Literary accounts of fishouts in the recent past,
to make you sorry you didn't go.
Damsel Fishout 2004
Cecilia Stipes, co-written with Lee Fitzsimmons
Damsel Fishout 2004
Cecilia Stipes, co-written with Lee Fitzsimmons
Have you ever had a tune run through your head repeatedly? Well, the title of this fishout could have been "A Girl Just Wants to Have Fu- unnnn" because that is what it was for Carrie Kojak, Cindy Phinn, Alayne Meeks, Lee Fitzsimmons, Dawn Wagner, and me, Cecilia Stipes, who shared the "maiden voyage" of the first Damsel fishout.
We began our adventure to the Arnold-Bear Valley area at the White Pines Outdoors Shop in Arnold with Dan Liechty giving us the latest fishing report and selling us a supply of dun callibaetis flies. It wasn't until late afternoon before we first wet our lines on the Stanislaus River inside Calaveras State Park. The fishing access was excellent there and we had the river to ourselves. Lee commented, "The upper Stanislaus reminds me of fishing the Applegate River in Southern Oregon where I was raised: clear water, plenty of boulders, draping foliage with fish lying in wait, pine smell of the warming forest and, of course, an occasional snake."
On Saturday we all enjoyed the beauty of Lake Alpine in all its glory: deep blue lake water, boulder outcroppings along the shore, pine forest, and thunderheads. Cindy float-tubed for the first time, Dawn fished a little before taking a nap, Carrie rearranged the inside of her motorhome, Alayne wet-waded from shore, while Lee and I amazed ourselves by fishing a marathon 10 hours in our float tubes. As evening approached, the surface fishing increased, but so did the chill and aches to our tired bodies, forcing us to finally call it "quits" at 8:00 pm. As Lee put it, if "we were after the "Elaine Cook-stamina-fishing-award', it probably was a tie."
On Sunday, with rain as a threat and thunder booming, we dropped over the Pacific Summit Grade from Mosquito Lake down into Hermit Valley and fished the small water of Pacific Creek. Lee stated, "This was a first for me in doing that kind of boulder leaping/stealth fishing in small pools. I was so pleased to catch my very first ever brown trout. They were both about 7-8 inches long and this time I got pictures!!" The mosquitos were outrageous here. My newest gadget, the solar-powered mosquito repeller (laboratory-tested 90% effective, huh!) was no match for the hoards of mosquitos we encountered. Nevertheless, everyone had a good time anyway, especially after the carrot cake!
The camaraderie and companionship were wonderful. We all had a variety of skills and learned a few more on this trip while catching fish. "Using walkie-talkies to communicate between the vehicles as we caravanned was a great idea. They were also very helpful when we were scattered around Lake Alpine," commented Lee. That is, until my walkie-talkie flipped into the air and sank to its watery grave as I caught yet another trout. Then another walkie-talkie was "laid to rest" after an unscheduled baptism in the Pacific Creek. (They were great while they lasted!) Of course, no tale would be complete without the whistle going off at Pacific Creek as Cindy and I came upon fresh bear scat, nor can any of us forget the awesome pleasure of sighting a very large bobcat running down the middle of the highway at sunset. We all agreed it was a great adventure and are already talking about doing it again next year.