Back home from the Sierra and I swear it feels colder down here, even though it got to -4 on the drive down canyon to the cabin after libations and dinner at the Tiger Bar the night before Thanksgiving. A big storm caused us to spend the night in Lone Pine at the clean, reasonable and well appointed Best Western Frontier Inn on the way up. We brought everything from fly rods to shotguns to snowboards with us, not to mention computers and phones for updates from all our friends. Still no TV in the cabin, though.

But the other gear was how I knew my good buddy and latest SFR sponsor Phil Desautels of Smiling Salmon Guide Service got another old friend and his boys into the Smith River's unreal fall king salmon bite on the backside of the storm that chased them off the river just before Thanksgiving. Even though the bite upriver -- where dad would have had a chance to show off his backbouncing skills -- was a disappointment, getting 10-year-old Cooper Slovik on a 31-pound king and his even younger brother Griffin on a 26 pounder pulling the Kwikfish is what family fishing is all about. And family is what a holiday like Thanksgiving is all about.

I kept an eye on who got big fish and who didn't as the long range boats rolled into the dock and saw some more reactions to the loss of Dan Felger. The scripture over the weekend was about how death comes like a thief in the night, but Dan was someone who lived by that admonition and he had his family at his side after fighting the good fight and living a life filled to the brim until the very end. In one of those it's a small world coincidences, I found out several years ago that both my mother-in-law Shirley and father-in-law Clark went to grade school in L.A. with Dan. So this summer I arranged a lunch for all of us, with my wife Barb included, up in Westlake by his office, where he was still busy at 80 managing his many apartment units in Arizona. That's where I got to see his book, "Willy and Me," about his associations with Bill Poole. He only had 3 copies printed and it's the best thing I ever saw on Poole. Ironically, the day Dan died the other four folks at that lunch were back at table for another lunch in Newport and Barb brought up the visit with Dan. She mentioned his invitation to fish Sherwood and have dinner together and how fun that would be. Bittersweet is the word for memories and chocolate.

That's why I was stoked to get to spend the holiday with my brother Bob and his wife Julie and her mom Susie. They have been spending Thanksgiving up at the cabin a lot lately -- hogging it is the word Bob used -- but this time the rest of their entourage had other places to go. My other youngest brother, Fernando Garduno, had a condo at Interlaken above Gull Lake with his family. Long story short we got to go jump ducks and even though it meant "postholing" through a couple feet of snow it resulted in two greenheads, a gadwall and a teal. My daughter Ana said the snowboarding was great at Mammoth, but I opted for a recuperative soak at the Double Eagle with Bob and sister Patricia. Bob went out the last morning with his friend Drew, an East Walker River guide, and missed a great opportunity at some honkers. That's hunting up there -- a lot of work and very few opportunities, but what's good that comes easy? Well, besides a 5-day trip when the albies and bluefin are biting.

Also saw that the MLPA Initiative is up to its old shenanigans, reversing fields in order to get the result dictated by the money. Of course the announcements of a last second meeting came over the Thanksgiving holiday. I'll spare you the details unless you want to find them elsewhere here on SFR. Here's the link to the story:Latest on the MLPA

Meanwhile I want to urge you to fish the bass tournament this weekend out of Mission Bay to raise money for Jim Edwards. I got to become friends with Jim on one of Barry Brightenburg's Fish Trap skiff trips on the Qualifier 105 and put his photo in the paper many times with huge calicos caught at night at the Coronados. He was so core he would bring his skipper's license and run the skiffs after his turn to give the crew a break -- and himself a chance at more fatties. He broke his leg right before last year's skiff trip and then was beset with a nightmare onslaught of infections that still threaten his leg. He long ago ran out of medical coverage and the tournament is just $25 a head this Saturday, with all the money going to Jim's bills. Tommy Gomes is serving up fish tacos. To sign up, or even if you can't fish and just want to find out more information on how to donate, go to www.fish4jim.com

Life moves quickly my friends and it's important to be where you should be.

Rich Holland's Roundup