On Monday, July 9, 2007, we dropped our son Conor off at Antelope Creek Lodge for his second FishCamp, but this time his good friend Maddy Longshore would be attending the camp as well, her first time. The lodge is owned by The Fly Shop in Redding, California and the following description comes from their web site:
“Antelope Creek Lodge is located on the Northeast side of majestic Mt. Shasta. Traveling North on I-5 and then East on Hwy 97 out of Weed, it is approximately an hour and forty minutes from Redding, the home of The Fly Shop. The property is comprised of 328 acres of meadows, pines, aspen, cottonwoods, one and a half miles of meadow stream, two lakes and a knockout lodge. The elevation is 5000 feet, which accounts for the presence of aspens and dictates a shorter season than we enjoy on many of our properties. It also means that summertime temperatures are quite pleasant and you can expect wonderful fishing all season long.
Antelope Creek flows right through the middle of the ranch and offers approximately 1 1/2 miles of meadow fishing for rainbows and browns. The creek is not large, but is a typical meadow stream with many undercut banks, flats, pools and tailouts. It flows in two different braids through a park-like area at the top of the property before joining near a grove of aspen downstream of the barn area. There are willows along many of its banks, which offer quite a lot of cover, as well as stretches that flow through aspen groves and open meadow. It twists and turns its way all through the rest of the ranch. The fish are not huge, but when a two pound brown or rainbow shoots out from under a deep bank to nail your dry fly, you'll be most pleased. Oh yes, hopper fishing during the summer is great!”
Conor and Maddy were eager to see us leave, along with Maddy’s mom Jenny and brother Max, so that they could get consumed by the serious fun of fly fishing. On Friday, July 13, we were back at the lodge for a great lunch, an exciting graduation and awards ceremony, and then to bid farewell to a beautiful place and wonderful people for another year. Of course we had to stop by The Fly Shop when we got to Redding. Please enjoy the photos below.
Patrick & Cathy Kelly
Clovis, California
Mt. Shasta (14,161 ft.)
Checking in on July 9th
Brown Trout tent: Garrett, Noah, Chris (counselor), Conor & Sean
Max Longshore checks out the Brown Trout tent.
Conor & Maddy - Excitement mounts as parents & Max leave
July 13th: A Perfect Cast!
Max & Conor at Upper Lake
Maddy roll-casting at Upper Lake
The Entomology Test
The Knot-tying Test
More Knot-tying
The Casting Test
Maddy Casting
Sean and Conor Casting
The Brown Trout: Chowder, Mr. Man, Guppy & Blue Gill
Maddy shows Max the flies she tied in camp.
Maddy, Conor, and Max’s hand
Conor & Maddy
The Awards Ceremony
Conor: Most Likely to be a FishCamp Counselor
Conor wins Leave No Trace award ($200 4 wt. Loomis rod)
Conor’s loot from FishCamp and The Fly Shop
Conor & Carrie Roche (counselor)
Conor & Maddy w. counselors Chase, Chris & Jeremiah
Maddy & Conor with Head Counselor Justin Miller
Maddy, Conor & Max with Michael Caranci (Camp Director)
Counselors & Students
Antelope Creek Lodge
Lodge Living Room
Sunken Bar
Lodge Kitchen
Antelope Creek and its big trout are right outside the windows.
The kids preferred to be outside
but we liked that too.
