The Stanford Business Reporter

Issue date: 10/1/01 Section: Outdoor Adventures

It all started when the blue Ford Explorer came barreling down route 89 toward the Black Bear coffee shop. It was the Troutmobile with the world-renowned Jack Trout behind the wheel. He jumped out of the car that sported a large yellow plastic grasshopper on top and a bumpersticker that proudly stated “Fish tremble at the sound of my name.” “Good morning Sizzlers!” He shouted while giving us the double guns. “Are you ready to catch some fish? Did you bring any Stanford Volleyball girls?” All 18 of us stood in shock. Whether it was the lack of coffee or the clear Mt. Shasta air, we had little idea of what the day would bring with Jack Trout as our guide but we were all curious to find out.

For those of you that are not avid fly fishermen, the sport is as much an art as a science. We spent the morning practicing our casting techniques in a large cow patty infested field. With his impressive Texas form, Craig Thomas, MBA1, was lucky enough to snag three cow patties. Classic Sizzler!

The afternoon brought the real fun with a trip to the McCloud River. The river is the grand daddy of trout rivers in California and with our new techniques we were ready to catch some fish. Jack took the lead with his trusty dog Shasta. He divided the group into those who would fish and those who would volunteer to catch flies and other insects. Realizing the excitement associated with insect hunting, no one volunteered.

So the real fishing began. Joe Winters, MBA1, found a great fishing hole south of the lower falls and hooked four fish and two 13 year old kids who were doing cannonballs off the top of the falls. He threw all of them back. Hennie Strydom, MBA1, camped out over a fishing hole and pulled out 10 microfish. Brian Lamka, MBA1, camped out over the same fishing hole and pulled out no fish.

My wife, Maria and I managed with Jack Trout’s help to nab two 10 inch rainbows that we actually had for dinner. They were great eating and we prepared them in the traditional South African style with the help of Hennie and the cooking genius of second year leaders Tom Simonson, MBA2, and Eric Osberg, MBA2.

All in all, we had a great day fly fishing. We even went back the next day and caught some more fish. Jack Trout was once again in mid season form dishing out funny one-liners and leading Lisa Gerson, MBA1, and Eric to the upper falls. Eric caught such a large fish that he was at once branded the “Sizzler of the Week” with the corresponding fame of being on the MtShasta.com home page.

When Sunday was over and the Troutmobile was packed up and ready to go, all we could do was talk about what an interesting and great time we had with Jack Trout on the banks of the McCloud River. It was simply: Classic Sizzler!

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