California-ed

The family of one of my many aunts has a long-standing tradition of visiting Lake Almanor each summer. Located in Northern California, it's about a nine hour drive from Eugene. My parents had joined them the year before and had so much fun they decided to return. Naturally, we decided to go along.

 The daily schedule involved lots of boating, wakeboarding, wakesurfing (an interesting blend of wakeboarding and surfing) and plenty of down time on the beach.

 The main draw in the lake is rainbow trout, but it's cool waters also hold small mouth bass. Not having any experience trolling for trout I came prepared to do some bass fishing. The water was very clear with sparse structure. I had no luck the first day but I finally hooked one fish late on the second afternoon.

The blue bandana around my neck is actually my newly acquired Buff. I've seen so many rave reviews that I decided to buy one for myself. It wasn't really necessary on the lake but I think it will be invaluable for those long, windy days of flats-fishing in Hawaii.