As Phil and I traveled back down the hill last weekend the day after the Eastern Sierra Trout Opener we stopped at the Manzanar War Relocation Center just south of the town of Independence, California.
Phil narrated part of the film, Manzanar Fishing Club, and I wanted to get a picture of Phil at the site. While there we took a dirt road on the perimeter of the camp back a couple of miles to the stream that exits Shepherd Pass where internees had fished when they snuck out under the wire of the camp. We found the stream and poked around for a while in the heavy brush surrounding the stream looking for trout to fill out our second day possession limit.
Manzanar was a real capper to a great weekend in the Sierra and got both of us thinking about what it must have been like to live in the camp and the relationship to the trout opener. Very clearly the adults who had been dispossessed of their properties and confined to the camp were greatly wronged. But I commented the kids must have had a blast eluding the guards and finding this stream. Therein is what the film is all about. So unlike typical documentaries of times where human rights are trampled upon, the Manzanar Fishing Club film rose far above the wrongs and instead celebrates the American spirit.
What is the American spirit? President Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the previous century believed the American spirit was what was making America a great nation and that the spirit arose from the vast resources and forests of the nation. He believed it was born from experiences in the outdoors and that the outdoors made men strong and thus the nation strong.
At the time of Roosevelt's presidency almost all of lands east of the Mississippi River had fallen into private hands and the west was rapidly following down the same path. Roosevelt recognized the need for conservation and far above that realization recognized that conservation was the key to the American spirit. He said at the time that we should not allow European conservation to become the way of conservation in America. In Europe lands were locked up in private hands to become private preserves for exclusive use of their owners.
Inyo National Forest came into being in 1908 through action by Teddy Roosevelt and as a result today almost all the lands of the forest are open to and accessible by all outdoors men and women.
The day of the opener is also the day of an annual pilgrimage by Americans who were affected by the war internment and on our trip we ran into Cory Shiozaki, Director of the film and Richard Imamura, Writer of the story. They were trying to balance their weekend between trout fishing and tending to obligations related to the pilgrimage. Dare I say that more than one person played hooky and crawled out under the wire at Manzanar this weekend but I won't mention any names.
The Eastern Sierra Trout Opener is about so much more than trout. The trout fishing was off the hook but I will get back to that later. As Phil and I made our way down the hill from this joyous weekend we reflected on our experiences of the weekend. The Eastern Sierra is truly a wonderful place in so many ways. Right from the beginning of the trip up the hill on Friday the jagged peaks of the lower 48's youngest mountain range reflected boundless strength and set the tone for the weekend.
On our way through Independence the local high school kids were out on the highway with signs for a fundraiser. Nope it wasn't a carwash! The signs said get your worms here!
Upon arriving in Bishop we settled into the very affordable Vagabond motel with an early check in at 10:30am. The hotel clerk informed us of the free breakfast in the lobby starting every morning at 6am and that coffee and popcorn was available 24/7. Further they pointed out their fish cleaning station and informed us of their onsite free refrigerated fish storage. Once in the room after the 4 hour drive from Surfside the quality beds were really inviting for a quick nap; but we managed to get ourselves back outdoors for a pre-opening scouting mission.
We decided to head up the mountain to South Lake and Sabrina Lake and check out the streams and access along the way. We found the lake water levels very low but spotted a pool in Bishop Creek from the car that was chock full of trout.
We decided then and there after we did the morning radio show from Crowley Lake we would head back here. We had no illusions about the fate of this spot but it was clear that all of Bishop Creek must be filled to the brim with trout since these guys looked ready to jump straight into the cooler in the back of my pickup.
We got back to Bishop right on time for the Fishmas Eve celebration. At this event Bishop's quality businesses put on a second to none outdoor dinner. Music, displays, barbecued tri-tip and chicken, the best coleslaw I think I ever have had, fine baked goods and beer and wine. Also a local chef prepared the most delicious trout I have ever tasted and gave us the recipe. After the dinner there was a raffle and a special presentation to Bart Hall of the Fred Hall Shows for a lifetime of support for the Eastern Sierra. The commendation was presented to Bart by Mono County Supervisor Tim Alpers, the man who brought big trout back to the Eastern Sierra.
Tawni Thomson, Executive Director of the Bishop Chamber of Commerce related to us during the event that unlike so many other places where private interests have taken control of most of the resources, the Eastern Sierra has a quality experience and affordable quality accommodations for everybody.
The next morning, known as Fishmas in the Eastern Sierra, we were off to Crowley Lake. All morning while preparing for and doing our radio show from Crowley Lake fish were being weighed in for great prizes. Everybody was in the process of catching limits and guys who knew what they were doing were catching really hefty stringers of trout.
We wrapped up the show around noon and quickly headed back towards Sabrina Lake for our. . . .Uh. . . .secret hole. Sure enough when we arrived there was about a dozen guys lining both sides of the pool and a couple more wading in the pool. Some of the trout were still there swimming between the legs and lures of these fishermen. We had sort of figured this might happen so we went immediately to Plan B and located a path through the brush to another pool. In a jiff we had our own spot and spent the next few hours doing catch and release before taking a few fish. It really didn’t matter a lot how we caught them because we caught them with everything we tried, including bouncing a Super Duper rockcod-style from a perch above the pool. We had an awesome time!
As we got to the bottom of the hill back into the Los Angeles Metro area we continued to reflect on the experience. It was great to see all the families with kids and dads and moms with their sons and daughters participating in this annual event. In fact this kind of place, this kind of event is so important for the mental and physical health of our youth. In modern society life is so carefully laid out for our kids but still our kids are so poorly prepared for life. Regimented sports, TV and living vicariously through others, reading, writing and mathematics is provided in large doses but learning to adapt and think outside of the box is left to street learning, lessons often not very good.
Fathers, and often mothers, teaching the outdoors build a healthy self confidence in children and strengthen the bonds of family. The trout opener where every trout seems dedicated to giving itself up to anybody, all ages, all economic backgrounds, all creeds and races in one of planet earth’s most spectacular settings is an event not to be missed. Phil and I have already committed to be back next year. In the meantime we will do our best to bring you the information to help you make the most of your trip there. There is no question the Eastern Sierra nourishes the American spirit.
Read, see, and hear more on Phil Friedman Outdoors
LISTEN TO PHIL FRIEDMAN OUTDOORS RADIO
VIDEO: Largest yellowfin tuna ever caught
Hear Henry Winkler, THE FONZ on Philip Friedman Outdoors Radio
Listen: Ted Nugent goes CRAZY on Whale Wars Paul Watson
Listen: Laker Girls and Baseball Legend Adam Kennedy
Awesome killer whale video off Long Beach
VIDEO: Lakers, Laker Girls Help Kids Go Fishing with Phil Friedman
VIDEO: Anglers help Costa Rica Girl Go Back To School
Like traditional kickboxing courses, these contain lively heat-up
and interesting-down durations. Donning a sauna accommodate for the duration of a exercise
routine will cause you to perspire considerably more closely than typical.
Posted by: Gilberto | 11/10/2013 at 08:16 AM
Through the Rautakoura contests I became serious about other proper grip workouts.
All the gym is amazed, along with the manager is able to lead him to spend on the bias watering hole.
Instruction proper grip ought to be like teaching calves rich in severeness.
Other work outs can be found in this article.
Posted by: 1.M.R and creatine | 11/14/2013 at 12:32 PM