Forgotten Treasures #3: TROUT FISHING IN THE BERKELEY HILLS

Trout Fishing in the Berkeley Hills*


Since the days when Izaak Walton wrote The Complete Angler, men have
emulated his example, and gone forth with rod and reel to tempt the finny
tribe from dashing mountain brook or quiet river.

We, being his disciples, thought to follow his example, and spend the day in
the Berkeley hills whipping the stream for the wary brook trout.

April first is the open season for trout in California, but owing to the
scarcity of rain we feared the water in the brook would be too low for good
fishing. Providence favored us, however, with a steady downpour on
Wednesday, which put new hope in our hearts, and water in the stream; and we
decided to try our luck on Saturday afternoon, and take what came to our
hooks as a "gift of the gods."

Accordingly, we met at the Ferry Building, fully equipped, and took the boat
across San Francisco Bay, thence by cars to Claremont, and from there struck
into the hills. The wind blew cold from the bay, having a clear sweep up
through the Golden Gate, but as soon as we began to make the ascent our
coats became a burden.

It was a hard, tedious climb over the first range of hills, but upon
reaching the summit and looking down into the valley we felt well repaid for
our trouble, as we gazed in awed delight upon the magnificent view spread
out below us like a panorama.

The valley stretches out in either direction far below us, as if to offer an
uninterrupted flow for the mountain brook through which it passes. We
counted twelve peaks surrounding the valley, their rounded domes glowing
with the beautiful California poppy, like a covering of a cloth of gold,
while below the peaks the sloping sides looked like green velvet. Here and
there pine groves dotted the landscape, while madrones and manzanitas stood
out vividly against their dark-green background.

Orinda Creek, the object of our quest, runs through this beautiful valley,
shut in on each side by the hills. Along the trail leading to the stream
blue and white lupines grow in profusion, giving a delicate amethyst tinge
to the landscape. Wild honeysuckle, with its pinkish-red blossoms, is on
every side and the California azalea fringes both banks of the stream, its
rich foliage almost hidden by magnificent clusters of white and yellow
flowers, which send out a delightful, spicy fragrance, that can be detected
far back from the stream.

The meadow larks called from the hillside their quaint "Spring o' the year,"
the song sparrows sang their tinkling melody from the live oaks, catbirds
mewed from the thicket, and occasionally a linnet sang its rollicking solo
as it performed queer acrobatic feats while on the wing.

Ahead of us a blue jay kept close watch over our movements, but at last
decided that we are harmless, and with a last shriek of defiance flew away
to pour out his vituperations on other hapless wanderers.

Adjusting our rods, and baiting our hooks with salmon roe, we crept down to
where a little fall sent the water swirling around a rock, making a deep
pool, and an ideal place for trout. Dropping our lines into the rapids, we
let the bait float down close to the rock in the deep shadows. As soon as it
struck the riffle there was a flash of silver, and the game was hooked. Away
he went, the reel humming a merry tune as he raced back and forth across the
pool, the rod bent like a coach whip, the strain on the line sending a
delightful tingle to our finger tips. But he soon tired of the unequal
contest, and was brought safely to the landing net. He was by no means a
large fish, as game fish are reckoned, but to my mind it is not always the
largest fish that gives the keenest sport.

From one pool to another we passed, wetting a line in each with fair
success, scrambling over logs and lichen-covered rocks, wading from one side
of the stream to the other, until the lengthening shadows warned us to wind
in our lines and start for home. Well satisfied we were with the thirty-two
trout reposing at the bottom of our basket.

Our long tramp and the salt sea air had made us ravenously hungry, and the
sandwiches that provident wives had prepared for us were dug out of
capacious pockets and eaten with a relish that an epicure might covet. I
shall never forget the trip back. Night overtook us before we were out of
the first valley, the ascent was very steep, and we had to stop every few
rods to get our wind.

At last we reached the summit of Grizzly Peak, seventeen hundred and
fifty-nine feet above sea level, while to our right Bald Peak, nineteen
hundred and thirty feet high, loomed up against the sky. The path on Grizzly
was so narrow we had to walk single file, and a false step would have sent
us rolling down hundreds of feet.

The view--although seen in vague outline--was magnificent. Berkeley and
Oakland lay seventeen hundred feet below us, their twinkling lights glowing
through the darkness like fireflies. Out on San Francisco Bay the lights
flashed from the mastheads of ships at anchor or from brightly lighted
ferryboats plying from mole to mole, while far to the left, Lake Merritt lay
like a gray sheet amid the shadows. In the middle distance off Yerba Buena
Island two United States gunboats were at anchor, one of them sending the
rays of its powerful searchlight here and there across the water, and making
a veritable path of silver far out across the bay.

Jack rabbits and cotton-tails scurried across our path and dodged into
thickets. An owl flapped lazily over our heads and sailed away down the
valley, evidently on his nocturnal hunting. But we had little time or
inclination to give to these mountain creatures, as we had to pay strict
attention to our footing.

The last descent proved to be the hardest, for the grade was as steep as the
roof of a house, but we finally succeeded in scrambling down, and at last
reached the grove surrounding the Greek Amphitheater; then home, footsore
and weary, but happy with our afternoon's outing on the trout streams in the
Berkeley Hills.

_____________________________________________

*From "Byways Around San Francisco Bay", by W. E. Hutchinson
Originally published by Abingdon Press. c1915

This work is in the public domain. According to the license agreement at my
source, I may not name that source here without including the entire license
agreement......which is much too long and dull. To the best of my
knowledge, the use of this material here does not violate either that
agreement or U.S copyright law.



Wolfgang

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...
Trout Fishing in the Berkeley Hills*


Since the days when Izaak Walton wrote The Complete Angler, men have
emulated his example, and gone forth with rod and reel to tempt the finny
tribe from dashing mountain brook or quiet river.

We, being his disciples, thought to follow his example, and spend the day
in the Berkeley hills whipping the stream for the wary brook trout.

April first is the open season for trout in California, but owing to the
scarcity of rain we feared the water in the brook would be too low for
good fishing. Providence favored us, however, with a steady downpour on
Wednesday, which put new hope in our hearts, and water in the stream; and
we decided to try our luck on Saturday afternoon, and take what came to
our hooks as a "gift of the gods."

Accordingly, we met at the Ferry Building, fully equipped, and took the
boat across San Francisco Bay, thence by cars to Claremont, and from there
struck into the hills. The wind blew cold from the bay, having a clear
sweep up through the Golden Gate, but as soon as we began to make the
ascent our coats became a burden.

I grew up in the Berkeley hills. El Cerrito. The creek down the street
from my house was not covered over in those days (1950's) and the steelhead
could travel all the way up to the railroad tracks a block below my house.
Was a trash grate there that kept them from coming up further. The still
spawned and the creek 2 blocks up would have lots of smolts and minnows
swimming around. Only fished sal****er in those days off the shore and
Berkeley pier as well as off boats.

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
link.net...

I grew up in the Berkeley hills. El Cerrito. The creek down the street
from my house was not covered over in those days (1950's) and the
steelhead could travel all the way up to the railroad tracks a block below
my house. Was a trash grate there that kept them from coming up further.
The still spawned and the creek 2 blocks up would have lots of smolts and
minnows swimming around. Only fished sal****er in those days off the
shore and Berkeley pier as well as off boats.

I didn't think this one was an especially good bit or writing. What makes
it interesting is the reference to quality trout fishing in close proximity
to a major metropolitan center in what I presumed to be marginal habitat
anyway, and the fact that brookies were already well established on west
coast streams at least as early as 1915. I was kind of hoping that someone
familiar with the area would offer comments. Thanks.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang wrote:
"Bill McKee" wrote in message
link.net...

I grew up in the Berkeley hills. El Cerrito. The creek down the
street from my house was not covered over in those days (1950's) and
the steelhead could travel all the way up to the railroad tracks a
block below my house. Was a trash grate there that kept them from
coming up further. The still spawned and the creek 2 blocks up would
have lots of smolts and minnows swimming around. Only fished
sal****er in those days off the shore and Berkeley pier as well as
off boats.

I didn't think this one was an especially good bit or writing. What
makes it interesting is the reference to quality trout fishing in
close proximity to a major metropolitan center in what I presumed to
be marginal habitat anyway, and the fact that brookies were already
well established on west coast streams at least as early as 1915. I
was kind of hoping that someone familiar with the area would offer
comments. Thanks.

I imagined the trout fishery was already doomed by then, so the report
was a bit surprising to me as well. I once picked up a book in Berkeley
titled "Berkeley 1900" that was a good informational read. Berkeley's
human popuation growth was one of the fastest in the country between
1900 - 1920, going from 13,000 to around 56,000, with the bulk of that
coming before 1910. Although business growth was already expanding, the
1906 earthquake sped up the growth on the east side of the bay due to a
lot of business relocation from the devastated west side. Interesting
stuff.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

San Francisquito Creek is near my house in Menlo Park, along the
boundary of Menlo Park and Palo Alto. This in on the Peninsula, on the
opposite side of the bay from Berkeley. There are occasional steelhead
in the creek, which is amazing to me because it's completely dried up in
the summer. I suppose the fish spawn in the headwaters, which have at
least some water year-round.

There are efforts to restore and improve the creek for steelhead -- for
example: http://www.acterra.org/watershed/pro...shpassage.html.

Apropos of nothing, there's a headwaters lake on the Stanford campus
named Lagunita. I've see it referred to in the newspaper as "little lake
Lagunita," which strikes me as funny -- even funnier than "the El Camino
Real."

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Tim J. wrote:
Wolfgang wrote:

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
thlink.net...

I grew up in the Berkeley hills. El Cerrito. The creek down the
street from my house was not covered over in those days (1950's) and
the steelhead could travel all the way up to the railroad tracks a
block below my house. Was a trash grate there that kept them from
coming up further. The still spawned and the creek 2 blocks up would
have lots of smolts and minnows swimming around. Only fished
sal****er in those days off the shore and Berkeley pier as well as
off boats.

I didn't think this one was an especially good bit or writing. What
makes it interesting is the reference to quality trout fishing in
close proximity to a major metropolitan center in what I presumed to
be marginal habitat anyway, and the fact that brookies were already
well established on west coast streams at least as early as 1915. I
was kind of hoping that someone familiar with the area would offer
comments. Thanks.


I imagined the trout fishery was already doomed by then, so the report
was a bit surprising to me as well. I once picked up a book in Berkeley
titled "Berkeley 1900" that was a good informational read. Berkeley's
human popuation growth was one of the fastest in the country between
1900 - 1920, going from 13,000 to around 56,000, with the bulk of that
coming before 1910. Although business growth was already expanding, the
1906 earthquake sped up the growth on the east side of the bay due to a
lot of business relocation from the devastated west side. Interesting
stuff.

There are still some creeks in that area, where steelhead and salmon
spawn. Local groups are trying to restore the habitat.

http://www.ecologycenter.org/erc/cre...eekreport.html
http://www.oaklandpw.com/creeks/yodeler1.htm
http://www.ccrcd.org/alhambra.html

Concrete lined ditches, steel grates, trash....you have to admire what
these fish go through to procreate. I'd give up if a dinner and drinks
didn't work. ;-)

brians

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
link.net...

I grew up in the Berkeley hills. El Cerrito. The creek down the street
from my house was not covered over in those days (1950's) and the
steelhead could travel all the way up to the railroad tracks a block
below my house. Was a trash grate there that kept them from coming up
further. The still spawned and the creek 2 blocks up would have lots of
smolts and minnows swimming around. Only fished sal****er in those days
off the shore and Berkeley pier as well as off boats.

I didn't think this one was an especially good bit or writing. What makes
it interesting is the reference to quality trout fishing in close
proximity to a major metropolitan center in what I presumed to be marginal
habitat anyway, and the fact that brookies were already well established
on west coast streams at least as early as 1915. I was kind of hoping
that someone familiar with the area would offer comments. Thanks.

Wolfgang


You want better writing, send me money. El Cerrito was the 2nd town over
from Berkeley. My house was 6 miles from UC Berkeley and I fished the
Berkeley Pier at the Foot of University Ave. Road my bike there. There
were lots of streams uncovered in the 50's that held steelhead that fed San
Francisco Bay. We still get steelhead and salmon in Walnut Creek, the
stream and not the town, that flows behind the Sun Valley Shopping Center in
Concord. Cordinices creek that flows through part of UC Berkeley had
steelhead. We still get steelhead trying to run up Alameda Creek in Niles,
but are stopped by the BART transit line bridge. There were only probably
8 million people in the whole state. We passed NY for the most populous
state with about 13 million in about 1959 or 1960. The largest run of
salmon in the lower 48 run up the Sacramento River, which enters the bay on
the Northeast end.

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
news

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
link.net...

I grew up in the Berkeley hills. El Cerrito. The creek down the street
from my house was not covered over in those days (1950's) and the
steelhead could travel all the way up to the railroad tracks a block
below my house. Was a trash grate there that kept them from coming up
further. The still spawned and the creek 2 blocks up would have lots of
smolts and minnows swimming around. Only fished sal****er in those days
off the shore and Berkeley pier as well as off boats.

I didn't think this one was an especially good bit or writing. What
makes it interesting is the reference to quality trout fishing in close
proximity to a major metropolitan center in what I presumed to be
marginal habitat anyway, and the fact that brookies were already well
established on west coast streams at least as early as 1915. I was kind
of hoping that someone familiar with the area would offer comments.
Thanks.

Wolfgang


You want better writing, send me money.

Hm......

Even taking into consideration a possibly confusing typo....."or" where it
should have been "of".....I can see no reason that my comment on
Hutchinson's offering should be misconstrued as pertaining to yours. In my
second sentence above, the antecedent to "it" in "What makes it
interesting..." seems to me to refer pretty unambiguously to Hutchinson's
piece.

At any rate, I have at my disposal the resources of the entire Milwaukee
county federated library system, the Butler, WI library, the libraries of
sundry universities and colleges, and those of dozens of other communities
in southeastern Wisconsin......and all within an hour's drive. And then,
there's the internet (including ROFF, of course) and my own humble
collection of printed matter. All of this is available to me at no charge
whatsoever, and some of it is indisputably good.

Moreover, your relatively few contirubtions here thus far make you a more or
less unknown quantity as a source of reading material. I trust you will not
take it amiss if I hold on to what few shiny new nickels remain in my
possession for the nonce.

On the other hand, sans further evidence, one can hardly dispute the
possibility that your offer to barter good writing for cash was made tongue
in cheek, in which case.....

El Cerrito was the 2nd town over from Berkeley. My house was 6 miles from
UC Berkeley and I fished the Berkeley Pier at the Foot of University Ave.
Road my bike there. There were lots of streams uncovered in the 50's that
held steelhead that fed San Francisco Bay. We still get steelhead and
salmon in Walnut Creek, the stream and not the town, that flows behind the
Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord. Cordinices creek that flows
through part of UC Berkeley had steelhead. We still get steelhead trying
to run up Alameda Creek in Niles, but are stopped by the BART transit line
bridge. There were only probably 8 million people in the whole state.
We passed NY for the most populous state with about 13 million in about
1959 or 1960. The largest run of salmon in the lower 48 run up the
Sacramento River, which enters the bay on the Northeast end.

We've got much the same situation here along the southwestern shore of Lake
Michigan, roughly from the Michigan-Indiana state line to north of
Milwaukee. Despite a population well in excess of ten million and badly
abused watersheds, there are impressive runs of steelhead and salmon on many
of the tributary streams, as well as significant (and improving, in recent
years) populations of at least some native species. Water quality on some
of these streams has been brought up enough so that the Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources and various cooperating organizations have invested a
great deal of time, effort and money in restocking sturgeon into waters from
which they've been absent for over a century. Here's wishing us all good
luck!

Wolfgang

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
news

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
link.net...

I grew up in the Berkeley hills. El Cerrito. The creek down the
street from my house was not covered over in those days (1950's) and
the steelhead could travel all the way up to the railroad tracks a
block below my house. Was a trash grate there that kept them from
coming up further. The still spawned and the creek 2 blocks up would
have lots of smolts and minnows swimming around. Only fished sal****er
in those days off the shore and Berkeley pier as well as off boats.

I didn't think this one was an especially good bit or writing. What
makes it interesting is the reference to quality trout fishing in close
proximity to a major metropolitan center in what I presumed to be
marginal habitat anyway, and the fact that brookies were already well
established on west coast streams at least as early as 1915. I was kind
of hoping that someone familiar with the area would offer comments.
Thanks.

Wolfgang


You want better writing, send me money.

Hm......

Even taking into consideration a possibly confusing typo....."or" where it
should have been "of".....I can see no reason that my comment on
Hutchinson's offering should be misconstrued as pertaining to yours. In
my second sentence above, the antecedent to "it" in "What makes it
interesting..." seems to me to refer pretty unambiguously to Hutchinson's
piece.

At any rate, I have at my disposal the resources of the entire Milwaukee
county federated library system, the Butler, WI library, the libraries of
sundry universities and colleges, and those of dozens of other communities
in southeastern Wisconsin......and all within an hour's drive. And then,
there's the internet (including ROFF, of course) and my own humble
collection of printed matter. All of this is available to me at no charge
whatsoever, and some of it is indisputably good.

Moreover, your relatively few contirubtions here thus far make you a more
or less unknown quantity as a source of reading material. I trust you
will not take it amiss if I hold on to what few shiny new nickels remain
in my possession for the nonce.

On the other hand, sans further evidence, one can hardly dispute the
possibility that your offer to barter good writing for cash was made
tongue in cheek, in which case.....

El Cerrito was the 2nd town over from Berkeley. My house was 6 miles
from UC Berkeley and I fished the Berkeley Pier at the Foot of University
Ave. Road my bike there. There were lots of streams uncovered in the
50's that held steelhead that fed San Francisco Bay. We still get
steelhead and salmon in Walnut Creek, the stream and not the town, that
flows behind the Sun Valley Shopping Center in Concord. Cordinices creek
that flows through part of UC Berkeley had steelhead. We still get
steelhead trying to run up Alameda Creek in Niles, but are stopped by the
BART transit line bridge. There were only probably 8 million people in
the whole state. We passed NY for the most populous state with about 13
million in about 1959 or 1960. The largest run of salmon in the lower 48
run up the Sacramento River, which enters the bay on the Northeast end.

We've got much the same situation here along the southwestern shore of
Lake Michigan, roughly from the Michigan-Indiana state line to north of
Milwaukee. Despite a population well in excess of ten million and badly
abused watersheds, there are impressive runs of steelhead and salmon on
many of the tributary streams, as well as significant (and improving, in
recent years) populations of at least some native species. Water quality
on some of these streams has been brought up enough so that the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources and various cooperating organizations have
invested a great deal of time, effort and money in restocking sturgeon
into waters from which they've been absent for over a century. Here's
wishing us all good luck!

Wolfgang


Our problem with the sturgeon is the Russian immigrants. 100,000 in
Sacramento alone, and several groups have been busted as well as Russian
Deli's in San Francisco for poaching sturgeon and making selling caviar.

Around here it's "Rio Grande River"

bh