Targeting rainbow trout @ Lake Gregory

Our friend Javier aka (el perdido) has been lost for months with real estate agents searching for the perfect vacation home in the San Bernardino mountains. This endeavor took him to the small community of Crestline and lake Gregory. Not far from the resort area of Arrowhead Lake where he finally procured his dream retirement compound. At his urging we headed into the small mountain village of Crestline to test the waters for the elusive  rainbow-trout. Our fishing party for the day's trip consisted of Javier, my son David, the old sage Bob and his son Bobby, who lives in this mountain community and volunteered to be our guide.

View @ 6:30 am above the clouds on rd. CA-138, San Bernardino Mountains

We headed east on freeway 210, exited on  waterman  ave. left turn towards the mountains on CA-18 to CA-138, continued on to Lake Dr.  took a left turn. Welcome to Crestline: Lake Gregory. We got to the lake in less than an hour from the 210 freeway exit. Bobby Jr had a wealth of information: geography, wind currents, deep and shallow areas, walking trail as well as hot spots.

From left David, Bobby Jr., Robert and Javier at the first spot to begin the day.

As always, the old sage with the first one of the day

After striking out on a couple of hots spots we made our way into deeper waters. As usual Bob, the old sage, was the first one to shout, "fish on". Jr. quickly ran for the net to helped his daddy bring-in the first one. David quickly followed bringing in a couple large ones. He couldn't contain his exuberance, "This are my first fish in many years!" he added with a big smile. David is a happy man. Being a chef, he quickly guided the conversation to the art of good food preparation and his culinary skills. And  volunteered to to prepare a sumptuous lunch with the morning's catch.
After a couple more trout and the mouthwatering, culinary conversation, Javier invited us to is compound. And placed his gourmet kitchen at Davids' disposal.

David calculating the weight of his first catch of the day.

A view from the kitchen where chef David prepared our  lunch.

Brimming with excitement and uninhibited style David searched for the knives, spices and other ingredients. In the meantime Javier guided the rest of us to a  small room adjacent to the kitchen and introduced us to a vast array of brews and world class libations. He proudly handed us our favorite choice. "This is where I plan to build my wine cellar"", he added. As he chaperoned us through his capacious mountain retreat and commodious family rooms. He asked us to share with him some monikers or names for the compound. "My wife is planning to have our priest baptize our home and we are searching for a suitable name". He added.

Javier and Mercedes' mountainous vacation compound @ Lake Arrowhead.

 After our wonderful lunch experience of  exquisite rainbow trout, it was evident that chef David had gone to great lengths to ensure a unique creation in offering a lake-to-table specialty. After a repose in Javier's beautiful home we returned to lake Gregory for the afternoon trout run. Again the novice angler, David hooked on a few large specimens until our coordinator for this trip, the old sage, called it quits. But not before Alice, Bobby Jr's mom, a long time resident of Crestline, treated us to a welcomed batch of excellent and tasty homemade cookies. Over all a very enjoyable and relaxing day of fishing with family and good friends.