FisherDad – Page 16 – Outdoor adventures, particularly trout angling

Martis Creek, Lake Tahoe

From the early 1980s through the late 1990s I worked for EG&G Energy Measurements. Las Vegas was our headquarters, but I often traveled to our satellite locations. We had seven offices scattered throughout the United States (and one in Europe) that supported the various national nuclear weapon laboratories. One of those facilities was in Livermore, California, obviously near the Livermore National Laboratory run by the University of California. These business trips to Livermore got me within reasonable driving distance to Sacramento where my good friend, Bill Bergan, lived.

Ruby Mountains – Elko, NV

Bill snapped this photo as I set the hook on a Brook trout that slurped an Adams dry fly on Favre Lake. Liberty Lake lies above and to he left of this picture.

I was just a fledgling angler in my early 20s. Just out of college and working for a certified public accounting (CPA) firm to achieve my Nevada CPA license. My audit practice supervisor was Bill “Bergie” Bergan. Bill was a weekend rock climber, and we somehow agreed to exchange our fly fishing/climbing hobbies with each other (see Early Climbing / Mountaineering Adventures for the details of that story).

Starting the hike to Favre Lake from Lamoille Canyon, with the Liberty Pass shown one-third from the right edge of the photo. We were assessing the task at hand.

Early Climbing / Mountaineering Adventures

The post-climb descent from Yosemite’s Munginella, circa 1982 (note Lost Arrow Spire to right in background).

My acquaintance with Bill Bergan began when I was a young staff accountant working for a local Nevada certified public accounting (CPA) firm. Bill had recently moved back to Las Vegas to manage the audit practice of the firm I was working part-time for while attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I was assigned to perform “grunt work” for Bill on an audit engagement, and we quickly became good friends upon discovering we shared certain skills in sarcasm. Bill is nine years my senior, so that made him about 29 when I met him. As a practical reality of our age difference, our relationship began as mentor-protege. We obviously shared a career interest, but it turned out we shared adventuresome spirits and love of the outdoors.