Another week of much needed downpour ended in a couple days of sunshine, just enough to drain the standing water and trigger a foot of grass growth. Torn between duty and irresponsibility, I ignored the Green Menace and went scouting for hungry and stupid fish.

I knew better than to take a fishing rod, as the standing water in the fields suggested anything  I fished would need to weigh four ounces or more to crack the surface.

I’d heard rumor of Double Secret Creek – home to sunbathing college gals and monstrous carp, and figuring it was Double Deep and Muddy would allow me to scan the place without being a “creepy old guy.” A fishing rod at the hip adds legitimacy to your presence, anyone wading through brown crap without one is just a creep.

Double Secret Creek looked inviting – a McDonald’s Chocolate shake absent the straw. It’ll take a couple of weeks before I can see coeds or bottom…

I traipsed through grass and mud for a couple miles scouting pools and evidence of other fishermen. Forked sticks are a dead giveaway, as were the half opened clam shells and empty beer cans. It’s standard compliment for Catfish, with the marks from the lawn chair silent confirmation.

The Little Stinking is about five times its normal flow so I’ll assume similar for this new water, and give it a couple weeks before returning.

I chatted with a nice old lady trailing terriers, she mentioned quicksand and salmon were present – but as her memory of the creek spanned multiple decades she wasn’t altogether sure which had been the most recent encountered.

The Little Stinking is sweet smelling once again, all the carcasses and chemicals having been pushed through the watershed in one toxic exorcism. Hopefully we’ve got a couple of new automobile hulks midcurrent or a sprinkling of Kenmore refrigerators to break up the flow.

The irrigation pumps are idle as fields are either fallow or have winter wheat, which is grown during the rainy season without irrigation. All the natural waterways are swollen and chocolate, and all the man made drainage is nearly empty … and chocolate.

I scouted the Lower Sacramento and it’s up nearly 35 feet from a couple weeks ago. There’s little freeboard between it and the plush accommodations lining the banks – but I’m sure a fresh deposit of silt makes for a lush green lawn when the water recedes.

I did stumble across some good fortune for Singlebarbed reader, “Dull Knife” (of rotting seal fur fame). A swollen beaver and an Orange Tabby lay in my path; the Beaver was suppurating perfection and the tabby would have made an excellent silhouette stick up – dry as a bone and frozen in anger. I contemplated mailing DK the entire ensemble but my gag reflex won the debate, I emailed the GPS coordinates instead.

It may be a hair off,  just follow your nose.

From researching yesterday’s post I can expect the bugs to be largely absent, due to the tons of gravel being deposited with the floodwaters. I’ll have to rely on sparkly-shiny minnow imitations until the waters clear and recede.

We’re slated for a week of clear weather and whichever chocolate rivulet clears first is likely to have me perched on it. The salmon reference has me piqued – I may have to keep a close watch when it begins to clear. The season is closed and it’s likely 2009 will suffer a similar closure, but first hand observation beats rumor and innuendo everytime.

If you don’t hear from me, I found the quicksand …