Fish tales from the trout trip files
The following “fish tales” from Dick “Hoagie” Hoagland’s 50 years of High Sierra trout fishing trips are taken both from interviews by the Daily Pilot with trip participants and some of Hoagland’s records of trips between 2001 and 2016.
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Sometime in the 1980s.
Bob Watkins leaves for the trip and realizes when he gets home that his wife has abruptly left him. It is Watkins’ second marriage, and a short one at that. “Just long enough to get to know him,” his friends say.
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Sometime in the 1990s.
A wife drops off a trip attendee.
When he gets home, his bank account is empty, his car gone and other stuff is missing — even the ice cube trays.
To the best of the men’s knowledge, the man never remarried.
*
April 2001.
Hoagland, after 35 years of driving to the High Sierra, loses his way in Victorville and ends up in Palmdale, off course by about 50 miles. He claims he was “looking for cheaper gas.” No one believes him.
He earns the nickname Dick “Wrong Way” Hoagland.
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April 2002.
A man named Jim Stutz is picked up for the trip. But when he gets home and describes it to others, no one believes his account. He describes his annual jaunt as meeting a bunch of guys at an In-N-Out Burger, spending three days with them in a motor home, then never seeing or hearing from them again until the same time the next year.
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April 2003.
Hoagland insists that some of the travelers’ suitcases be placed on top of his van to save space inside.
Around Adelanto, the group realizes Greg Munoz’s suitcase had fallen off, taking with it “all his cold weather gear, binoculars, walkie talkie, Viagra, etc.”
But, Hoagland later says, it was “the only way we could get rid of some old wool pants which Greg has worn for more than 30 years.”
*
April 2011.
John Burrows treats the group to matching T-shirts “that he must have gotten for free.”
“Come on, John,” Hoagland wonders. But he gives him an “A” for effort.
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April 2013.
George Brooks thinks he forgot his suitcase, which means a drive back to Newport Beach while everyone waits.
Brooks then realizes it was in the car all along.
Hoagland says it was the trip’s first, but not last, senior moment.
Also, the food bill is $100 less than usual. Hoagland wonders if the guys are on diets or just getting older.
*
April 2014.
Watkins and Brooks spend the first morning trying to tie on lures and untangle their fishing lines. They look like “two Scrooges.”
One man claims that from now on, anyone older than 70 must be accompanied by a doctor to attend the trip.
On Sunday, Brooks claims he isn’t feeling well, but the feeling is that he couldn’t stand another fishing experience with Watkins.
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April 2015.
Hoagland changes the room allocations for the cabin, and “for good reason.”
“The old guys can no longer get up and down the ladders in the bunk room,” he says, “so the young guys are permanently billeted there. The Dictator has spoken.”
*
April 2016.
Hoagland calls the 50th trip “one of our best outings.” The weather was mixed and the fishing OK, “but the camaraderie was special.”
“We all hope Greg is back with us next year, as we need our rooster. Looking forward to next year and the start of our next 50 years. I can dream, can’t I?”
