Al Bridgford still remembers the sound of the tree branches brushing up against the doors and windows and roof of his father's car as Al Sr. drove down some old logging roads in northern California during the 1970s to reach remote stretches of the area's noted mountain trout streams. It was on those father-son outings, amidst the serenity of the pristine surroundings and far away from the bustle of life at home in Fullerton north of Los Angeles, that the fishing bug bit Bridgford - bit him bad.