New Years Resolutions

To put it quite simply I don't have any New Years resolutions. Why bother? In the past when I made them I didn't keep them so this year I resolved not to make any.
In actuality I do have an ongoing resolution that I try to keep all year long and it's to do all I can to protect wild salmon, trout and steelhead. I don't always do as well as I could or should but I think I make a decent effort to put my money where my mouth is.
I've gained a few detractors along the way in my efforts. I have a big mouth and don't mind calling a spade a spade and I know a few of these folks keep tabs on this blog. That is fine and I welcome it as a matter of fact.
These "sportsmen" are more concerned with having hero pictures of them holding fish plastered all over the internet. Yes these, as one sycophantic young angler calls them, stud fishermen love nothing better than to talk about what killas they are but when it come right down to actually participating in anything that will help wild fish they are conspicuously absent.
I've long commented on this type of flash in the pan fishermen before and there is not a lot more I can add except to say put away the harmful bait and keep those wild fish in the water! It's more important, you bunch of ego maniacal assholes, to be safe with wild salmon and steelhead than for you to have your picture all over the web.
2010 is a pivotal year for our rivers and the fish that live there. The misguided hatchery processes of this region and killing off what few wild salmon and steelhead populations are left. Steelhead broodstock programs, toxic egg cures and greedy sports anglers are taking their toll along with the myriad of other hurdles wild salmonids face.
Hopefully the continuing revelations about the harmful effects of poor hatchery practices will finally get someones attention.
Hopefully a selective method of harvest on the Columbia river will force the commercial interests to abandon their archaic and wild fish killing gill nets in favor of something that does not kill every thing in it's path.
Hopefully the sports angling groups will work towards the common good of the resource and not just for a larger piece of the salmon pie they believe they deserve and hopefully the fly fishing community will take conservation seriously.
So 2010 can be a year of hope but all user groups are going to have to sacrifice instead of waiting for the other side to give in.
The future of our cold water fisheries depends on it!

Happy New Year