The next day we headed out further from town in search of the world famous Williamson River and its environs. The Ostensons had told us that it was closed at this time, but we just wanted to get a feel for it and plan another trip when fishing was 'On'. The Williamson River basin has a drainage area of approximately 3000 sq. miles, and along with the Sprague River supplys about half of the inflow to Upper Klamath Lake. Agency Lake and Klamath Lake are joined by a narrow channel. The Wood River feeds Agency Lake from the north and the Williamson feeds into Klamath Lake from the east. The Williamson not only looks "fishy", it seems to echo the words "Fish On" out of very riffle. It was love at first sight. Some rivers just grab you that way. Even without knowing the details you know 'they are there'! The Williamson is world famous for large trout. Five pounders are common and one of the lodges reports a fish 36" long, with a 21 1/2 inch girth, and weighing in at 21 pounds. The only competition for double digit trout has to be Alaska. That phrase sure does make my heart pump. Because of the abundant food supply in the shallow lake system, fish can grow 12 inches a year. Main feed is minnows and leeches. This is one of the few rivers where you can hook up a trophy trout on a dry fly. Suggested patterns are black leeches and hexagena patterns such as a #6 mayfly. I felt like a kid looking through the candy store window. The problem with the Williamson is access. The banks are private access only and you are not allowed to fish from any type of floatable (boat, tube, etc.) This means you must obtain access through a lodge, a guide, or seek out the few public areas.

We will definitely return to the Williamson when we can fish it, but for immediate gratification we did stop and fish Agency Lake. We found a public put in and no sooner had I rigged up than a big fish flew through the air after some minnows. I couldn't get my large olive woolly bugger tied on fast enough. The afternoon wind was strong but I dropped it in the general area and after three casts my 5 weight loaded big time. After drooling over the Williamson this felt good. An angry cutty about 5 pounds launched himself a couple of times and then he was off. In the mean time Dan had rigged up a rainbow needlefish on his gear rod and he soon landed a brown about 12 inches. We were running out of time and were disappointed that we couldn't stay for the evening bite, but off we drove.

Our next destination was the Carr Creek Ranch in Hayfork owned by our friends Cindy and Steve Beck. We arrived in Weaverville the day before and immediately found the cutest place to eat. Miller's Drive In still has car hops (or for some of you oldsters "bumper jumpers'). As we had been sitting in the truck for 3 hours we opted to eat at a table, but the food was great, bonus!. We decided to visit Trinity Lake that afternoon and see what was up there. Trinity Lake provides 145 miles of shoreline to fish for rainbows, browns, kokanee, bass and catfish. It boasts the state record for a smallmouth at 9 pounds 10 ounces in 1976. Close by you can fish Lewiston Lake, Ruth Lake, the Trinity River, and tributaries such as Swift Creek, Stuart's Fork, and the East Fork. As these tributaries were also closed to us we flipped our flies into the lake itself where it nosed into a creek. We watched fish feeding on insects on the surface so we rigged up floating lines with various dries to no avail. Finally I decided on a # 12 black bead head hare's ear. I let it sink forever and then on a slow strip I hooked a 12 inch rainbow. This was the fish for the day and we once again ran out of light. It was good to try out new water and I wasn't worried about catching fish because we were headed for 'fish heaven' the next day.

As soon as I pass the Carr Creek Ranch sign I get raging fish fever. Four ponds offer 'fish 'til your arm falls off' action. Along with these ponds, the ranch offers 2000 acres of hunting, camping, and a 10 station sporting clay range with instructor available. We began early morning on the Cabin pond. I flipped a #22 Adams out and wham - fish on, fish off. When I retrieved the fly the hook was straight. Wow!. The next fish broke my 4 pound test leader and took my hare's ear. Time to re-rig for the big guys. I tied on 8 pound test leader and a big black woolly bugger. Next cast I landed a 5 pound rainbow that nearly took the rod out of my hand. Every cast we had a big fish. These guys made the reel sing in the high pitched whine we all love to hear and the aerials were unbelievable. They are so healthy and beautiful you become mesmerized and almost forget to reel. I even let Steve land one on my fly rod and he couldn't believe the power of the fish he had raised. At Coyote pond a purple woolly bugger yielded some 2-3 pound smallmouth. Homestead pond boasts the big bass, but once again we ran out of time. No doubt about it, fishermen need longer days in the spring. It is always such a pleasure spending time with the Beck's in this gorgeous spot. We ended the day with a BBQ and some singing accompanied by Cindy's guitar and Andy's banjo. It was good to bring back all those happy childhood memories of camping, 'smores, and burnt marshmallows. We will be bringing client's up to share this with us in the future. When you find something this good you want to pass it on to other families.

Well we are home now, unpacking all the gear, most of which we never touched but we would have needed if we didn't bring it along. Not only did we find some fish, but we found some places we absolutely must return to on our next adventure, the places we could only look at this time.

Columnist Joan Carter co-owns, with her husband, Dan Carter's Guide Service.