A Midsummer's Eve report
Summer always seems to take its sweet time getting here and then before you know it July is almost over and the summer is half gone. Or for us optimistic types, the best part is still ahead of us -- as long as you keep on letting the good times roll.

A really good Fourth of July celebration seems to groove in the summer mood and this year's annual get together up at June Lake may have hosted one of the smallest crowds, but was definitely in the groove with my brother Steve's English bitter ale and yellowtail tacos (courtesy of a San Benitos beauty caught on the Fish Trap/Q105 skiff trip. Things really got going earlier for me as I joined old friend Dave Gauthier and his family fishing and hiking. Well at least the fishing and hiking got going -- spring lingered with a serious winter rain storm. But, oh the fish were biting. Once those rains stops it got hot and then it was time for the mosquitos to bite along with the trout. Folks piled into the front yard of the cabin in their RVs and the celebration carried on for days.

Back in SoCal in time for a great southwest swell, the mood turned somber as good friend and mentor Harvey Naslund died of cancer. Harvey was the top bass tournament director on the West Coast and we were putting together a history of bass fishing in the West that was finished just a few days before he passed. He never got to see it printed, but it will be published.

The bad news came just before dawn the morning it was time to drive out to Vegas for the ICAST sportfishing industry show. There was a lot of cool stuff on display at the show, including Shimano's new Talica topless 50 that gets Shimano up to speed in that department and possibly ahead of the competition. There was a lot of talk about our saltwater fishing and how it seems like its just been wind and big white seabass for three years now. Seems like that hasn't changed much yet, but I have hope for some action from yellowfin tuna, dorado and marlin -- but it's only hope. I'm not going to pretend this has been a great season so far.

After the show it was time to head down to Louisiana with the National Wildlife Federation for a presentation on what their program -- www.vanishingparadise.org -- to restore the Mississippi Delta has helped with so far and what the goals of the organization and its partners are. My old buddy Lew Carpenter, who was editor of Western Outdoors magazine for a half-dozen years or more, is a regional representative for NWF and we got to get out on the water for a couple mornings before the meetings and pick up limits of quality redfish. The fish he's holding in the photo is on the low end of the grade we caught, but got elected for the photo because it has more than the usual single spot. Reds bite great and pull hard. Hope your summer brings you many similarly spirited game fish.