has a cave at the back which made for some interesting light play,

Admittedly the water flow this year at Hedge Creek was underwhelming. AS we completed the loop into Redding we crossed over Lake Shasta (Stunning albeit with a bath-tub ring) which was chock-a-block with Lake Lice.

Feel like we scouted out a BUNCH of new territory there and have some cool ideas about where to explore next. I plan to spend a lot of time after retirement in the area getting to know the rivers, creeks, hot springs and lakes.

that to my utter horror I was sleeping in my own bed. I checked online and found a campsite open at the infamously named Glory Hole and snatched it up. Took me 20 minutes to hook up the boat and we were off to Angels Camp. Calevaras County fairgrounds was (pun intended) jumping for the county fair with some of the levity sucked out by pandemia. We provisioned in town and proceeded to set up camp.

That night we watched a subtitled Sophia Loren as a Jewish retired streetwalker who takes in a street urchin. Two thumbs up!

Risking divorce, I got up at 5:45 Saturday AM, made coffee and went for a short walk. Lo and behold the missus was up when I returned and we launched the tin can at 6:30. Glorious day on New Melones.

I rigged up a Spro Phat fly on an ultralight rig and started fishing a cove about 2 miles east of Parrots Ferry bridge. I found a cove full of busting bait and bass.

No real size to the fish but I pulled an easy 30 rats out of that hole. Mucho fun on 4 lb test. Lake is looking OK but down a bit.

Debra read magazines and a book while I flailed for 7 hrs. Off the water early. Really nice weekend.

R and I spent 3 days at the Big O. Water was way down this year. North Fork had the best quality. Our best day saw at least 70 fish boarded. MANY doubles.

Early April is magic time at Pt Reyes. Flowers be poppin.