(click on pictures for larger view)With summertime upon us my fishing buddies have been eager to begin our wanderlust fishing adventures. None more eager than my "compadre" Jorge, you may recall it was extremely difficult for him to accompany us on many of our trips last year. Bob invited us to fish his lake at the foothills of Yucaipa, some 80 miles from Los Angeles. Jorge is very eager to try-out his expensive new fishing gear, he even volunteered to drive his new Tundra.
With all of our gear, food and refreshment on board and much anticipation we headed east towards the San Bernardino mountains. According to my calculations we should be on the lake in an hour and twenty minutes. But wait, Jorge drove past the freeway entrance, bewildered I asked "What happened? you missed the on ramp", "don't worry" he said, "I know where I'm going" He drove five miles further to his favorite gas station where he proceeded to chat with the attendant and other customers, drink coffee, eat sweet rolls and finally pump the gas.
Twenty minutes later we entered the freeway. We were listening to the world cup soccer game between Mexico and France when all of the sudden he turned off the radio. "Mejor vamos a platicar", he wanted to chat; we discussed retired life, stock market, world events, home improvements etc. About this time I informed him we were driving too slow in the pool lane and every other lane was going faster than we were. He responded that they were bad drivers and he has never had a traffic citation, never-the-less he moved over to the slow lane and we returned to the world cup game. By the time we reached San Bernardino, an hour late, he needed to make another pit stop after twenty minutes we continued our trek. We finally reached Jenks lake two hour and twenty minutes after leaving LA
.Our good friend and fishing pro. Bob was waiting for us, he was very exited because he had already brought in some "lunkers", big-ones. While I prepared my gear, Bob quickly took Jorge under his tutelage, with a perfectly distilled mixture of experience, skill and swagger. He proceeded to instruct his young apprentice the finer skills of rainbow trout fishing starting with rigging the hook, line and sinker following with the difficult long casts necessary to hit the sweet spot and proper procedure on landing the fish, taking out the hook and into the cooler.
After Bob's fishing workshop we are ready to fish this beautiful lake. Everyone with due diligence finds a fishing spot. As the day goes by we notice that Jorge keeps putting fish in his cooler,a sure sign that he has his mojo working. We take a break for refreshments and lunch and again we realize Jorge's exceptionalism; Bob and I have plain sandwiches, cokes and beer. He brought ice tea, fine coffee, fruit salad, goat cheese, grapes, croissant sandwiches and white wine. He is obviously a gourmet and and aficionado of the finer things of life.
After lunch Bob and Jorge continue their sterling
performance of bringing them up while, I enjoy a a peaceful day with good friends. Bob takes the opportunity to teach us "how to read" the lake; identify deep spots, rock formations under water, the importance of water plants and weeds, wind direction, currents and water temperature at different depths. He insists that trout have very acute senses such as smell, therefore do not introduce foreign substances such as sun tanning lotion or cologne when handling your bait. sight, don't move around, trout have a close range of vision and most important sound, trout according to him pick up on voices, vibrations, water splashing so "keep noise to a minimum". He advises no radios, bells or rattles on fishing poles-if you want a good fishing day.
As we head home the natural beauty of the mountains scrolls through the windshield and we realize how peaceful it is to be away from the big urban centers; cluttered freeways, noise and hassle of the city. Something happens when you are fishing with good friends. You have an opportunity for reflection, recollection and renewal. Just about that time my "compadre" reminds us of his skill and luck he is the only one taking home a cooler full of fish. Great job Jorge.
photos: courtesy of Bob Venegas
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