16 August 4- 18, 2017 VOL. 36 • ISS. 17

with superficial articles written by writers that have little gravitas … And that’ s being kind!

When you start putting on years( I just turned 50) and realize the world around you has changed you start to get a little sentimental. You look around the world and begin looking for anchors to the past that link you to golden days that you will never experience again.

It was this sort of thinking that prompted me to reach out to two prominent outdoor writers that I’ ve read for decades and happen to know personally.

One was John Higley and the other was Bill Adelman. John has been covering hunting and fishing in California and beyond about 50 years and he’ s especially well known for his passion for deer and turkey hunting. John has written too many magazine articles to keep track of and several books as well.

Bill has hundreds upon hundreds of fishing articles and a lesser number of hunting articles to his credit. He also has an extensive resume as a guide, rod builder, fly tier and he’ s a fanatical shad fisherman.

In addition to all that, Bill has been with the staff of the Fish Sniffer longer than I have. In fact, I was reading Bill’ s stuff in the pages of the Sniffer when I was still in college.

My idea was to get John and Bill together on a boat where we could catch a few fish and I could bounce a few questions off of them about hunting, fishing and the futures of the sports we love. When they agreed to join me, I called up Robert Weese of Northern California Guide Service and set up a wild rainbow trout trip on the Sacramento River.

Robert is a super talented river guide, but he’ s also calm and mature … A perfect fit for the kind of trip I had in mind.

And such is the back story that prompted Adelman, Higley, Weese and I to meet at the Jelly’ s Ferry launch ramp a few miles north east of Red Bluff early on the morning of July 10.

After exchanging pleasantries, Robert launched his jet boat and we all climbed aboard. The plan for the day was to drift

With master guide Robert Weese looking on, John Higley shows off a feisty Sacramento River wild rainbow that couldn’ t resist a juicy cricket.

Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.

www. NoSeeUmNoMore. com

crickets for the river’ s rainbows. Robert spent a few minutes explaining the tackle, the technique and how to properly pin a cricket on the hook. After that we were fishing!

As we fished we all shared lots of stories and I asked Bill and John a long list of questions, none of which I have the space to cover here. But my central questions were,“ How has hunting and fishing in California changed over the past 25 years and what will our sports look like 25 years from now?”

John:“ I think we’ ve seen a steady decline in opportunity over the past quarter century. We are seeing less big game tags being issued, it’ s harder to get a quality tag and there are less trout being stocked, both at local waters and in the backcountry. Of course, it isn’ t all doom and gloom. Heck some of us thought it would be even worse by now.”

Bill:“ Politics has become more and more central to hunting and fishing in California and in many ways, it’ s politics that has killed and is killing our sports. The fact is that while I love California the political climate and ever shrinking opportunities have prompted me to do my hunting out of state. Until California gets serious about hunting they won’ t be getting any more of my hunting dollars. I go to Wyoming every other year now. Tags are more available and the hunting is far superior. We could have great hunting in California, but it’ s just not a priority for the people of California or for the CDFW.”

John:“ I think one of the big issues is the changing attitudes of Californians. Hunters and anglers are connected to the land, but these days with most folks living in cities there is a big disconnect from the land. We’ ve moved from an outdoor society to a city society. Most folks don’ t view the outdoors as

a place to go to harvest fish or game and sports like fishing and hunting aren’ t viewed as viable“ recreation” for the majority of people. In that way hunters, anglers and our sports have become marginalized.”

one event you can’ t afford to miss out on.

Why, you ask? The answer is simple, during the sale there is storewide savings on everything you’ ll need when the season opens and the birds start streaming back into the Sacramento Valley!

Do you need to replace those leaky waders? Could you use some fresh decoys for your spread? Would you like to start off the season with a fresh case of steel shot shells? All these things and a whole lot more will be going out the door during the sale at the lowest prices of the year. For the folks at Kittle’ s that annual waterfowl sale is one of the big events of the entire year

“ Our annual waterfowl sale is pretty exciting,” relates Kittle’ s owner Pat Kittle.“ We’ ll be offering all the nuts and bolts items that waterfowlers rely on at super low prices.”

As if the annual waterfowl sale isn’ t exciting enough, the California State Duck Calling Championship will take place amidst the sale!

Bill:“ 25 years from now our sports, will exist in some form but people won’ t have the opportunities we have now and the politics of our state is shaping our sports in a way that is very negative.”

John:“ I agree with Bill and I’ d add that as expensive as our sports have become, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. You’ ll still be able to hunt and fish in California in 25 years, the question is will you be able to afford it?”

Robert weighed in and summed things up pretty well saying,“ In California hunting and fishing has become a political football that politicians use as leverage. Decisions are made for political reasons and not to push our sports forward. In many ways politicians are very negative for our sports because they routinely divert the money that we spend on hunting and fishing to fund other agendas. That money is supposed to be spent to enhance hunting and fishing, but that’ s not what

The 2017 California State Duck Calling Championship

The 2017 California State Duck

Calling Competition is set for August 26 & 27

The City of Colusa and Kittle’ s Outdoor & Sport Co. once again have the honor of hosting this fantastic event. The State Championship Event gives California Sportsman and Sportswoman the opportunity to test their calling skills in a competitive environment, and possibly qualify for the prestigious 81st Annual World Championship in Stuttgart, Arkansas. The competition consists of numerous classes including but not limited to; Open Contest, Intermediate Contest, and Junior contests.

The calling contest will be held at Colusa’ s Veteran’ s Memorial Park right across from Kittle’ s.

For more information, check out the Kittle’ s ad in this edition of the Fish Sniffer!

Kittle’ s is located at 888 Market St. in Colusa, Ca. If you have any question or for more details you can call( 530) 458- 4868 or visit the Kittle’ s website-www. kittlesoutdoor. com.

has been happening.”

While all this conversation was going on, we were catching fish. Several shiny beautifully marked wild rainbows came to the net and were released, along with some jumbo hardheads, pike minnows and suckers.

We all had a great time cheering when one of us would stick a rainbow or jeering when a rough fish boiled to the surface. When the July sun climbed high in the sky and the temperature went from warm to hot, we tucked our tails and headed back to the ramp to eat our lunches in the shade!

I want to extend my thanks to Robert for taking a trio of grumbling writers out for a day of fun, fish and conversation.

A special thanks goes out to Bill and John, not for joining me on the water, but for all the memories and insights I’ ve gleaned from reading their ramblings over the past three decades. I was listening to both of you!