Yesterday we posted a small piece on the legacy of Ted Lindner. Today, on the third anniversary of his passing, we are including a short eulogy taken from Ted’s local paper in Stockton, CA.
A small service was held in his memory shortly after his passing. In attendance were long-time angling friends Kim Yip and Forrest Willis. Suzanne Butler, Ted’s adored step-daughter read an eloquent reflective piece sent by Conrad Calimpong who was unable to attend.
A little over 44 years ago legendary Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club member Jack Horner made his last minute escape from the fast rising Smith River during the first hours of the epic ‘64 flood.
Jack, an elevator operator from San Francisco was a fishing bum with lines tied to Montana trout streams, Nevada marshes, Washington rivers and Oregon stillwaters. But for all his travels, Jack’s favorite holes were in the slow moving tidewater of California’s Smith River.
In an era before cell-phones and reliable weather reports, Horner found himself in a precarious position on the eve of California’s most devastating flood. In an unused clip from Rivers of a Lost Coast angler and writer Al Perryman shares the story.
Sitting in a stool hovering over a keyboard that teeters on a book shelf, I can gladly say we’re in the last days of moving our offices. Last week a man named Simon started helping us out with some handy work. He saw the posters and immediately started probing. Simon is a steelheader.
Over the past few days Simon, a valley fishermen of both the fly and lure, has shared the latest news about the American and Feather Rivers. Unlike many of the coastal streams, the Valley steelheading is holding its own this season. A good amount of large fish have been taken from the American River this year. The above photo is a steelhead Simon landed in the American River Basin this past week.
Arriving early yesterday he asked, “Did you hear? Got to the river really early, before daybreak. Guy upstream asks me if I’ve been on the river much. Told him yea, most mornings. Asks if I’ve seen any big fish landed. Say yea, quite a few. Any real big ones? No, nothing abnormally huge. Oh OK, he says. Why? Guy comes back and tells me there’s a rumor a 42 incher was foul-hooked here two days ago. Says the guy landed it and everything. Had nasty monofilament on, rope. Anyways the fish was apparently measured at 42 inches. He didn’t know the girth.”
The California State record is 27 lbs. 4 oz. A fair-caught 42 inch steelhead with a girth of 23 inches would conceivably break the state record. Earlier this year an enormous King Salmon (80+ pounds) was found dead by the CDFG in the battle creek watershed.
One of our most frequently asked questions regarding early steelheading and salmon fly fishing is how anglers managed to be so successful with silk lines. Silk, as many of you know, hardly sinks and creates tremendous drag through the guides. Winter steelheading in California is 99 percent of the time a sinking line game. In the early days, innovative anglers did whatever they could to increase the weight and density of their lines. In this audio clip, long-time coastal angler and former Fenwick casting instructor Walt Bennett explains his process for coating silk lines with graphite. This popular technique was also a hit on the casting platform, where members of the GGACC used the added weight and reduced friction of the “black lines” to reach incredible distances.
