TRUE CAMPFIRE STORY #7

ADVENTURES AT INDIAN CREEK

It began with a family trip to Antelope Lake in the Feather River Basin. The children were small and sometimes a lake with an organized campground worked for Mom; it was a little safer than the wilderness lakes and streams. We were there during a full moon and the lake basin was fabulous; mountain granite shimmering in the moonlight with coyotes howling at the glorious night. Free floating in the middle of the lake, in the aluminum boat, at midnight while Beethoven's Ninth Symphony resonated from our campsite made the night most memorable. A few nice fish filled our stringers, and we looked upon this trip as a wonderful experience.

On a later trip, Gene and I returned to Antelope Lake. The fishing was not up to par and we longed for our wilderness spots; dejectedly, we started our trek home. As we proceeded down the canyon we noticed the creek; Indian Creek. It had a lot of brush, but it fell quickly from pool to pool. We decided to stop and try a few casts with our favorite lures. Gene worked upstream as I worked the pools downstream. Within 2 minutes I heard a horrendous scream! Was Gene hurt? I quickly started upstream. But, I had to make one last cast, before I saved my brother from some terrible fate. Whoops, "Fish on!" I guess he'll have to wait for just a few more minutes. I landed a wonderful 17" Rainbow Trout.

When I finally found Gene upstream, he was OK; his screaming was to announce the capture of his 17" Rainbow! We smiled at each other, as we knew that this stream could be something special. We fished for a couple more hours, landing more large Rainbows and German Browns. We vowed to return to this wonderfully exciting stream very soon. Still, to this day, we argue over who caught the biggest fish. Since my Indian name is 'Talks of Big Fish', it is likely that Gene did catch the biggest fish; but in my memory, I always catch the biggest fish.

Soon, we returned to this wonderfully exciting creek with our camping buddies. We found a spot right on the water, in the middle of the canyon, about 5 or 6 miles from Antelope Lake and 5 or 6 miles from the meadows of the town of Genesee where the creek levels out.

The first day we fished around our campsite and were quite pleased with the results; more large Rainbows and German Browns; Heaven! Mando needed his refresher course in attaching lures and hooks, but even he managed to land some beauties. We did have help, though, as it soon became obvious that the local denizens of the creek were helping us. Their signs were everywhere; wood chips scattered about the ground, the gnawed through fallen trees, and those beautiful fishing holes. Thanks little furry ones!

 Roger made his usual 'Roger Fire', as we scorched the neighboring trees. Good food and drinks, music and stories, shooting stars, and coyotes all gave this spot a dreamlike quality.

The next day the adventurous Gene and Glenn made their way down the canyon; pool after pool, fish after fish. To traverse this canyon and fish this stream required much wading, rock hopping, and sometimes going off to the side of the canyon; climbing small cliffs and bluffs.

As we made our way overland, over a particularly difficult area, all of a sudden! Rattle, rattle, rattle!!! Gene jumped into his Biologist phase. Within seconds, this denizen of the wilderness was in Gene's grasp.

As a boy, Gene had captured hundreds of snakes; Garter Snakes, Bull or Gopher Snakes, Grass Snakes, Ringneck Snakes, etc., but this was exciting; a small Sierra Rattler was now his trophy. Gene's sadness was quite evident when he had finished his examination and watched his new little friend slink off into the underbrush.

We made many trips to this wonderland of trout, coyotes, snakes, and fires. On one trip down the canyon, as I lifted Remy down a small ledge, I almost placed her on top of another rattler; just being able to slide her off to the side at the last minute.

I guess the moral of this story is; you never know what new places will give you. A good family spot turned out bad for the guys, which in turn became great for the guys and the family. You've got to go out on adventures and you just may find new exciting places.

Copyright 2004, Carport's True Stories
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