Two boys and the King.
When you grow up in an area such as the one that I did, it's easy to take for granted all the wonderful things that were here.
Until the last two decades or so, I didn't give it much thought. I always figured that what I knew was always going to be here.
I was wrong, many things no longer exist or are severely restricted, some for good reason, others, not so much. There are plenty of things that were done in the normal course of our business, so to speak, that would have us in jail today. Now mind that we were not considered criminals at that time, just unruly or lacking in manners. That is part of it, some of our adventures were things that came with the territory, deeds done the way they had been done for many years. Take this next little tale, it might completely sadden, enrage and cause outcry in today's lace panty world.
Two boys and the King
The spring break was late this year, as normal for our family, my brother and I were packed up and sent away. We didn't know why, we did expect it and looked forward to it. We ended up on the great ranch in the Mattole Valley, which was just fine, even in the rainy weather.
We did chores, played in the barn, explored the work sheds, all the things that 12 year old boys do. One rainy morning our Grandmother said that she wanted a salmon and asked us to go get one. We sprang at the chance, besides, that meant driving the beater Jeep pick-up that was nicknamed the "Bomber" for it's droning old flathead six. The jeep had no brakes, was permanently stuck in low range and enough play to use up a full spin of the steering wheel. In other words perfect for 12 year old boys. We knew the jeep was fun, but what we put in the back was viewed with high anticipation. This fishing trip was different, no fishing rods would be used, no nets, no dynamite, yep, we had us a spear.
Granddad’s spear, made from an old three tine pitchfork with the center tine removed, the remaining two tines were fitted with removable “toggle” tips, fastened to a rope by wire.
The theory being that once the tips hit the fish, they would come off the tines and “toggle” sideways, making them tough to dislodge. It worked, mostly.
Up the hill we went, brimming with enthusiasm in spite of the pouring rain. The road leading to the creek was washed out, no matter, we cheerfully walked the mile and a half, taking turns carrying the 8 foot Pepperwood pole. We just knew that salmon were stacked up in the pool know as the big blue hole. Well, there were salmon there, sleek fast moving Silvers and well beyond our reach, the pool was too deep. After a bit of lunch, we went upstream to the West fork, a pristine stream that flowed from the King Range, no roads crossed it, no-one lived within many miles from it, as pure a stream that can be found. The stream had carved its course through steep terrain, leaving high banks with overhanging trees, deep pools connected by swift flows around boulders. The creek laughed and chuckled as it ran clear and cold. Small gravel beaches on inside bends were shining with rain. This is where we found the King. As with many great events, it was mainly by accident. We had struggled through the wet brush along the banks, couldn’t have been more wet by swimming. We startled a small black bear from its meal of a Silver salmon and watched as it plunged across the stream and plowed up the bank. We waited a few minutes, listening as the sounds of its flight diminished. When our breathing calmed, we continued our search for Grandmother’s salmon. We spotted a couple Silvers, made a few attempts to skewer them and failed. Then came the fated pool, where the great King rested on the bottom. After some discussion, we changed tactics, no more Celtic lunges, a stealthy approach was indicated. With my brother head of me, we quietly waded into the crystal waters, over the knees, to our belts, the waters lapped at our elbows. The spear was slowly extended toward that submarine sized fish. When it was judged that the tips were close enough, then came the Celtic lunge. The tips were plunged deep behind his gills, The King reacted by rearing up off the bottom in a cloud of blood and gravel, then off he went, upstream dragging us with him. I remember the gravel bottom sliding under my feet, my war cry mixed with my brother’s. The son of a ##### came close to drowning us, the King, wounded as he was, had a great deal of power in his element. Neither one of us thought to let go of the pole, the fish was tethered to it after all. We chased him up a riffle into another pool, not so deep this one, it allowed us to try and beach him. Big mistake, the “beach” was a half moon shape, only a few feet in size, backed by a sheer rock wall and fronted by the pool. The King objected to being hauled out and flailed strongly, beating us soundly below the knees, defeating any attempts to pin him down. Back into the water we went, all three of us. Several more minutes of floundering around chest deep, found us back at the beach. Again with the thrashing, not quite the same scale as the first time, but still enough to force us back in to the pool. This charge carried us downstream, toward deeper water, we got him turned, our first directed move since putting the iron to him. We tried a bigger beach this time, success!! No returning to the stream this time, but he continued to fight us. I broke a hefty stick on his head, Bro had at him with a rock, slimy blood glinting with scales was spattered everywhere.
Finally subdued, we prepared to pack out our prize, like native bearers hauling an Impala slung on the spear. The ordeal of the rain soaked brush, the long walk up the muddy road to the old jeep, the now dead battery awaiting us.
The King weighed out at 42 pounds, my brother and I together went maybe 180. We were sore for days. Such was growing up in NW California and we thought everybody did stuff like this.