The Quiet Pool

Haunted by Water

2012-01-15T20:03:00.001-08:00

I recently re-read "A River Runs Through It" by Norman Maclean. This is a wonderful story of two brother growing up and flyfishing in Montana during the early 1900's with their Presbyterian minister father. It is also a deep and tragic telling of the loss of a loved one and the helplessness the author felt when he could not save his brother.
Maclean paints a picture in words of the waters and trout of the Montana of his youth and I could easily fill an entire entry with the lofty prose he treats the reader to.
I think the one thing that attracts me to this story is the deep understanding that Maclean had with his surroundings and how the great Montana trout rivers spoke to him in the timeless manner that I can try to relate to my own angling life.
Maclean does not rely on a bunch flowery adjectives to tell his story like so many erstwhile writers do today, he puts into words the very sadness he never got over at the loss of someone he could not help.
Don't we all have someone in our lives like Norman Maclean's brother Paul. Someone so gifted but so fatally flawed that you know that your precarious grip on them and your love for them is not enough. Paul Maclean was a shooting star that shone bright but so quickly and prematurely extinguished.
Maclean wrote " All good things come by grace and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy" So I would ask simply what does that say to you? I know that Maclean was writing about the art of casting a fly but I think it says more...at least to me it does.
To me it says simply that the things we work hard for are things we cannot take for granted. We strive to make the best casts or tie the most perfect fly but how about the journey?
Is fly fishing a means to an end? I suppose it is for me because it is only through the archaic but beautiful "four count movement" that perfect peace in an angling life can be achieved or at least striven for.
I had a friend who wanted to proudly display a picture of a steelhead he had recently caught. He acted like I would be angry that he got a fish and I had not....was that what he really meant? I was happy for him! I was happy for him in a way that can only come through the satisfaction of knowing I need not compete anymore.

Please Kill Hatchery Fish

2012-01-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

When I say kill hatchery fish I mean just that! If you buy an angling license you are helping to pay for the rearing of hatchery fish. That cost has an astronomical price per fish so since you and I are paying for them we should utilize them by killing them and therefore removing them from the river.
Sound wasteful? Not at all! You are just utilizing a resource that was put in place for you to harvest fish. You say you just like to catch and release all fish and cannot bring yourself to kill any. Well that is fine and good for wild fish as they should almost always be released to propagate the species so good on you for being a good steward of the wild resource. On the same line of thinking, you are also being a good steward of the resource when you remove hatchery salmon, trout and steelhead from rivers with a wild fish population.Remember that hatchery salmon, trout and steelhead should never ever be allowed to co-mingle with wild salmon,trout and steelhead...got that? The effect on the wild population is devastating!
So here is my advice. Want to eat some fish? Kill your limit of hatchery fish! Did you catch a trophy sized hatchery fish? Congratulations! Kill it and then have it mounted or better yet take measurements and pictures for a replica mount then kill the hatchery fish to eat or give away or use as fertilizer for your wife's rose bed. The important thing is to harvest that hatchery fish.
How about if the fish is unfit for consumption from spawning? I kill it, tag it and release it back into the river for nutrients. I do that but you might not want to do it because it is considered wasting a game fish so do not do anything illegal! If you've caught your daily limit of hatchery fish then go home and come back the next day and kill your hatchery fish limit again.
You may get the warm fuzzies by letting a hatchery fish go and thinking you've done the fish a big favor, well you may have done that fish a big favor but you sure as hell didn't do the resource any favors! That fish could stray into wild salmonid spawning grounds and spawn with a wild fish thus diluting the wild salomnid genes. You've done a huge disservice to the wild fish by releasing a hatchery fish that you should have kept.
Remember this much. That hatchery fish is yours to utilize in whatever way you see fit. Give it away or plant it in your flower bed or use for crab bait or put it on the BBQ grill and have uncle Vern over for dinner.The important thing is to KILL ALL HATCHERY SALMON, TROUT AND STEELHEAD!!!!

"Rasslin" with Salmon

2011-12-19T22:11:00.000-08:00

In this corner, weighing in at 25 to 30 lbs. fresh from the Pacific ocean...the champion of anadromous salmonids...Oncorhynchus tshawytscha AKA King Salmon!!!!!
and in this corner, weighing in at TOO DAMN MUCH,the stumbling angler....AKA Dumb Ass!!!!!
As Michael Buffer would say "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE"
Yes that is what it seemed like as I struggled to help my friend land his very first fall Chinook salmon on an Oregon coastal river a few weeks ago.
The river was running pretty high when John hooked this brute on what amounted to steelhead tackle. John fought the strong flow as much as the fish and with the river being so high there was little if any room on the bank for him beach this big fish.
I coached him along as he played give and take with the fish ever fearful that his light tackle would fail him.
After what seemed like an hour (more like 10 minutes) the fish was ready to come in. With no bank to slide the salmon up on, it was up to me to land John's fish so he could stay on his girlfriend's good side and play hunter/gatherer bringing home some fresh meat. All of John's future fishing trips rested on my shoulders as I positioned my self to "pin" this fish. Well what happened next would have been an excellent submission to the funniest home videos show but thank God no one was filming. I pounced on this salmon and he was not quite ready to surrender! With his broad tail he scooped up a big finful of sand and mud and threw it right into my face.Pissed off now, I grabbed this slimy bastard with both hands as he and I "rassled" in the shallow water with me taking on water from the thrashing about. Since John did not have a salmon club to beat the fish senseless I directed him to take a thick piece of shoreline drift wood and bonk the big fighter. Fortunately that worked and his prize was harvested.
I was very happy for John as I brushed sand and grit off of my face and out of my mouth. He had gotten his first fall Chinook and peace would reign at his home.
But wait!!! A few minutes later I hooked a very acrobatic winter steelhead that actually did kick my ass! As I was thinking about how I would be cooking this 10 lb. or so hatchery fish he jumped one more time, spitting the gear which smacked me right in the mouth......it was a knock out and all I went home with was a fat lip and a gritty taste in my mouth.

Many thanks go to "Al Baker" for encouraging me to capture this epic moment of angling technique for all of posterity....Merry Christmas to all

When Winter Did Not Matter

2011-12-19T02:03:00.000-08:00

Remember that old Janis Ian song "In the Winter" ?
One of the lines is "and in the winter extra blankets for the cold, fix the heater getting old" That song is playing in my head these days.
Although it's not quite winter yet here in Oregon it certainly feels like it outside. Night time temperatures are down in the higher 20's and the day time temperature doesn't get much above freezing. So as I wait out this cold and rainless weather my lack of piscatorial activity give me a lot of time to reflect on my angling life.
When I was in my 20's this weather was little more than a minor inconvenience. Yes I had to deal with iced up guides on my rod and maybe wear an extra layer of clothing but so what? Dude this was winter steelhead season we are talking about and there's is no way a little cold was going to stop me.
Back in the day before breathable waders we wore whatever cheap chest high waders were on sale. There was almost no flexibility in those old Red Ball rubber shrouds but I was about 75 pounds lighter and 35 years younger and, like I said before, it just didn't matter. Cleated soles for traction? How about felt soles? Nope! It was rubber to rock and you hoped for the best. I lost a brand new fly rod on the Washougal river one year after falling in the river one winter and my friend that was with me that day in 1976 still reminds of it every time he sees me. Those old rubber chest highs fill with water pretty fast let me tell you. It's because of that "spill" that I am a super cautious wader today.I will even pass up to the promising looking water because I am not comfortable with the wade I needed to make to get to that water.
Back then I never even used a rain coat, most of the time, while winter steelheading and also got drenched, most of the time, coming home looking like I went swimming instead of fishing. It was fun though and I have a wealth of memories from the days when winter didn't matter.
Today...well it's a whole different story. These old bones need some warmth and although I have a rain coat at the ready I still rather not deal with any rainfall that is little more than a mist.
The desire to get up at 4:30 AM with a chance of marginal water conditions (no internet back then remember) is long gone because I finally realized that in the winter the steelhead are just as apt to bite at 10am as they are at 6am.
Since it's no longer necessary to be the first one on the river in order to get the choice spot I get a few hours more sleep these days.
I feel I enjoy my fishing more these days without the need to be hard core about it.
Although I take a more laid back approach to my fishing I still feel nostalgic for those old days of trips to the Grays river in Washington or the walk up to the pipeline hole on the Sandy to fish along side of my 50 closest friends...no exaggeration either!
It was fun laughing in winter's face back then but in the end winter won as it always will inevitably.
The drive back over the coastal range is always enjoyable for me. I have seen more elk this fall and winter than in prior years. The smell of rotting salmon carcasses greet my nose along the river bank and while it is not exactly Chanel No.5 it is a good sign that these noble fish reached their spawning grounds and accomplished their purpose, insuring the future of the species.
I do not enjoy the winter season like I once did but I try to make the best of it remembering that there can be no spring without winter and in my 57 plus years spring has never failed to arrive.

Steelhead

2011-12-14T22:35:00.000-08:00

They can bring you to your knees after and encounter, leaving you a slobbering, jelly-legged, quivering mess! These sea going rainbow trout will bring a seemingly sane person out into near blizzard conditions in pursuit of them.
To the non-angler this behavior surely must seem like masochism or insanity at the very least. In my years of pursuing these fish I've hiked 5 miles up the Deschutes canyon in blazing heat August after summer steelhead. I have fished in weather so cold that the water not only froze in the guides of my rod but also froze my reel thus rendering it useless. It's hard to explain to someone who has never caught a steelhead why those of us who have will do almost anything to hook one.

Steelhead trout (oncorhynchus mykiss) are the fish of legend from the coastal rivers of British Columbia, Oregon, Washington and California to the mighty Columbia and it's tributaries like the Deschutes, Sandy, Snake and it's tributary the Clearwater. Steelhead have also been introduced into the Great Lakes of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota to name a few. They are the premier coldwater game fish in North America and are second only to Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) as the greatest freshwater game fish worldwide but some would argue that steelhead fight better.
Steelhead trout have captured the imagination of generations of anglers. Celebrities like Jack Hemingway and Zane Grey sought them on the banks of the famous North Umpqua and Rogue rivers in Oregon. The rivers of British Columbia like the Kispiox, Skeena, Bulkley, Thompson and Dean are truly the rivers of dreams because of their large strain of wild steelhead.
So why do I love them so much? They are the truly fish of MY dreams! Their wild abandon when hooked is unforgettable and gut wrenching in it's fierceness. I can remember many of the steelhead I have hooked in the 38 years of fishing for them and I think it would be safe to assume that other steelhead anglers can do the same. They connect us to those fabled steelhead anglers of long ago like Roderick Haig-Brown and Mike Kennedy and the modern contemporaries like Bill McMillan and Lani Waller.Many celebrity steelheaders were made famous by the fish and not vice versa!
Wild steelhead numbers are in an alarming decline throughout the northwest and it is truly enough to bring hardened steelhead anglers to tears. We will never again see them in large numbers and to those that really care about this fish it breaks our hearts.
I remember my first steelhead from Oregon's Sandy river from back in 1974 just like it was yesterday. Each steelhead I have caught over the years was a unique encounter that will be with me through the rest of my days and honestly what other outdoor pursuit can do that?
There is no such thing as a casual encounter with a steelhead and even in their inferior hatchery version they still battle better than anything swimming in fresh water in this part of the world.

I have an affection for cutthroat trout not unlike a doting father would have for his fragile newborn. With steelhead it's more like a torrid love affair! You obsess over these fish like nothing else. Dec Hogan calls it "A Passion for Steelhead" and that explains it best.
People might wonder why some of us take our passion to a visceral level when our beloved steelhead are threatened by those that have no soul. We mourn the death of any wild steelhead because of the love we have for them.
So if you have not had the chance to fish for one of these magnificent trout in their wild form then do so and at all haste because we are nearing a day when they might be just a fond memory of a loved one lost.

The Dangers of Steelhead Broodstock Programs

2011-12-10T15:23:00.000-08:00

Wilson River angler delivering wild winter steelhead to holding pond for use in Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's hatchery broodstock program.

I've been mulling this entry over for a few days now, wanting to express how I really feel about the exploitation of wild steelhead through the broodstock programs.I had fully intended to do one of my emotional rants because it goes without saying I despise this program.I cringe every time I read where someone supports the broodstock program based on false information or because greedy professional guides on ifish.net says it's a good way to restore depleted wild populations. I've even alienated a few friends and phony so called conservation organizations like the Association of orthwest Steelheaders because of my opposition to broodstock programs.
I don't care! The wild steelhead are too important to worry about sparing feeling and making enemies. So that is all old news and why be redundant ranting about something I've ranted about many times on this blog. I've decided that I will let the experts tell you all about the harm this program does and the misinformation that is being put out there by ODFW, Northwest Steelheaders and those professional guides.

Here is what Kathryn Kostow, formerly of ODFW, says about broodstock programs
Juvenile phenotypes and fitness as indicated by survival were compared for naturally produced steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a new local hatchery stock, and an old non local hatchery stock on the Hood River, Oregon, U.S.A. Although the new hatchery stock and the naturally produced fish came from the
same parent gene pool, they differed significantly at every phenotype measured except saltwater age. The characteristics of the new hatchery stock were similar to those of the old hatchery stock. Most of the phenotypic differences were probably environmentally caused. Although such character changes would not be inherited, they may influence the relative fitness of the hatchery and natural fish when they are in the same environment, as selection responds to phenotypic distributions. A difference in fitness between the new hatchery stock and naturally produced fish was indicated by significant survival differences.
Acclimation of the new hatchery stock in a “seminatural” pond before release was associated with a further decrease in relative smolt-to-adult survival with little increase in phenotypic similarity between the natural and hatchery fish. These results suggest that modified selection begins immediately in the first generation of a new hatchery stock and may provide a mechanism for genetic change.
Kostow notes in her study that ‘new hatchery fish’ derived from the wild population and called ‘native brood stock’ had poor survival.” She said, “Average smolt to adult survival for the naturally produced
winter and summer steelhead were five to six times higher than for the new hatchery stock."Large phenotypic responses by fish from the same parent gene pool to the differences between the captive and natural environments are consistent with the process of domestication.”
“This study demonstrates large average phenotype and survival differences between hatchery-produced and naturally produced fish from the same parent gene pool. These results indicate that a different
selection regime was affecting each of the groups. The processes indicated by these results can be expected to lead to eventual genetic divergence between the new hatchery stock and its wild source population, thus limiting the usefulness of the stock for conservation purposes to only the first few
generations.”

Bill McMillan of Wild Fish Conservancy had this to say about this broodstock program
It doesn't much matter where they (broodstock programs) have occurred geographically, the basics are the same. It is virtually the same hatchery technology that we began with 130 years ago on the West Coast -- take wild fish from their stream of origin (where they are typically needed on the spawning grounds, not removed from them), strip wild females of their eggs, squirt sperm on them from males, rear the eggs in hatchery trays, and rear the juveniles in hatchery confinement prior to release. British Columbia has used native brood steelhead programs for over 30 years beginning with the Big Qualicum Hatchery. Most of the steelhead rivers on the east side of Vancouver Island have virtually collapsed in the past 10-12 years with closures of many of those rivers necessitated to preserve the remaining wild steelhead. I am a personal friend of the now retired hatchery manager who began the Vedder River Hatchery on the lower Fraser system. It had early success, and has seen significant failures in its objectives since. He is now an outspoken pessimist regarding native brood programs for steelhead who recently spoke out against such a program now being suggested by some for the Thompson River.

Bill Bakke of Native Fish Society has been an advocate for our cold water fisheries for over 40 years. He has written many times about broodstock programs and their impact of wild salmon and steelhead.
The fish management agencies and the NMFS have sold the native broodstock hatchery as a recovery tool for wild salmon and steelhead before they have been fully tested to determine whether they work. The few on-going research projects are not promising, showing that the native broodstock hatchery fish are not equal to wild fish in survival and reproductive success. These hatchery fish diverge from the wild fish gene pool they were derived from in phenotypic traits in the first generation. The native broodstock hatchery changes the fish so that they have greater survival fitness in the hatchery than in streams. This change is due to both selective pressures in the hatchery and to relaxing selective pressures the fish would encounter in streams (Reisenbichler 1977; Goodman 2005). This domestication selection in the hatchery can be reduced but it cannot be eliminated, so the hatchery fish will always be different from wild fish in traits important for survival ( Reisenbichler et al. 2004 ). The only result that can come from integrating wild and hatchery fish in hatchery programs is a homogenized population that does not do well in the hatchery or in streams (Goodman 2005). The fish managers have coined a term for these homogenized creatures, they call them “natural” salmon and steelhead, and they have the institutional commitment to transform the region’s wild salmonids into mongrels.

There are others that have written about these broodstock programs and I would encourage you to investigate further by going to Bill Bakke's blog .
Remember one thing though as you do. You will not get a truthful analysis of broodstock programs from people still working for ODFW. They are not allowed to tell you the true facts because it may jeopardize their jobs with the agency. Remember also that professional guides, the people that the broodstock program benefits the most, are going to paint a rosy picture of wild steelhead populations and that they are just borrowing the wild eggs and milt. Again do not believe it! These guides make money on this exploitation of wild steelhead and that too is a fact.
So you can take the word of experts in their fields of study or some loud mouth wannabe on an internet fishing forum.
Also you could ask some locals from the Tillamook area what they think of the broodstock boondoggle and almost to a person they dislike it intensely.
That speaks volumes to me.

A Most Sacred Place

2011-12-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

On our 2009 vacation to Hawaii I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on Oahu.
As I looked down into the rusting gun turret of this battleship I could not help thinking of the more than 1000 Sailors and Marines entombed in the ship.

What would have these brave men accomplished in their life if they had not died on that December morning 70 years ago? Could one of them found a cure for cancer or maybe one of them might have been elected president. Perhaps their offsprings would have done great things and made the world a better place.

I'm sure this has all been pondered before over the years.
To go to the Arizona memorial has been something that I have wanted to do all of my life and to actually go there was a surreal experience.
The diesel oil from the wrecked battleship still seeps to the surface.

I knew it would be an emotional time for me and it indeed was.
To all who read this and have a sense of history you owe it to yourself to visit this most sacred place.

A River in Winter

2011-12-04T16:01:00.000-08:00

Highway 6 ribbons through the dark Pacific Northwest rain forest on this late fall day but in reality it is winter despite what the calendar says. It is something that all of us that call this part of the country home know all too well. The alders and maples have long since forfeited their summer garb, and in the low light of a winter sun, look stark against the gray sky.
Recent rains have swollen the river to a busy flow that is mostly the constant in wintertime. No longer do the leaves swirl in the dark tannin colored pools as now the river turns an almost slate color as if to define the coldness of it's water and winter itself.
The summer and fall river of just a few short weeks ago is now foreboding as if to warn of the dangers in it's water. The wildlife that make their living along shoreline go about their business as gulls wheel over head worrying about dead and decaying salmon that are just out of their hungry reach.
Man might be able to channel, dam and divert the river but if given the chance the river will always reclaim what it lost due to man's interference. The river in winter will reluctantly submit seemingly waiting for the right opportunity to rebel.
I have to take this winter river seriously on these cold days. The river that I waded on a carefree summer or fall day is now intimidating in it's winter power.
The river in winter is a cold and dangerous beauty that demands respect and reluctantly gives up it bounty. I spent almost all of last winter dealing with someone who needed help but refused to take it and my fishing along with my over all well being suffered. In the darkest days of that time I could have used the river for solace and renewal and this year I will do just that.
While winter is not my favorite time of year this year I will embrace it as the journey we need to get through to reach the promise of spring. It is much like our own lives.
I liken the river in winter as more of a time of cleansing and a refreshing of the stagnation of summer. It's a necessary thing that occurs but it is not always pleasant much like my own experiences.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to be among the homeless,poor and as Simon and Garfunkel called them, "ragged people" today. Doing that makes me appreciate all that much more what Llemonte does on a daily basis. Some call this segment of our society freeloaders. I just saw them as people who wanted a hot meal and a dry place to eat it on Thanksgiving. I learned a few of their stories as I chatted with them today and who knows maybe that could have been me. A bad break here or there in the past and it might have been me getting a free Thanksgiving dinner. What I took away from today is something that some already knows and that is these people are of value and should never be cast aside because it is inconvenient to deal with them. I know that there is no other place I had rather have been today.
Realistically my serving the homeless one day a year is not a big deal. The folks that do this every day are heroes in my book and I think they are wonderful are are true servants.
Happy Holidays Everyone

Don't Hurt Your Arms Boys

2011-11-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

So here I go on another rant about the fishing superstars that currently plague our northwest rivers. If you don't want to read it then log in over on Facebook and count all the "friends" you have, most of whom you never met.
A truly great fisherman never has to trumpet his own success or posts a bunch of pictures on the internet fishing forums to show what a fishing stud he is. Sorry boys but I am not impressed in the least! Yeah you can catch a bunch of salmon by back bouncing eggs or pulling plugs from a boat but so can thousands of other guys. You have no original ideas and have pretty much ripped off your fishing techniques from someone else.
The truly great anglers does not seek attention or notoriety and in most cases shy away from that egotistical childishness. I have a close friend who is that way and I will not even mention his name because he would not want me to. He is the best in what he does and that is steelhead fly fishing with a spey rod. He is almost without peer when it comes to casting a two-handed rod. He revolutionized spey casting with his innovative ideas but do hear him pound his chest and talk about how great he is? Never, even though he easily could.
In conventional gear steelhead and salmon angling there was none better than the late Rich Pierzynski was the best there was. Did you see him with his face plastered all over Salmon, Trout and Steelheader magazine? Not at all! He didn't need to. He was the best and did not feel the need to constantly pat himself on the back like these "adolescents" today.
Not even all the younger guys are arrogant jerks. I know one young fly fishing guide that is paying his dues and has become very successful at what he does. He doesn't shit in his own back yard by taking pictures of his success on recognizable rivers. My hat is off to him and he is not the only young fishing guide that is that way.
So I guess what it is I am trying to say is simply this. Most anglers are put off by braggarts like we see on the world wide web. They usually do nothing as far as conservation goes and are arrogant assholes.

Egg Whores...The Final Chapter

2011-11-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

Who Gets the Eggs?

There is really not much I can add to the thread linked above from Ifish.net. It offers an insight into the greed, pettiness and over all stupidity that often comes with the use of salmon eggs. Read it and come to your own conclusion.

I used roe for bait at one time and I know how the lure of an easy catch made me feel. I would love to see the use of salmon eggs for bait restricted especially in streams with wild salmon and steelhead populations.
You have to admit it though. These bait guys are an entertaining lot aren't they? When I catch a hatchery winter steelhead and gut it on the stream bank to (legally) toss the offal back into the water for stream nutrients the eggs go back in the river too!

Desperately Seeking.....Water?

2011-11-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

So here we sit with only two weeks and two days before Thanksgiving. At this time of year we should be seeing storm after storm rolling in from the Pacific like a bowling ball rolling down the lane but not this year. I am wading the coastal rivers with impunity these days because there has been little rain.
You see we Pacific North westerners are a jaded bunch. We know that the rains are coming but still we complain, for some strange reason, when they don't come when expected. Then we bitch like the whiners we are when it rains too much.
Lack of water has put a serious crimp in salmon fishing this season. Low, summer-like flows have caused the Chinook salmon to be trapped in a series of deeper holes on their way upstream to their home spawning gravel and all the while their flesh literally deteriorates from their skeletons.
I don't fish for salmon much anymore because the un-washed bait chucking masses who call themselves fishermen cramp my style. I've gone on about this crowd many times on this blog so I will spare you the explanation of why I detest this group.
I do like to get out and stretch my "spey" legs so to speak and get some casting in for preparation of the upcoming winter steelhead season. Yeah yeah I'm a fly fishing snob so just deal with it.
Anyway it would be nice to have some moving water with which to swing my fly and there isn't much moving water to be had down in Tillamook county.
This is supposed to be a "La Nina" winter meaning it is supposed to be very wet. Well last year was that type of year and we had rain until May. Wonderful!!!

La Nina huh? What damn meteorologist came up with naming colder than normal ocean current after some poor little Hispanic baby girl? I think "It's going to be another shitty winter" current would be more appropriate name don't you?
Ah well such is life in the Pacific Northwest. We complain about the weather but no one does any thing about it right?

The End of the Season

2011-10-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

I wasn't even going to fish the last day of the coastal trout season when I got up this morning. I concluded that it had been a good late season for me and my fly rod and the last day wouldn't matter.
I ended up going anyway, leaving two hours later than I usually leave. As I made my way down Highway 6 all the signs of fall were there. The garishly colored fall maple leaves pirouetted down on the road as they fell from the trees like a sad ballet dancer. The fir and hemlock trees stood tall, like giant sentinels standing vigilant above the lush Pacific Northwest rain forest.Yes indeed fall has fell!
I visited my usual haunts with little success now that the bait anglers had descended upon nearly every one of my favorite trout runs. With an array of salmon eggs, sand shrimp and God know what other bait concoctions polluting the water of my trout hangouts there was little chnace that a willing trout could be dissuaded into anything artificial.
The earliest arriving Chinook and coho salmon rolled in the slower water of the Wilson river as they neared their destiny of procreation and then death. Their once chrome bright vestiges had given way mottled browns, greys and even the white of a leprous like fungus.
This was Halloween and the sidewalks of Tillamook was filled with pint-sized ninjas, princesses, goblins and ghouls plying for the sugary handouts the local merchants were supplying. It slowed my progress to one last trout hole on the upper Trask but I didn't mind watching the children do what I had done some fifty years prior and that was to score some candy.
Dusk was quickly drawing closed the curtain of the 2011 season as I made it to the upper Trask to fish one final hole. I made my way through the ever damp ferns and moss to the river and was rewarded with one last bright coastal cutthroat trout on the very first cast.Further attempts to catch one last bit of magic of the dying season proved fruitless and so I decided it was time to go home.
As I travelled eastward along the lumbering evergreens along Highway 6 toward my home I was kind of sad that the season was done. Seven months seems like a very long way off and who knows what will take happens in my life during those seven months. A long,wet and cold winter lay ahead of me and winters are getting to be more of a struggle the older I get. Yes I will take out my Spey rods and pursue the ever fleeting winter steelhead on a swung fly but the lazy days of summer and fall are gone like the baseball season that had just ended. I will revel in my triumphs of the season just past and second guess myself at the failure of poor knots and too many lost fish. Oh there will be a time in the dark of winter when I take my bamboo fly rod out and give it another coat of wax as I dream of the warm days of spring yet to come.
Have a good winter everyone

Leave the Chum Salmon Alone

2011-10-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

With the first significant falls rains in the forecast the return of the remnant runs of chum salmon on the Miami and Kilchis rivers will soon be upon us.
These salmon are arguably one of the best freshwater game fish that swims the waters of the Pacific Northwest. They come aggressively to a fly and fight with the strength to snap any 8 weight fly rod out there.
The chum salmon rival the steelhead trout when hooked.
That being said we should leave them the alone and here is why. Their already depressed numbers fell to a dismal return in recent years. In the 80's they were so numerous that you could find them from the Columbia all the way down the coast and in huge numbers. While their flesh was inferior their roe and their fighting ability made them a desirable game fish.
They would seemingly all show up at once and you would actually see them ascending drainage ditches during higher water. It was amazing to watch them in tidewater as they would, by the hundreds, boil on the surface in some kind natural dance. It almost seemed like their movements were choreographed...it was a wonder to behold.
I hooked my share of these salmon on both conventional and fly tackle and yes with such large numbers and even unintentionally snagged a few. Although I did not do it on purpose but their vulnerability should have been a clue to me that this fish, even with the large numbers of back then, were so exposed and easy to exploit. This observation would eventually be proven true.
That was all over 25 years ago! Fast forward to the last few years and if you are familiar at all with the Miami and Kilchis you know how poorly the chum salmon have fared lately.
Still there are those who cannot resist tail hooking these chums and treating them with no more respect than that of a squaw fish.
It disgusting how these salmon are treated and if ODFW were ever to do that right thing, and that is unlikely, they would not allow even a catch and release season on the chums.
In the name of angling opportunity there is a short season allowed with bait and treble hooks allowed.
Even fly fishers will stomp through the redds and abuse these salmon in search of their "sport".
I quit angling for them about 7 years ago and it was after seeing some uncaring gear fishermen cruelly kicking these noble fish back into after snagging them that I quit.
I never pursued them with a lot of interest in the first place. I got very angry when the editor of Salmon and Steelhead Journal magazine Pat Hoglund had a feature article on these fish with maps to the Miami and Kilchis included. He accused me of tying to protect a favored fishery and I informed him the only thing I wanted to protect was the dwindling runs of salmon.
I even chatted with him about it at the Sportsmans Show but he has to sell magazine so I guess anything is fair game.
It would be a pity to see yet another run of salmon disappear off of the northwest landscape so if any of you reading this are thinking about pursuing these chum salmon for sport then please think again and do the right thing okay?
Thanks

Hey Gamefishin' thanks for the hits chumps!

Egg Whores Part II

2011-10-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Just about the time I think the whole salmon roe frenzy in Tillamook county cannot possibly get more ridiculous I read shit like the post below that appeared on Ifish.net

"I was able to get into a few hens on a coastal river to up my egg supply. They ended up being more on the dusky side and are not table fair. Anybody need them for crab bait or fertilizer?"

Is this guy for real? Sadly yes he is and unfortunately typical of the mind set of many salmon anglers. This practice is called "hen hunting" and is a contributing factor to the dwindling populations of wild Chinook salmon in the Tillamook watershed and has long been practiced by salmon fishermen and also professional bait guides throughout the region.
I find it more than disgusting and not only for the practice itself but the fact that others think what this asshole is doing is okay.
Fishing the upper stretches of these coastal rivers for salmon, especially in low water conditions like we have now, you are guaranteed dark fish that should be left to spawn.Like I've said this "hen hunters" are no better than gill netters.
I hope that an effort can be mounted to prevent crap like this from happening,

It Just Doesn't Get Any Better

2011-10-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

My affection for coastal cutthroat trout is well documented on this blog and they are my favorite fish to pursue on a fly rod.I unabashedly declare my love for these mysterious coastal trout. To say the last three weeks of this season have been nothing short of phenomenal would be a lie. Big trout and lots of them! I fish almost entirely alone on my coastal rivers because the low water has keep the fall salmon in tidewater. Not many fly fishers actually pursue them thinking that they are not worth the effort for some reason. Hey keep thinking that and stay over on the other side of the Cascades if you cannot appreciate a fish so unique and enjoyable as the cutthroat trout. Yes they are an aggressive salmonid who will take a fly with gusto. The coastal rivers do not have the abundance of food for trout that rivers like the Deschutes does. Cutthroat trout are predators in a way the is unlike rainbows and anything that looks like food they will strike and strike hard. I have had strikes so savage from cutthroat trout at times that my rod is almost jerked from my hand.
The last couple of years I have been discouraged at the lack of trout on the north coast. Could some of it be over harvest? I think in certain areas like the lower Kilchis that is absolutely the reason for their dwindling numbers. Easy access and bait has spelled the doom of those fish. Any area that has easy access is going to be over fished and the important age class of those trout are killed off. Simple really. Kill the bigger spawning adults in a certain area and viola! No more fish. Areas where the bait slinging public cannot easily access the trout there fare much better. I,fortunately, have access to one of those areas.
With the end of the season looming I will be spending some quality time with oncorhynchus clarki.....you guys that have not experienced the joy of these trout are poorer for it.

What Goes Around Comes Around?

2011-10-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

I am not a religious person. I am cautiously skeptical about all religion and have to admit that Jesus had some pretty cool things to say.
I might believe in Karma but only in it's simplest form. I do or do not have success while fly fishing because of a good deed I did in the past or get skunked because I stole a pack of baseball cards from WT Grants in 1962? I don't know about all of that but I do think there is something to the old saying "What goes around comes around"
I did a couple of good deeds this week and the very next day was rewarded with an epic day of cutthroat trout fishing. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not.
So if any of you wants to buy me a new Bob Clay bamboo Spey rod with a Bogdan reel then consider the rewards you will reap while fly fishing! If you don't then I hope all the eyes on your fly hooks are filled with glue.

The Dangers of Hatchery Salmon and Steelhead

2011-09-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Click on the link below for an eye opening article by John Larison about the damage that hatchery salmonids do from Fly Fisherman Magazine.

Why hatchery salmon and steelhead are so dangerous

*Note
Not all wild steelhead used in broodstock programs are killed after they are live spawned

A Prophet Knows No Honor

2011-09-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

n the past I've been accused of being over zealous and likened to being a bull in a china closet in my rants about the plight of wild fish and their habitat. I would like you all to know my feelings on this. I do not make excuses for the way I come across and I am fully aware that being vocal will come with critics and I welcome them.
I do find it disheartening that the message seems to be more about the messenger rather than the plight of wild fish and their habitat.
You can dislike the way I come across if you like but to use that as an excuse to not do something is without excuse.
You salmon and steelhead superstars who think the north west fishing community hangs on what your latest sure fire egg cure is kills as many fish as any gill netter! You just don't show up when it counts the most.
So I suggest that anyone who is a "fence sitter" or likens me to a bull in a china closet take a long look at what is important here and take a long look at yourself.
I know that people have busy lives and cannot have the degree of involvement someone like me has. That is totally understandable! However in the time that people take to scold me on the internet, and deservably so at times I agree, you could have written a letter to ODFW or your state legislature and asked for answers about the issues at hand.
I always report facts and I challenge anyone else to check them out.I also put my money where my big mouth is and would never challenge anyone to action if I were not willing to be involved myself.
I am zealous no doubt about that because I think this stuff is just that important and I am not the only one who feels this way.
So if you are looking for me to be contrite then I am sorry because I will not be when it comes to wild salmonids and their habitat.
Apathy has been and always will be the biggest enemy we have and I think that cannot be stressed nearly enough. Those that wish to exploit and harm wild fish count on the apathetic sports anglers to do what they do best and that is a big fat nothing!
So I apologize if I have made some uncomfortable with my zeal. However, at this place and time facing what are the cold, hard facts about our diminishing natural resources and specifically our wild salmonids I see an urgency and a time to act and so I guess that I really don't apologize at all if I have tweaked your comfort zone.
We, as fly fishermen, have always been at the forefront of every important issue concerning the very resource we enjoy and claim to love. In my opinion one does what he can to protect the thing he or she loves.
Folks I believe in this stuff and if my rhetoric is unpleasant or over the top then I just don't know what to tell you.I hope to see some of you at upcoming ODFW public meeting and hearings.2012 is an important year! It is the year that the new fishing regulations are formulated. You want to propose something? Then do it! I'll help you out just contact me through this blog.
I appreciate all of you that have supported me and also appreciate all who have given me constructive criticism. I listen but in the big picture I remain and always will remain uncompromising in my beliefs.
Thanks to you all for listening!

Egg Whores

2011-09-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

In Tillamook county you can use salmon roe as currency......almost. Among salmon and steelhead gear anglers the desire to have "good eggs" is so strong that guys will do just about anything to get them.
The thing is that sulfite based egg cures are harmful to salmonid smolt! A study has proven this and that is a fact. The other thing is that anglers will harvest females solely for their eggs and that has added to the declined of the legendary fall Chinook populations that Tillamook streams were noted for. I have seen fist fights over cures salmon eggs! I have seen stripped carcasses along the stream bank where the egg whores have taken out the eggs and left the rest of the salmon behind.
In my own bait fishing experience of years past I felt like if I didn't have some eggs to use I felt naked. They are effective no doubt and the length that anglers will go to to get them is shameful.
Egg whores will hang out in such popular salmon ports as Seiku and Hammond and "whore" eggs from people cleaning their catch.
I've even seen carcasses steelhead and endangered chum salmon stripped of eggs and the rest of the carcass left to rot.
They need eggs to catch fish to get more eggs to catch more fish and on and on!
I have no problem with the use of certain baits in certain areas but this egg addiction is absurd.
There are books published solely about eggs for bait. This whole egg addiction goes hand in hand with the harvest mentality. Anglers feel they are entitled to kill any fish they catch and need eggs to do it.
I try to do all my fishing in a no bait area so I don't encounter thee egg whores but even in no bait areas there is the tell-tale evidence of egg use.

I sincerely hope that one day the use of salmon eggs for bait will be banned, especially those that are cured with toxic sodium sulfite.

Wayfaring Stranger by Rachel Diggs

2011-09-15T14:01:00.001-07:00

Find more artists like Rachel Diggs at Myspace Music

The Quiet Pool Reflection

2011-09-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

In reflecting back on five years of doing this blog I am wondering if I have stayed true to what I wanted to accomplish with the Quiet Pool. I've made a few friends here over the years and a few more enemies too unfortunately. As I've grown older I guess I've become something of a cynic when it comes to human nature and have come to the determination that we humans are a failed and selfish species by in large. I have railed against ODFW, apathetic sports anglers, bait chuckers and even other fly fishermen and I firmly believe in the importance of wild fish and clean rivers. Those that have been the target of such wrath by me deserved it in my opinion and I remain unapologetic. Protecting wild salmon and steelhead along with banning bait cures and reforming hatchery practices are two things I believe in and always will.
I do feel, however, that I've gotten away from some of the beauty I've written about. When I wrote "The Soul of Fly Fishing" it was an examination of my own soul as it relates to this endeavour I've chosen to pursue.
I know there are many who know what it was I was trying to say but I fear most of it was lost on many people who read it.
I'm not about catching a mess of fish. If I was I would have stuck with conventional gear and bait! There are many people out there who catch a lot more fish than me....big deal. Maybe it's silly to romanticize fly fishing the way some of us do but really it comes down to doing what makes you feel good and what you enjoy.Stress should never be a part of fly fishing. Enjoying what you are doing is! That is what it is all about for me and with the joy comes a deep and abiding reverence for the rivers and the wild trout and salmon that inhabit them.
Really that is the only agenda that I have ever had on this blog. The Quiet Pool is about fly fishing, conservation and life and to me that is what I am about in my angling experience. Too many times we tend to trivialize the importance of those things in our angling life that should be taken more serious. To marginalize wild fish is unpardonable if you call yourself a sportsman. We fly fishermen certainly do not have a monopoly on angling ethics but it seems like those groups that do the most good for the resource are mainly fly fishermen? Why is that?
So I am unsure how far I will take this blog but as long as I have something to say then I will say it.

Oh and one more thing.Using pegged trout beads and indicator causes blindness....cheers

The Lovely Reed

2011-08-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

I've decided to bring this post back from a few years ago. Why you ask? Are you just being lazy Shane? Well maybe just a little.I think I pretty much covered the whole bamboo sickness thing in the original post and I doubt there is much I can add except to say that fishing a fine bamboo fly rod is a pleasure beyond description. In these days of more and more anglers fishing for fewer fish it's a pleasure to take a step back in time with a cane rod.

I've never really been asked why I enjoy fly fishing with a bamboo fly rod and it's probably a good thing because I'm afraid I could not answer that in a way that would be logical. Fishing with a bamboo fly rod, especially one of high quality, does not make a lot of sense. After all can't a suitable graphite rod of superior quality be found at half the price? Yes they can and there are many high quality graphite rods available? Or isn't bamboo extremely fragile and could be easily broke? Well it's not as fragile as one would think and would probably withstand as much if not more abuse than graphite.

In a review of George Black's excellent book "Casting a Spell: The Bamboo Fly Rod and the American Pursuit of Perfection" Publishers Weekly writes this review Black wraps his own personal journey through the contemporary world of bamboo fly rod making in a sweeping, meticulous telling of the history of American fly-fishing. With admirable dexterity, he manages to make the story a metaphor for a great deal of how American social and commercial culture has evolved over the past 150 years. The author indelibly etches a story of peerless craftsmen laboring toward perfection, sparring all the while with corporate interest, fickle customers and the inevitable diminishing of their own inspiration.
Why do you suppose that is? Do you think master bamboo fly rod craftsmen such as Glenn Brackett, formerly of Winston Rod Company fame, can fully explain it...not fully I would think. Maybe that is the biggest reason why Brackett left Winston after the company's new ownership decided that craftsmanship and tradition didn't mean that much anymore.
So therefore I cannot explain why other than the exquisite pleasure of casting and fishing a fine piece of genuinely American craftsmanship. Or maybe it's just my way of being a part of that tradition that cannot be duplicated by machines and production lines or to feel a part of the fly fishing tradition of many years past.
Bamboo is not practical in the truest sense of the word but then again neither is fly fishing! Certainly there are more efficient ways to catch trout and at a lot less expense.
So if I had to answer why I love fishing the "Lovely Reed" so much I would simply have to answer in the only way that makes sense, at least to me. I fish bamboo.....just because. I think every bamboo fisherman knows exactly why

In Praise of Lost Fish

2011-08-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

Why would I be praising lost fish? Think about it for a minute. If it were not for those legendary and mythical "Ones that got away" where would our sport be? We can take an obscure lost trout of undetermined size (most likely pretty small) and that trout, through the years of retelling the story, can grow to trophy proportion.
Now of course I would never stoop to such fibbing about my fly fishing conquests but I know a few people who would.
Whenever an angler starts a fish story with "This is no shit!" You know you are in store for a, excuse the pun, whopper.

We have to have these lost fish as a way to BS around the fly tying table or fill in the times when the river are our of shape or we are enjoying a cold adult beverage with a few "truth challenged" buddies. I think that over the years these angling tall tales become fact in our own minds and we end up not really knowing if we, ourselves , are telling the truth. There was never anyone to call us on our tales and until that advent of the digital camera there was never photographic proof.
Again you must understand that I would never do that....would I?
It's a pretty harmless vice actually and in truth can turn a thorough skunking into a semi-successful day of fishing with a few well placed exaggerations.
When my wife asks me how my fishing trip had gone I usually reply "hooked a few". Those few may have been smolt or rocks or quite possibly an over hanging branch but she never queries beyond that so I do not have to explain just what it was in fact I hooked.
We all have had fish that were hooked and lost that stay with us forever. It might have been that trout that spooled me or a hard fighting steelhead but our fleeting and dramatic encounters with these memorable fish just makes all future embellishments more special and it keeps us coming back.
How many of you think about those lost fish? How much larger has that fish grown over the years?
Stretching the truth is part and parcel with angling and maybe that is just another part of what makes fly fishing so charming.

Misconceptions, Myths and Out Right Bullshit

2011-08-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

We've all read these myths through the years on the internet and although they have been debunked these fantasies still crop up from time to time.

Like anything else once a rumour gets started it is hard to make people realize that they are buying into false information. Sounds a lot like politics doesn't it? Well I guess you could say it is in a way.

Anyway here are just a few examples of the popular myths surrounding wild salmonids.

Wild fish conservation groups want to end fishing

This is the most common myth and is not true of course! We want reasonable and competent management of our wild salmonids by state agencies who are entrusted to be wise stewards of this resource. If we ever advocate for closure of any angling then you can bet it is for some very sound reasons.

Catch and release kill as many fish as does the use of bait:

Recent studies have measured the effects of various tackle and fishing techniques on fish mortality and offer insights for optimization of the protective aspects of catch and release fishing programs. The study data suggests that with the application of specific tackle types and selected fishing and handling techniques, the success of catch and release programs can be significantly improved. Recent data links the causes of catch and release angling mortality to all types of gear and techniques that increase the chances of 'deep-hooking' and elevated physiological stress. It is shown here that if a selection of fishery specific, mortality reducing techniques are applied, via angler education and fishing regulations, the conservation benefits of catch and release fishing can be optimized.

It's okay for hatchery fish and wild fish to spawn together:

Ian Fleming and Erik Peterson evaluated the reproductive success of hatchery and wild salmon in nature

and found that the hatchery fish productivity was less than that for wild salmon. The reasons for this
reduced productivity were stated as: “Hatchery adults appear to show reduced expressions of morphological characters important during breeding, such as secondary sexual characters (color, kype). Such reduced expressions of secondary sexual characters can have negative consequences for natural breeding success.”

”For hatchery females in competition with wild females, indicators of inferior competitive ability include delays in the onset of breeding, fewer nests, and greater retention of eggs. Ultimately, the breeding success of hatchery fish is frequently inferior to that of wild females.”

”The breeding behavior of males appears more strongly affected by hatchery rearing than that of females, reflecting the greater intensity of selection on male competitive ability during this period. Hatchery males tend to be less aggressive and less active courting females and ultimately achieve fewer spawnings than wild males. Hatchery males suffer more from inferior breeding performance than hatchery females. This pattern also appears to carry over into the wild, where gene flow between cultured and wild salmonids is sex based…”
“The most common form of release program is aimed at the supplementation of wild populations, i.e. the intentional integration of hatchery and natural production, with the goal of improving the status of an existing natural population. Such integration, however, entails significant ecological and genetic risks to the wild population.”
“…Despite large-scale releases…the supplementation programs must be deemed failures. In none of the studies reporting significant introgression, is there information on whether the release program resulted in improved natural production of the population.”
Simply put...Mixed Spawners Means Lower Natural Productivity:

Hatchery steelhead do not stray in large numbers

This myth has made the rounds among the professional gear/bait guides on the north coast of Oregon. They spread this myth around as justification for hatchery programs.

They do indeed stray and at a percentage of 4-26% making an 11% average according to American Fisheries Society

The "Hood River Study" proves that broodstock hatchery steelhead are no different than wild steelhead

In 1994 the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and tribes began to evaluate the reproductive success of native broodstock and compared them to the wild fish they were derived from. Kathryn Kostow evaluated the data collected on wild, native broodstock, and old hatchery stock to determine whether there is a life history and behavior difference between them. Kostow found “…large phenotypic responses by fish from the same parent gene pool to the differences between the captive and natural environments are consistent with the process of domestication.”
As I've always said "Once a hatchery fish, always a hatchery fish. You raise it in a cement enclosure with thousands of other smolt and hand feed it daily then it becomes what Ms. Kostow calls domesticated.

There are no true wild runs of steelhead anymore

This is a very popular notion among the bait crowd. They use it to fool themselves into thinking that killing wild salmonids is okay because after all the runs are not pure anymore. Certainly there has been a dilution of the genetics of wild salmonids, especially steelhead but there are populations of "pure" steelhead left. Take the Salmonberry river in Oregon. ODFW says that the wild winter steelhead are perhaps the most important wild populations in the state because op their clean genetics. The Oregon coastal winter runs of wild steelhead, while dwindling, still contain pure wild fish.

Holding wild fish out of the water for pictures is okay

A very quick photo might be okay if it is only for a few seconds but holding fish out of the water for any length of time beyond that has been proven harmful. Holding fish up for a photo can also cause internal damage to that fishes' internal organs if not done right. So next time you just have to get you ego stroked think about what possible damage you may be doing and keep the fish in the water. Yes we are all sufficiently impressed with your ability to floss wild and dark coho but how about keeping them in the water asshole.

Posers,Wannabes and Trout Bums

2011-08-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog over 5 years my intention was to write down my thoughts and opinions based on my life of fly fishing. With the exception of a few politically charged offerings I've kept pretty much to what I set out to do.
If you've come here to get instructions or advice then I can tell you that there are many out there who know a hell of a lot more than me. I try to be a good steward of the rivers and the fish that live in the rivers that I love. I do not want notoriety beyond doing what I can for wild salmonids. I know many people who feel the same as I do.
What I have seen the last few years is the emergence of the fishing "superstars" These young guys have a little success and all of the sudden they know it all and are even writing articles in national magazines. They are giving "sage" advice on hooking big numbers of fish worldwide.
Most of these stars are in their 20's or 30's and have had very little time to experience shaving their damn face much less learning all the ins and outs of fly fishing.
I find these instant experts funny in a pathetic sort of way. They rig up their indicators and brag of big numbers and fishing in exotic locales. They have their images plastered all over the internet with their fly rods clenched in their teeth and holding out of water their latest conquest. Their "posse" of wannabes are there to sing their praises and tell them " You're the man dude!"
They even have a series of DVDs out their to exhibit their exploits to those that can only dream of fishing in such far away places. One youngsters is all of 19 years old but he writes a regular column for a nationally known fishing magazine based here in the Pacific Northwest....give me a friggin' break!
You can call me a cynic and maybe I am but these youngsters are hurting our sport and most of the time that actions and attitudes are the only impression the general public gets of fly fishing.. This "in your face look at me" brashness wears pretty thin to most everyone but their peers and camp followers. Another thing they do to hurt the sport is the way they come across to those who might be interested in taking up fly fishing. They care little about the things that have set fly fishermen apart from the rest of the angling mob is conservation. We fly anglers have almost always been at the forefront of wild fish issues but the new crowd could not be bothered.
You won't see them at an important public hearing when the well being of wild trout and salmon is being discussed. They are too busy having pictures holding wild trout or steelhead out of the water. They are too busy treating fly fishing like some sort of angling extreme sport to be play along with snow boarding and skateboarding.
Oh they will exploit the resource and talk about what a darn shame it is that all the wild salmonids are disappearing but to get them to take action? They don't have the time.
So young man I will acknowledge that you are a better fly fisherman than me. You catch more and bigger fish than me and can cast your spey rod further than me but I am not impressed and in fact I am worried that after the old guys like Lefty Kreh are gone the traditions of fly fishing and more importantly conservation are going to be left in your hands
I doubt you are up to the task and so all the things that are wonderful about casting a dry fly to a rising trout will be gone and that scares the hell out of me.
So young dude if you have time to actually do something more than being a trout bum and popping zits in the mirror then maybe you can help us old guys out as we try to save a few wild trout.

Pimping the Resource Revisited

2011-07-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

I've been reading the heroic exploits of various fly guides on the north coast and thought it might be time to comment about it.
I have no problem with people making a buck on the back of our wild salmon,steelhead and trout. Guiding has long been an honorable (well sort of) profession here in the northwest for a long time. I've booked several trips myself in fact.
My bitch is with these clowns that do make money on the resource but give little if anything back! It's not just bait guides either. There are plenty of fly fishing guides that do not do jack shit for wild fish. I could name a hell of a lot of names too but won't.
We know our wild salmon and steelhead populations are in trouble...that is is a given. So you would think these assholes would toss at least a little to the groups that do care.
It's a sad state of affairs when the voices of reason get drowned out by the "Gotta get mine" crowd.
I am re posting an entry from a couple of years ago called "Pimping the Resource"
...enjoy and if I've insulted you then tough shit because that was my intention all along.

This is the week of the Sportsman's Show and Expo which is held in Portland. This is a show that I have gone to for the better part of 25 years and each year I swear it's my last! This year I will not attend.
In past years when I did attend the thing that struck me, besides the almost total exclusion of anything having to do with fly fishing, is the ever growing guides and outfitters booths that dominate the show. I have no problem with someone making a living but to see all these pictures and displays of grinning fishermen holding a wild steelhead or a wild trout aloft and out of the water for an ego picture comes across to me as an obscene exploitation of our wild and endangered fish.
Then, of course, there is the over priced tackle that is hawked by enterprising self proclaimed fishing celebrities. $10 for a $3 plug? That is maybe the most obscene thing at the show!
You can book with a guide or outfitter,spend your hard earned money and go to Alaska or British Columbia or Montana to fish pristine rivers and lakes for trophy fish and get a few chest thumping shots of you holding a big wild fish but to me this garish display of testosterone is unsettling. How much "use" can our vanishing wilderness areas take? How much harassment can these fish withstand?
They set up a big pool of pellet head trout for kids to catch and take home. It's great fun to watch a little kid proudly hanging onto his prize fish that will no doubt reside at the back of the freezer until mom throws it away in time for next years catch. Well here is a novel idea! How about teaching kids that releasing fish and being good stewards of our rivers and lakes is fun too!
Perhaps I am being too naive or maybe some might say that I am just envious because I cannot fork out the bucks to be helicoptered into some remote wilderness area to cast my fly at a trophy brown trout! Maybe but I can say without any ulterior motives that our wilderness areas are shrinking at an alarming rate. Wild fish have never faced more perilous times than these and to my way of thinking maybe we should cut them some slack.
So these "pimps" and exploiters, as I like to call them, can rake in all the dough they can I suppose but when there are little or no fish left what are they going to do?
What would truly be refreshing is exhibits on the plight of wild and endangered fish. Conservation groups like Trout Unlimited get relegated to the back building in the last row! You might see their booth if you are on your way to buy an over priced beer or polish dog.
Admission to this orgy of exploitation is $10! A small, one space booth costs $1000 for God's sake. All this money being spent and barely any notice is given to what is really important.....too bad.

Just About Says It All Doesn't It?

2011-07-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

“We cannot have “wild-only” too many places around the state as they would not be able to support recreational fishing as the existing habitat does not produce enough fish.”

Steve Williams, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fish Division. July 2011

Pretty much sums up the thinking at Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife doesn't it?
It that short statement by the deputy director, fish division of ODFW shows that agencies true color. Not that this is much of a secret mind you.
ODFW has marginalized wild salmonids since way back in the 30's so this statement is not a new revelation at all.
Just look at what is happening even in the past few years! Dwindling wild steelhead, trout and salmon populations in favor of a better hatchery product and all for "angling opportunity.
Believe me as we get ready to fight the battle of regulation change in 2012 we will shove what Mr. Williams has said right up their asses at commission meeting and hearings.
You cannot play ball with these bureaucrats because in the end all they want to do is save their own sorry asses. They cannot compromise because it's their livelihood at stake and screw wild fish!
Can we let wild salmonids be only a memory, a pleasant experience from the past? Not me.
More later!

Sportsmen? Yeah Right!

2011-07-02T15:18:00.001-07:00

I'll admit it! I'm discouraged. No it isn't because I'm not catching a bunch of fish and it's not because my spey casting sucks either. Actually I've never cast better since I first took up the two-handed rod.What I'm discouraged about the state of our coldwater fisheries and the apparent indifference that people have towards it.
Our angling heritage is in trouble and it's because people see wild fish as nuisances that they have to put up with since they cannot kill them. It does not matter what kind of shape a population of wild salmon or trout is in there is always someone wanting to kill them even to the risk of extinction.
Apparently our mega-expensive hatchery programs are not enough to sate the greed of some while other hide behind phony so called conservation groups like the CCA, Tillamook Anglers and Association of Northwest Steelheaders and pound their chests like they are actually doing something. These groups are wolves in sheep's clothing whose ultimate goal is more harvest for their greedy membership.
I've seen this attitude in the public meetings that ODFW has to determine how to manage endangered salmon runs. There are people that would gladly kill the last fish!
How did we arrive at this attitude? It's nothing new and all you have to do is look back of old fishing photos. We over harvested to the point that the once teeming runs of Columbia river salmon are just a memory. They are gone and cannot b brought back to anything close to their former numbers.
I'm not just talking about commercial fishing either. Our sports fishing forefathers killed trout and steelhead in huge numbers. Catch and release was decades from it's inception and we killed these fish like there would be an unending supply. That harvest attitude carries into today's anglers. The thought of actually putting a fish back into the water is repulsive to many so called "sportsmen"
Thank goodness for the conservation efforts of today and I would hate to think of the state our cold water fisheries would be if groups like Trout Unlimited and Native Fish Society did not exist.
Admittedly I came to this conservation thinking later in life. I wasn't an outdoor outlaw who killed salmon for little more than their eggs for bait but I paid little heed to the warning signs. I supported the steelhead broodstock programs that I now loathe and I was maybe the most dangerous type of fisherman...I was indifferent. They say the opposite of love is not hate but indifference and that indifference is dangerous.
I decided to get involved and try to make a difference without the lip service and trying to make myself famous by being involved. No trying to make money off of these fish but giving something back.
The way we treat our natural resources is a sign of a people with no soul. A people with little concern about anything beyond themselves. I am not optimistic about the future because it seems like those with the power to actually implement change do not have the courage to do so....what a damn shame!
Are you reading this and getting angry because you feel I insulted you or you fake conservation organization or maybe your personality cult mega fishing website? Well tough shit!

My Brother's Keeper

2011-06-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

This is an intensely personal post but I need to share it and I think you fine folks are the right ones to share it with. It has nothing to do with fly fishing or saving wild salmon but this blog is also about life. I am not using my brother's real name

My brother Charles was always everything I wanted to be in life. He was charming, handsome,popular with girls and good in sports...I idolized him.
Chuck served his country with distinction in Vietnam and was decorated for heroism under fire for his actions. He came back in 1970 and in my eyes was almost god like. It's typical for a younger brother to feel this way and Chuck was my hero.
Our mother was not a good mother. She seemed to resent us and never missed a chance to tell us what burdens we were. Mom hounded Chuck all through high school and did not let up after his return from Vietnam so he made himself scarce around our home in Southern California and I longed to be around him.
When our father died in 1973 things really didn't change much with mom and when Chuck moved away she concentrated her scorn to me.
From his return from war in 1970 until last year I rarely saw Chuck. Sometimes we would go years with out seeing each other. When mom passed away in 2003 Chuck came up to Oregon for her funeral. It was good to see him and spend time with him. He was still my hero and I figured he always would be. I told him that I was always proud of him and was glad to be his kid brother.
In 2007 Chuck's world crashed down on him. He lost his job that he had held for almost 15 years and then in early 2008 contracted severe pneumonia that lead to surgery when it turn into a lung infection. Chuck called me to come down to South Lake Tahoe and help him with his recovery, I was on the first plane out.
He was helpless and I did what any brother would do and helped gain strength. I cried as I left to come home as he still seemed so helpless. Thing looked up for Chuck later that year as he got a new job doing what he was best at.
It lasted only 9 months though and once again Chuck was unemployed with little or no prospects. I knew that my brother was always fond of alcohol and in fact was pretty sure he was an alcoholic but never knew to what extent his alcoholism gripped him.
He would call me and be very intoxicated but other times would be quite sober as we talked about him moving to Oregon to start life over because the Lake Tahoe winters were so severe.
Finally in 2010 Chuck's options ran out and the decision was made for me to fly down to help him move up here and live in my home. He would rent a moving van and I would drive it back since Chuck had lost his license due to a DUI conviction, I was soon to find out he had three DUI convictions.
The day came and off to Reno I flew to "save" my brother. He assured me everything would be packed up and ready to go when I got there

The day came for me to fly down south and when I arrived he hadn't packed anything.When I got out of the cab at his apartment it was apparent he had been on a drinking binge and was very drunk. I was livid and entertained the idea of getting right back into the cab and coming back home.
He was a drunken wreck and I was doing all I could to keep my temper while I packed Chuck's belongings for the move to Oregon.. The thing was, here was my big brother, my hero and he was pathetic and disgusting drunk. I thought things would change once I got him into a new environment.We had agreed that if he were to move into my house that he could not drink here. My wife made that very clear and I was in complete agreement. If Chuck was going to drink he would have to do it elsewhere, He would go on monumental drinking binges about once a month but towards the end of his stay in our home he sneaked his booze into the house and holed up in his room for days at a time not even coming out of his room to shower.
In the nine months Chuck lived with us he drifted into depression mainly brought on by alcoholic binges of cheap vodka and even cheaper wine. I decided it was time to confront Chuck about this and after he stole from me he was going to have to live elsewhere.
He had to relive all the things he experienced during his tour of Vietnam in order to get veterans benefits for post traumatic stress disorder and that was tough on him and he used it as an excuse to returned to the alcoholism that ruled his life.
Chuck was no longer my ideal he was just a sorry drunk that would not and could not control his drinking.
Unfortunately I had to do the one thing I would have never believed I would have to do with my brother and that was to kick him out of my home. I had had enough with his broken promise about not drinking in our home and the disrespect he showed me. It troubles me deeply that it all came to this but I had to think of my wife and daughter and my own health.
I do not know what is next for my brother but I could not stand by and allow him to drink himself to death in my home.
I learned a very hard lesson in all of this and that was I should never put any one too high on a pedestal because when they fall, they all will, the one who gets hurt is you.
I still love my brother, he is blood and blood means something. I want him to go to rehab but he refuses to do so and I am at a the end of helping him unless he does. I offered to attend AA meeting with him and support him in any way I could but he resists. Did I do the right thing? I am struggling with feelings of doubt and betrayal and of course second guessing myself but I did not know what else to do.
I feel like I have lost him forever and will never get him back.

Basic Beliefs - Fundamental Conservation of Our Cold Water Fisheries

2011-06-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know if over the five years of this blogs existence I've actually stated my core beliefs on the conservation of wild salmonids. If I have then you can skip this. If I have not then here is what I believe. I am not a scientist or fish biologist but these fundamentals are sound and common sense.
I came by these fundamentals through research on my part and being taught by people who know a hell of a lot more than me. To me conservation is not a passing fad or a word thrown out there at a whim as is the case with groups like the CCA and Northwest Steelheaders. Conservation is action and these groups fall short on the most basic issues of wild salmonid conservation.They say they are all about wild fish but in reality they are all about more fish to kill and will support wrong headed hatchery programs.
I believe the key to wild salmonid recovery has to start with competent management of the resource. If the stewards of our wild fish are not totally committed to their preservation and enhancement then the whole thing fails.
I believe that if a population of wild trout or salmon is endangered or not fully recovered then there should absolutely be no harvest or use of bait allowed. If a particular population is at a critical stage and in danger of extinction then no angling what so ever should be allowed....none! No catch and release at all.
Habitat restoration is another key ingredient to the over all well being of wild salmonids and major efforts should be made to preserve critical spawning and rearing habitat. Removal of woody structure from these spawning areas should not be allowed and in fact placement of new structure should be enhanced.
In no way should hatchery salmon and trout be allowed to co-mingle with wild populations. The effect of careless hatchery programs such as Oregon's steelhead broodstock program have adversely effect wild fish.
Wild fish and hatchery fish can co-exist in the same watershed if the hatchery plants are keep out of wild salmonids spawning and rearing areas and these hatchery plants are planted at a time of year when they would interfere with wild salmonids.
This is no conjecture or theory on my part but proven fact.

Wild salmon, steelhead and trout should be allowed to have recovered for a period of years before any harvest regulation is even considered.
Angler education should be mandatory for anyone buying a resident fishing license. Too many times the fish and wildlife agencies of any given state fail to properly teach anglers about wild fish. I think even minimal effort and commitment from the state can go a long ways in helping our wild fish resource.
There are so many obstacles in the way of wild salmonid recovery that we cannot begin to scratch the surface of what to do but to do nothing will be fatal.
I think that most people will do the right thing if they are properly informed and armed with the tools to do their part in wild fish recovery.
The ignorant, slob fisherman is the exception rather than the rule. These are the people who are not satisfied unless their freezers are full of dead salmon and salmon eggs.
So there you have it! The wild salmonid gospel according to Shane. I think these steps are doable and with a minimal cost but a maximum commitment from our state fish and wildlife agencies is necessary to bring this about. I do strongly believe, however, recovery begins with each of us that call ourselves anglers.

Using Hatchery Salmonids to Restore Wild Populations Might Not Work? Duh!

2011-06-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Are You Guys on the Metolius and Crooked Rivers Listening?

Council’s Science Review Panel Questions Hatchery Supplementation Effectiveness In Lower Snake

HOME WATERS AND WILD FISH: HATCHERY STEELHEAD IMPACT WILD STEELHEAD

2011-06-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

HOME WATERS AND WILD FISH: HATCHERY STEELHEAD IMPACT WILD STEELHEAD: "In a recent conversation with an executive of the ODFW fish division about releasing hatchery steelhead in the Sandy River, Oregon, the ass..."

The Quiet Pool Turns Five

2011-06-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would stick with this for 5 years but I have! Thanks to all who read and offer encouragement and also to those polite detractors. To those that I've pissed off over the last 5 years I can only say put on your big boy undies and get over it!
I've learned a lot about about myself in these 5 years and some has been good and others have been uncomfortable but through it all I never compromised my convictions or straddled the fence. The recurring theme of The Quiet Pool has been and always will be the conservation of wild salmon, steelhead and trout. There is no pursuit ,as an angler, more important. I may have burned some bridges along the way but too damn bad. Half-assed conservationism is worthles...Yes ,by God, it is that important and that is why I write what I write.
I've been inspired by many friend to keep this small corner of the flyfishing/conservation internet going. Thanks got to Erik Helm, Bill Bakke, Joel, La Follette and the others who have offered kind words along the way. Special thanks my Spey brother the Wookie (he knows who he is) and My Spey Guru Mike McCune who showed how to cast a Spey rod.
I'm not sure how much longer I will torture you all with bad punctuation and anti-ODFW rants but as long as it remains interesting I will continue.
To those of you who thought this was going to be a "How To" blog I apologize, I'm still a pupil of all things fly fishing and wild fish conservation myself.
Through it all if this blog has saved even one wild salmon,steelhead and trout then the whole thing will be worth.
So my dear readers and even those of you that wish I would hook myself in the mouth a 6/0 heavy wire hook I humbly thank you

Are We Getting Our Moneys Worth?

2011-06-09T00:35:00.000-07:00

Recently I was looking through some old Oregon fishing regulation booklets and was shocked at what I read. In 1953 a resident angling license was $4 for the year and there was no harvest required at that time. Fast forward 23 years later to 1976 and the price had doubled to a whopping $9 a year plus $2 for a harvest card. Now we fast forward again to 2011 and we are now paying $33 for a resident license plus $16.50 for a harvest card so with the agent fee us residents are paying $50. From 1976 to 2011 the price for an Oregon resident rose about $40 or almost 5 times what we were paying 30 years ago.Whew! Enough math already before my head explodes.
Picture this scenario before...
You want to purchase a new car. You've read all kinds of praises for this new model and so you go into the dealership to make your purchase.
When you've paid the price you excitedly go outside to take delivery of your new "ride" only to discover you've purchased a used Yugo and you paid a premium price for it. Think you might be a little angry? I would think so.
So basically Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife sold me a Yugo for the price of a Lexus!
Let me be blunt here. Fishing in Oregon just plain sucks! There are no "Blue Ribbon" fisheries anymore, the salmon runs are in shambles,the wild winter steelhead populations are dwindling and I could go on. You might think I am being a pessimist or a "glass half empty" person but for cryin' out loud the damn glass is broken. The uber-expensive hatchery programs seem like they are being run by a group of first graders and the only thing they are accomplishing is harming wild salmonids. I mean come on guys! You can put a gold ring in a pigs snout but that pig is still going to root around in it's own feces right? Well the "feces" ODFW wants us to wallow in is their claim that Oregon is a sportsman's paradise.
Why has this out of control state agency, who have been charged with the wise stewardship of our fish and wildlife, failed so miserably? Could it be that these bureaucrats are too concerned about saving their own jobs at the expense of everything else?
ODFW director Roy Elicker has made increased angler opportunity his mantra. The fish biologists have been ordered to find new "angling opportunities" to exploit and exploit them they have. The harvest of wild coastal cutthroat trout, the steelhead broodstock program and the greedy eye cast towards wild North Umpqua winter steelhead are a few of the most obvious failures but all at a higher price mind you.
Why would anyone buy into this bullshit? Well they aren't! License and tag sales are in the toilet and with the biennium budget process coming up ODFW will no doubt be embarrassed, or at least they should be, at the product they are serving up to the angling public.
Yes I held my nose and bought my license and so I shouldn't complain. However, is it really too much for me and other license buyers in this state to ask for more than a used Yugo? I think so.
So does the quality of our fishing in Oregon merit such a steep price? I don't think so.
This state has little if any blue ribbon" fishing left. One can argue that maybe the McKenzie would qualify or perhaps the Deschutes and Metolius but I do not see it.
Today the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has degraded the quality of angling, especially for cold water species, to the point that Oregon is no longer the fishing mecca that it once was. Over management, over use of hatcheries and over harvest along with habitat degradation, non-selective commercial harvest has turned Oregon into just another state where there used to be good fishing.
We all know about my personal war against steelhead and salmon broodstock programs but it goes beyond that. Today ODFW does not manage for conservation, they manage for angling opportunities and wild fish be damned!

Speydicator?

2011-06-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

This post was just begging to be brought back in lieu of a posting on that bastion of fly fishing tradition called "Westfly"
Using an indicator is a legal means of fishing...okay? However it should in no way be considered fly fishing and it's use in fly only water should not be allowed.
The use of an indicator on a spey rod seems to be about as ridiculous enterprise as I can imagine.
It's like using an expensive Porsche to take trash to the dump. So rave on at me if you will but why do these guys who use indicators on spey rods always have to mention that they "swing" flies for steelhead most of the time? If you feel so great about what you are doing then why mention that you "swing" most of the time?

There has been an interesting internet discussion concerning the use of spey rods with an indicator for nymphing. I have certainly let my feelings on this travesty be known on this blog.
Am I being an elitist to think that there are certain traditions in our serene sport that should not be messed with? Does the ends, catching a lot of steelhead, justify the means?, the bastardization of the tradition?
Never!

Here are some notable quotes from the anti-speydicator crowd

Nymphing and spey rods would be like a vegetarian and eating some kind of veggy jerky or veggy sausage. It defeats the point!
Swing with a spey rod, and if you want to be a nympher, then bag the two handed rod! Nymph with a 10' or a switch even, but please keep the true two handers for swinging.
It is simply anti-flyfishing and super anti-pure too!

It is hard to believe that someone would spend 750 bucks on a 6126 or even a 7110 z-axis and put on an indicator.
Why wouldn't they just go out and buy a decent bobber rod set up for 4 to 8lb. test and call it for what it is, bobber fishing and nothing more. The use of the indicator or bobber is very effective and the rods used for this style of fishing have a lot to do with the effectiveness. If you feel that this is the only way to achieve that fish then stick with a spinning rod and reel combo. The Canadians use rods in the 10 to 13 ft. in length.

The real kicker in all of this is the fact that they are having a hard time casting an indicator. I could only imagine how well they can cast and wade a true swinging the fly situation. The use of the indicator has made it easy for anyone to say they can cast a 2 handed rod and that's about it. Handing a 2 handed rod to the new angler and getting him to cast it are 2 different things. If your with a guide then it is up to the guide to help in the understanding. If you are using a 2 handed rods in a drift boat and floating downstream with an indicator well you are not spey fishing all you are doing is drift fishing or side-drifting with a 2 handed rod. When you can wade and are able to cast and swing the fly effectively only then will you understand the reason for the lack of respect that is received.

Most of the people I see "trying" to nymph with the two-hander are simply trying to find a crutch for their bad single handed casting. Even on bigger river, you can cover plenty of ground with heavy flies with a good single hand cast!! Don't wear yourself out trying to use the "Spey", just practice with the short rod. Besides you look ridiculous casting that big stick with a bubble on your line!

It may be fishing with the fly but so was fishing with the water bobber on a spinning real set-up as a little kid. Some have graduated others are still learning.

You certainly can use a wrench to hammer nails, but is that really what it is used for?? Two handed nymphing is not practical and those that say it is have a long way to go!

Part of the Problem

2011-05-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

We all know what is at stake as far as our wild cold water fisheries go. The future of their existence is in the balance. I must ask why there is not the same urgency among the rank and file anglers and why are these anglers so resistant to tackling the tough issues of wild salmonids.
There is bound to be a certain percentage that really do not care what the origin is of their catch...they just want fish to kill and take home. The sports fishermen that are unsure and on the fence is where we need to concentrate our efforts with education and our own example. I think that some in conservation groups have alienated those curious and undecided anglers with our over pretentious attitudes. I have done this myself and while I feel my anger over the ignorant is justified I am wondering if I am just filling the ranks of the anti-science, anti-wild fish numbers.
I am not alone!
Even amongst ourselves there seem to be an unspoken pecking order that comes off as aloof and arrogant. I've seen it and experienced it.
I won't mention names but if this arrogant and elitist behavior exists even among ourselves how do those who are not actively involved in wild salmon, trout and steelhead issues view us?
Most of us are fly fishermen. We are viewed as thinking our "shit don't stink" We get accused of wanting to make rivers our own little fly fishing and catch and release Shangri-La. These people just cannot get past that and our message of why wild salmonids are so important is lost because they perceive us as acting superior. How much worse is it when we even act like that among ourselves?
It cannot be said enough about the daunting issues we face as we try to preserve what remnant of wild and endangered salmonid populations there are left but maybe our rhetoric goes unheard because we tend to come off as a bunch of wild fish hugging assholes.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

As we remember our fallen heroes that have kept this nation free let's not forget those casualties of war that are still alive. I'm thinking about those in my own family that left the battlefield with out a scratch on them but the scars inside runs deep and are no less grievous

Fishing Goons and Garbage

2011-05-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

A blast from the past from 2009 as we get ready for summer. For crying out loud pick up after yourselves! In the last couple of years I've seen way too much fishing access closed because of slobs! The good folks at "Common Waters" never seem to want to address litter while whining about river b=access...why is that? Anyway here is a novel concept for all "sports" fishermen out there. Clean up after yourself and quit screwing the rest of us over because you are a damn slob!

I visited Three Rivers the other day on my quest for the elusive cutthroat trout and after my day of futility was done I took the short drive up this small Nestucca river tributary.
Thanks to the ever informative ifish.net, where one fishing report post can crowd a section of river the very next day, there were several people pursuing spring chinook along this "ditch" fishery (I'll do another post on ditch fisheries in the future) Oh and yes at least one of these vehicles had an ifish stickers on it.
There is an antiquated salmon and steelhead hatchery on Three Rivers and a deadline maybe a hundred yards below the hatchery intake.
The deadline marker was clear and very visible to all along the banks of this small stream. That didn't seem to matter, however, because one jerk was fishing right at the intake of the hatchery
Two other assholes were above the deadline with their friend doing recon on any salmon that might have been in the area from a small, one lane bridge that crosses the stream.
Further down stream, where the salmon obviously stack up in a deep hole, there were several other "sportsmen" angling for these salmon while doing the cast and jerk method of trying to foul hook these fish. Of course there was the tell-tell discarded styrofoam bait containers, beer cans and discarded monofilament as evidence of these morons presence.
I have gotten so turned off by the slobs that descend upon our rivers here in the Pacific Northwest during the time of year when the salmon are present that I have not fished for salmon of any kind in the last six years. I have no desire to mingle with these crude jerks so I've gotten rid of any salmon gear I owned years ago.
I did call the Oregon State Police about the bold law breakers near the hatchery and next week I will bring a camera and write down license plate numbers.
This crap happens way too much and it's not confined to just salmon. I see it on lakes where the state plants hatchery trout and on rivers when steelhead are present.
I filled up a garbage bag with discarded cans, wrappers and even a disposable diaper or two last week.
I also removed a large piece of a broken porcelain toilet out of the Trask river. I'm not trying to pat myself on the back but I do have a question for the locals of Tillamook county. Why aren't some of you policing your local rivers?
Why do I, a Willamette Valley resident,have to come down there and do it? Last week was not the first time I've encountered garbage in Tillamook county and in fact three years ago I found a bunch of discarded tuna carcasses at a boat ramp on the Wilson river.
Yeah you Salty Dogs should be real proud of yourselves! No dog left behind huh? Well you guys sure leave a lot of garbage behind after a day on the "big blue".
You know what gets me is this mega fishing ifish website with the boast of tens of thousands of members and hundreds of thousand daily hits has never once organized a litter pick up along the coastal rivers one of which, the Kilchis river, the owner lives on. There have been individual efforts by some members to pick up trash but the ownership has never once sponsored a clean-up effort on any river in Oregon and Washington...why is that?
So you fishing goons take notice! I will be taking a lot of pictures this summer of your activities and writing down license plate numbers....count on it!

Wild Steelhead Pictorial

2011-05-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of beautiful wild steelhead that I've collected through the years.
The steelhead trout is, at least to me, the fish that dreams are made out of. It must be much the same feeling that Atlantic salmon afly fishermen feel about the legendary salmo salar
The importance of protecting these ocean going rainbow trout is paramount to the future of our angling heritage here in the Pacific northwest.Please do all you can to help these and other wild salmonids.
Anyway here is some eye candy for you steelhead junkies.

Photo Courtesy of Jad Donaldson

This fish was taken by me on the Wilson River in 2005

Joel La Follette and his legendary British Columbia steelhead

Photo courtesy of Bob Meiser of Meiser rods

Mike Hoffman's very first steelhead

Winter Steelead caught by John Newbury

Vintage Lee Wulff

2011-05-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

Four Dead in Ohio

2011-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

On May 4, 1970 the full depth of our nations depravity in Vietnam exploded on the campus of Kent State University.
41 years later we remember a dark time in the history of this country. A time when the ambitions and immorality of petty tyrants cost four students their lives.
Let us never forget these names.......
Allison Krause
Jeffrey Glen Miller
Sandra Lee Scheuer
William Knox Schroeder

We should also never forget the 58,000 Americans who gave their livesin Vietnam for those same evil ambitions.

The Bamboo Rides in the Cab and other Musings

2011-04-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

So it was off to the Deschutes for my first visit of the year on Wednesday last. So what if the river was running at 6500 cfs. So what if I had to go through The Dalles to get to Maupin since there was still snow on the Government Camp summit and so what if gas is nearly $4 a gallon....I was going.The Columbia Gorge continues to be awe inspiring along I-84 and I have often looked at the palisades along the river and think of how it has remained virtually unchanged. I imagine Lewis and Clark's Corp of Discovery must have marvelled at the Columbia Gorge as they passed on their way to the Pacific ocean over 200 years ago.
The hillsides along the highway from The Dalles to Maupin were green and lush from the almost constant rain and even though I much prefer the usual route I take to get to the Deschutes this route had it's own charm. When I arrived at the Deschutes there was just a hint of the summer to come in the air. The smell of sage and the occasional blue winged olive greeted me as I inspected the olive green water of the river. I was somewhat disappointed in the height and color of the river but I was still very pleased to be there.
I fished in all of my usual spots with only a few takes for my efforts but it didn't really care that much. I had just finished a very wet and truncated winter steelhead season so the change of pace was much looked forward to.
I think that maybe an angler has gained some degree of maturity when he can visit a river and not be discouraged but the lack of angling success. I guess that in my 38 years of fishing for trout,salmon and steelhead here in the northwest I would hope to have matured enough in my outlook of this passion called fly fishing to appreciate the river and it's surroundings.
I took along my most prized fly rod on this trip. It's a bamboo rod that I actually participated in the construction and I never let it ride in the bed of my truck, it always rides in the cab. It gets lovingly wiped down with a micro-fleece towel and if the weather if damp, hung on a special rack to dry for a few days.
Like clockwork the afternoon wind came blowing up the canyon but this is the Deschutes after all and the wind is just a part of this river and it's canyon.
To me the Deschutes is like a dangerous mistress that you are so attracted to that you just keep coming back. It's an addiction to this river that there is no cure for and to be away from it for a few months of winter is much like a tortuous withdrawal.
I will always come back to the Deschutes as long as I am physically able to because I love it and like that mistress that I mentioned earlier I just cannot stay away.
If gas goes up to $5 a gallon I will still come back because the bond is just that strong and my bamboo rod will ride along beside me in the front seat where it should be.

Harvest Mentality Revisited

2011-04-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

This was originally posted a few years ago and while it may seem like I am just being lazy or cannot think of anything to complain about I just felt this needs to be said again.
I have never claimed to have the answers and I know many of you reading this are a lot smarter than me but I do know this much.
We have got to get serious about conservation and if it means sacrificing to do it then it's pretty simple....do it! You might have to give up a days fishing once in awhile to be involved but you can never do anything so important as far as conservation goes than getting involved even in a small way. Know this though friends and if ever there was anything of use that I have written here then hopefully this is one of those rare items.
Posting on an internet forum has never, ever saved one wild salmon,steelhead or trout...not once. I've would be hypocritical to rant on here if I didn't put some efforts with my time and meager financial resources.
I have zero desire to make any money on this blog and besides who would pay me?
There are some public proposals that will be discussed in the coming months that put wild salmon, steelhead and trout in jeopardy. Please take a look at these proposals when they are posted on ODFW's website.
Please go to meeting and be a voice for wild fish. Please write and make the ODFW commissioners aware of how you feel. Call you legislator and make his life miserable with your complaints if you feel strongly about something.
I would never ask anything of anyone without being willing to do the same myself because that would be the height of hypocrisy but I feel it's just that important....thanks for reading

When I first started "The Quiet Pool" almost 5 years ago what I had in mind was sharing my thoughts on fly fishing, politics and conservation. I've linked some interesting articles along the way and hopefully those who have come here have enjoyed what I've shared here. I've ditched the politics for the most part but the fervor for wild salmonids remains.

I feel compelled to focus on the plight of wild fish and their habitat as I see a general malaise towards them. The prevailing sentiment throughout the north west fishing scene seems to be "I gotta get mine" and that is truly sad.Many people think that we have this bottom less population of fish to harvest and that they will always be there. They think that it's their right and the states obligation to provide fish, specifically salmonid species, for them to kill. In some coastal regions the harvest mentality is such that endangered wild fish are of little importance because they cannot be killed. Take the plight of the coastal cutthroat trout for instance. These last remaining coastal wild trout are endangered but those of the harvest mentality want to kill two a day with the minimum of eight inches.You have to wonder what people are thinking don't you? Listen folks by all means kill as many hatchery fish as possible! These are the fish you want to harvest because you are indeed doing wild fish a favor by killing them. Releasing hatchery fish back into the river is irresponsible and just plain dumb but some get the warm fuzzies by doing this....go figure!
I wish I could write lofty and poetic prose on the wonders of fly fishing but as I've written before I feel our remaining wild populations of steelhead, salmon and trout are faced with a very real danger. You've heard the old saying "I've seen the enemy and he is us" haven't you? With the general indifference that is more and more becoming the norm I feel it's my obligation to speak out in whatever way I can.

Are People Really This Selfish Or Are They Just Stupid?

2011-04-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

The news that Native Fish Society has sent notice of it's intent to sue Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA and others because of the situation concerning the Sandy river has brought out all kinds of opinions on the internet.
I shake my head in disbelief at the utter stupidity of some and the selfishness of others. The old cliche of fly fishing elitists has surface yet again and while some of us fly fishers can indeed come off that way in other circumstances but this situation is different.
This is not a fly fishing versus gear fishing fight it's all about saving a population of wild winter steelhead and forcing a state agency to live by the law.
For your amusement I have selected a few of the more jaw dropping statements by "sports" fishermen

*I have not corrected any spelling in these quotes

- NFS solicits fisherman to promote preservation by spreading fear and absolute distortion of the facts. This lawsuit is all about differences in ethics, not science....
- I love to catch fish, if we put the screws to the hatchery program and they have to stop what does that leave... oh thats right an ESA species and can I catch those... umm no
- I dont know about the group but if they are fly guys maybe they are mad do to not catching any fish while I am slaying them on spinners all day long
- NFS preys upon ethical values such as catch & release and spreads its disallusions that wild fish can simply be restored by shutting down hatcheries....
- The track record of groups like the NFS speaks for itself - you can claim it's not a fly vs gear/bait move - but it's smoke & mirrors, as their next most likely step is to push for fly only regs to go along with C&R only.
- Native Fish Society is enemy #1 for sport fisherman!
- I suggest for all of you that are not familiar with the composition of NFS membership, google the blogs; "The Quiet Pool" (Thanks for the public plug Ty) OR "Whitefishcantjump" These guys only wish is to have these rivers to themselves so the can swing flies by themselves.

That is just a few of the better ones and while it is funny it is also disturbing that supposed sportsmen think this way. Are they stupid? When it comes to facts and an understanding of what is going on then I would have to say yes they are absolutely stupid when it comes to wild vs hatchery matters.
Are they selfish? Without a doubt! They are are only concerned about how many fish they can catch and kill.
This is the exact reason why I have never gotten involved in any issues others than wild salmonids conservation. I could not care less if these so called sports fishermen get more salmon and why I think they are little better than the gill netters they claim to despise.
I am not saying that all gear fishermen are this ignorant or selfish...far from it because I know many that care about our wild salmon, trout and steelhead populations as much or more than many fly fishermen.
This is all a symptom of a much bigger illness. Our rivers and our wild fish have been mismanaged to near extinction by ODFW and other state and federal agencies.
I know many of these arm chair biologists but I never see any of them at any meeting where allocation is not the topic. They hide behind their computer keyboards and mouth off while never getting involved.

Native Fish Society Serves Notice

2011-04-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

Native Fish Society along with Pacific Rivers Council served 60 day notice of their intent to sue ODFW and others for violation of the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
The litigation intent and other pertinent information can be found by clicking on this link. Sandy River Litigation

Frankenfish is Coming To A Supermarket Near You?

2011-04-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Remember that old TV series "The 6 Million Dollar Man"? Oscar Goldman says "We have the capability to make the worlds first Bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster."
Well apparently someone thinks they can build a better and BIGGER salmon and the consequences of these fish could be disastrous
Check out this article from the New York Times Frankenfish Phobia

Okay Guys It's Time Once Again

2011-04-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

This will be a yearly thing where I bring this post to the top. I feel it's just that important for the well being of wild steelhead. Those of you that already curtails your upriver fishing, I applaud you!
Those of you who insist on harassing fish on their redds then maybe you should pay attention. There are still fresh steelhead in the lower portions of the river so why not stay down there and leave the upriver areas alone....ya think?

This subject is something I strongly believe in and adhere to so since this is my blog you dear readers will just have to indulge me.
As most of you know I spend a lot of time on the Wilson river near Tillamook, Oregon. I fish for steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout on that river and know it intimately. I know the fish and where they frequent, although you would never guess that by my angling success or lack thereof on the Wilson. This time (first of April actually) of year I will stay out of the upper river because I know there are many wild steelhead using the upper main stem Wilson to spawn.Because of this I will not fish this area of the river and wish that the ODFW would close it above Jones Creek to all angling from March 31st until the last Saturday in May. They used to do this and but for whatever reason a few years ago they saw fit to open the entire river year around.
How did I arrive at this decision? In 2001 I was fishing in the upper river on or around the first week of April and hooked a very large wild female steelhead. I played her out and landed her carefully to avoid any harm coming to her when I saw that she was dropping her eggs. I had probably taken her right off a spawning bed and I felt disgusted with myself for even being in that section of the river.
I vowed from that day on to never fish the upper river after March 31st until at least the end of May. I've tried to convince others to do likewise and have managed to convince some but others steadfastly refuse.
The ODFW (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) closes the nearby Miami river completely for that two month period and the upper Nestucca river is closed in order to limit access to spawning areas but why not the Wilson or the Trask?
I have seen too many pictures of grinning fishermen holding a wild buck steelhead out of the water for their glory shot while that male fish is dumping it's milt all over the fisherman's waders.
Some might say that why stop at the upper river why not close the whole river during that time? Wouldn't bother me in the least but the Wilson is a big revenue river for both the ODFW and Tillamook county so with heavy lobbying from a few "good old boys" Tillamook area fishing groups it stays open.
I urge everyone who reads my blog to consider what they can do to further the cause of wild fish in this state and any state. If we don't do it then who will!
Okay it's off the soap box for now but I hope to see you at some ODFW hearing where wild fish issues are at stake....it's important.

The picture below gives you an idea of what to look for.

PLEASE LEAVE SPAWNING or GUARDING FISH ALONE

Salmon People

2011-03-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

I read an article on the famous Boldt decision of 1970 which gave seven western native American tribes the right to harvest 50% of the Columbia river salmon.
After years of being basically kicked to the curb by the white man this ruling, which was subsequently upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court, the tribes were getting some portion of what was theirs for centuries before the white man came west.
Some may argue that this is not right and that what was done by our trespassing forefathers of a hundred years ago is not our fault. I would simply say how can a huge injustice ever be adequately repaid. The native Americans of centuries ago relied on the returning salmon for every aspect of life. The salmon were their ancient heritage and in every way as important to them as the bison was to the plains tribes.
Their whole social structure revolved around the salmon along with their spiritual beliefs. To say that they were not entitled to what Federal Judge George Boldt ruled is either selfish, greedy or just ignorant. In my opinion the injustices that were inflicted upon the native American tribes throughout North America can never really be fully repaid or understood by the white man as to the magnitude of the wrong done.
Of course the Boldt decision is not without it's flaws. A very large one is the allocation process, as far as who gets what, has to rely on fishery biologists estimating what the future runs will be. This process has proved to be a failure in these recent lean years as the estimations of run sizes has fallen flat on it's face once again in 2011. However it is what it is and until something better comes along it's the best way.... I guess.
That being said we sports anglers are not owed fish to catch. The non-tribal commercial netters, whose greed in the past is one of the main reason we are where we are in the first place, are not just automatically entitled the salmon.
With hydro-electric dams, spawning habitat degradation and poor hatchery processes we all own some of the blame. Whether it be our generation or the generations of our fathers we basically ripped off the tribes and got greedy. The notion that the fish will always return in the huge numbers they once did is just plain stupid and to fight like dogs for the scraps of what is left is a very disturbing commentary on where we are as a civilized people.
Yes the tribes deserve what they got with the Boldt decision and a whole lot more as far as I am concerned.
I like going to Sherars Falls on the Deschutes to watch the people of the Warm Springs tribe net returning salmon and steelhead. With impossibly long handled nets these graceful fishermen try to intercept the salmon that are held up in the violent water beneath the falls.
They put up with the white tourists that stop along the road and snap their pictures and who cannot begin to understand the symbolism of what is taking place.
I deeply admire these people in that they have stubbornly held onto the ancient traditions of their ancestors despite losing nearly everything due to the encroachment of our ancestors.
I understand their mistrust of the society who took their land and their salmon. They did not invite us here and that makes us invaders.
Along with the theft of their land we also introduced disease and alcohol to them.
So if you ever get the chance to observe this fishing ritual at Sherars Falls take a moment to realize all these proud and noble people lost and how, even in this day and age, tenaciously they cling to what is left of their ancient heritage.

Put Your Faith in ODFW

2011-03-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well I'm kidding of course because once again the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has dropped the ball on estimating returns on Columbia River Spring Chinook.
Even Bill Monroe of the Oregonian and ODFW's de-facto cheerleaders has touted the big returns years after year.
Well guess what folks. Someone forgot to tell the fish! Once again ODFW has fumbled and once again gullible spring salmon have been gypped as the Columbia is set to close on April 4th.
ODFW bases it's run predictions on previous year jack returns so I am wondering if what they are counting?
Shad maybe?
Once again commercial fishing has duped ODFW because they are smarter and more united but even this year they are cut short.
Do I feel sorry for the cheated sports guys? Not a bit! Too many times these anglers in organizations like CCA and Northwest Steelheaders have put their own selfishness above what for is best the fish. They deserve the "screwing" that ODFW hands to them every year.
What really irks me is they try to make the native American tribes that harvest salmonids above Bonneville dam the scapegoats. Sorry fellas but that just doesn't fly with me. The tribes deserve every fish they get and more. Look at the long and sad history of the treaties that have been broken over the decades and you will see why I feel this way.
It's not only the Columbia river where ODFW has dropped the ball either. ODFW predicted that the Tillamook bay rivers were going to have a return of 114% of normal this last fall and so accordingly did not do anything to change bag limits etc. Well you can probably guess what happened there. As one who spends a lot of time on the north coast I can verify that the 114% did not show.
Wonder what kind of excuse we will hear when the whole emergency closure meetings this fall are held.

Ted Rhea and Dean Marsh.....Farewell My Friends

2011-03-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Do the Math - Why Steelhead Broodstock Programs Hurt Wild Fish

2011-03-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

I've thought a lot about the steelhead broodstock programs over the years since it's inception and it, along with the harvest of wild cutthroat trout, are the main focus of my wrath against the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Being that I am not a fishery biologist I rely on the wisdom of others that are educated in fish biology, specifically anadromous salmonids like steelhead and I've asked both Bill Bakke and Spencer Miles to help me with this post.
Let's go with some simple mathematics. I'll use females as my examples since one wild male steelhead can "service" several females.
A typical wild steelhead female will produce about 3-5 thousand eggs so for this example I'll go with the bottom end number of 3,000. Out of these eggs let's conservatively estimate that out of these eggs 2 adults will mature to return as adults 2-3 years later. ODFW takes about 30-35 pair, each year, of wild steelhead. So if out of those 30-35 pairs of wild steelhead, that are used to make hatchery steelhead, were to produce, let's say 60 returning adults and then multiply that by the number of years these broodstock programs have been running and then multiply, if you can the lost progeny all the generations of wild eggs that were turned into hatchery steelhead I think you may be surprise at the cost to wild steelhead populations. The offspring of these wild steelhead are taken out of the equation and will not spawn naturally. Instead they are made into a hatchery product. The potential of each and every one of those wild into hatchery eggs is lost. How many wild steelhead would those "borrowed" eggs produced.
On the Nestucca and Wilson rivers this broodstock program has been going one for about 10 years. Do the math! I used conservative numbers and percentages to make my point but even at that the numbers really add up.
These two rivers have declining populations of wild winter steelhead. Redd counts from the last two years were alarmingly low yet ODFW still does their take of wild steelhead to populate their hatchery needs.
Who benefits most from this program?
Very simple! Professional bait guides do. They lobbied hard for this program and they all march lock step in advocating it. They claim the wild populations are healthy enough to sustain the removal of the wild spawning fish every year. I have my doubts about the numbers they come up with on their creel and spawning surveys.
Do I think they are deliberately inflating their creel counts of wild steelhead they've encountered? Well let me put it this way. They are the user group who benefits most by having this steelhead broodstock fishery.
They have guided trips with paying customers at a time of year that in the past they did not. Their customers are able to harvest the hatchery broodstock steelhead at a time of year when there should be only wild steelhead present and less angling pressure
There are other pitfalls of these programs besides just the numbers. I think all other arguments about the negative effect of steelhead broodstock programs aside the sheer numbers of wild fish removed, over a period of years, should be the most alarming.
One bait guide says these wild eggs are just being borrowed! Borrowed? How so? The potential or recruits of all those offsprings are multiplied and lost forever.
It's a dangerous game that ODFW is playing with the future of wild steelhead and the gamble is not worth it in the least.
This example I've used describes a stable situation where the steelhead parents are replacing themselves. It illustrates a conversion of a wild salmonid population into a production program to provide harvest benefits to a business. This conversion has a biological impact on the wild population through genetic and competition impacts that affect the reproductive success of the wild population at a cost to the public that supports the program through tax dollars, fees and investments in watershed protection. The cost to produce a fish that is harvested is hidden from the public by the state management agency. There have been some economic studies that have determined what those costs are. For example, a recent independent economic evaluation was completed under contract for NOAA Fisheries that pointed out that the Mitchell Act Hatchery program on the Columbia River (18 hatcheries) is a deficit spending program for all hatcheries. These hatcheries are supported with public tax dollars. In response NOAA Fisheries fired this economics team and looked for one that would give them the answer they wanted. For hatchery programs, regardless the type, there is no cost or biological impact accountability. These programs are sold by the management agencies (state, tribal and federal) as conservation actions, when in fact they are not only a drain on public funds, they are increasing the risk to wild fish populations. The recent study done by Chilcote (NOAA Fisheries), Goodson (ODFW) and Falcy (ODFW) point out that conventional hatchery production and native broodstock hatcheries for coho, chinook and steelhead all contribute to the decline of the wild populations that they affect, for the wild populations decline in proportion to the naturally spawning hatchery fish in those wild populations. The agencies have constructed a good business plan, for they get most of the benefit from the invested public funds, but it has eclipsed the conservation mission of the agencies and is placing the native fish that are their primary responsibility at greater risk of extinction. For example, the Sandy River wild steelhead have declined from an estimated 20,000 fish to 800 fish over time. Mitigation hatcheries funded by the public have not been successful in replacing the loss or stemming the decline. Even though the public has made a $100 million commitment to restore this river for wild salmon and steelhead, they are disturbed by the fact that wild run continues to decline, it is threatened with extinction, and the habitat is filled with hatchery fish. One biologist concluded that hatchery fish waste the productivity of the habitat and the investments to restore it.
ODFW is being very myopic, of course, as it's not so much the removal of 1-2% of the run that's screwing things up, as steelhead are remarkably resilient and will replenish themselves (we harvested probably 50% of the run, or more, for decades before things got noticeably bad). I think the broodstock program is horrible for a whole different set of reasons:
1) ODFW sold the public on a program that they claimed would have more conservation benefits and be less harmful to wild fish. As Chilcote has shown, this is 100% false.
2) We now have hatchery fish spawning on top of our Feb-May wild fish. No studies have even been conducted on this, which really pisses me off (though Chilcote told me that this is going to be his next area of focus, should start a study on this later in the year).
3) On the Nestucca and Wilson, wild fish at least had the river to themselves from February to May up until 2004. Now it's a constant onslaught of hatchery pukes. Summers from May - January, Alsea stock from November - February, and "wild" broodstock from January - May.
4) Increased pressure.There used to be minimal pressure from Feb-April, and now it's a parade of drift boats. The gravel from Beaver to Blaine is no longer even utilized as the fish aren't going to spawn when 25 boats are going over them.
I would like to thank Bill Bakke and Spencer Miles from Native Fish Society for their contribution to this subject

The ODFW Version of 3 Card Monte

2011-03-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

What is the old saying? If you can't wow them with facts then baffle them with bullshit!
Here is what those fine folks at ODFW are doing on the Sandy river
Lowering the baseline and avoiding the ESA by Spencer Miles

A Remarkable Video of Cutthroat Trout in Streams on the Mt Hood National Forest

2011-03-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful video of my favorite trout

Come To Oregon This Summer For Poached Steelhead

2011-02-28T23:17:00.000-08:00

No I'm not talking about illegally caught either.
In a press release from NSIA (Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association) it states the following.

NSIA representatives included major retailers such as Fred Meyer and Fishermen’s Marine and Outdoor, tackle manufacturers, outdoor advertising and media, and guides. Facilitated by ODFW, the participants brainstormed ways to leverage their collective communication platforms and resources for better outreach to attract new customers to this thriving but under appreciated fishery.

“Steelhead are one of Oregon’s most prized game fish, known for their fight,” said Todd Davidson, Director of Travel Oregon. “Great conditions and stable fishing seasons make summer steelhead a solid draw to Oregon for visiting anglers and their families.” Davidson continued, “The statewide potential of this pilot project is tremendous.”
Last year, nearly half a million of these summer steelhead, often nicknamed “freight trains” entered the Columbia River and were pursued by anglers from the bank and from boats. For 2011 the steelhead returns will be down, but only slightly. “This is the perfect fishery for the families that shop Fred Meyer,” said Cheryl Kindwall, sporting goods buyer. “A Columbia River steelhead is easily caught from the river’s many public beaches, turning a fishing trip into a picnic and fun family outing.”

So what is wrong with this you might ask? The Columbia river runs very warm, fish wise, in the summer months. It runs on an average year in the lethal range of 68-71Fin August the height of tourist season. Plainly speaking that is too hot to stress out a wild steelhead.
When a steelhead is hooked and played in those warm temperatures is is almost always lethal.
It is somewhat surprising that a group like NSIA would promote this fishery knowing that the warm water is harmful.
Tourism in Oregon is fine and we all know that it helps Oregon's struggling economy but to promote actually harming ESA is troubling. I would have thought NSIA would know better.Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who are also involved in this promotion of CR summer steelhead, has once again shown a total disregard for the health of wild salmonids...does that surprise you?

An Important Read

2011-02-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

If you have ever had doubts about just how hatchery programs affect wild salmon and steelhead you will want to read the study linked below. It's a pretty long read but it is worth it.
Chilcote Study on hatchery anadromous fish and their effect on wild salmonids

Things to Think About for 2012

2011-02-16T23:33:00.000-08:00

In 2012 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will consider new angling proposals. This is a process that happens every 4 years and the public is invited to submit their ideas for consideration.
We have to be vigilant and stick up for our wild salmonids and their habitat and your help is needed.

Here are some proposals that I am kicking around.

- A 10" to 13" statewide slot limit for all wild cutthroat trout
- Barbless hooks for use in all rivers where wild salmon, trout and steelhead are present
- Bait restrictions in upper portions of coastal rivers
- Increased protection of salmon and steelhead spawning areas
- Increasing daily and weekly bag limits for hatchery steelhead
These are just some of the things that will be addressed and considered for future regulations.
AS we get closer to the time for this process to begin I will keep you all posted about what you need to do.
Please be involved! Wild fish need your help

Gary Moore RIP 1952-2011

2011-02-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

This guy could rock!!!!!

Reagan at 100

2011-02-07T20:33:00.000-08:00

Yes I know I made a pledge to "depoliticize" the Quiet Pool but I couldn't resist sharing this with all of you.

Barbless Hooks and Their Importance to Wild Salmonid Recovery

2011-02-03T22:49:00.000-08:00

There is an incredible resistance among sports anglers against the use of barbless hooks and I do not understand it.
Studies show that the use of barbless hooks does decrease mortality among released fish. Think about for a minute.
You've hooked a wild trout and know that you are going to release it. Doesn't it make sense that a barbless hook allows your fly or lure to be quickly removed and therefore would be desirable among ALL sports anglers? This is just common sense...right?
The vitriol against the use of barbless hooks, especially among conventional gear anglers, is shocking.

Click on the link below for an eye opening article by Bill Bakke, executive director of Native Fish Society
Barbless Hooks Study by Bill Bakke

Wild Steelhead - It's What's for Dinner

2011-02-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

It recently came to my attention that Key City Fish Company of Port Townsend, Washington is a distributor of wild steelhead to area restaurants.
I emailed them and here is the exchange I had with them

I wrote -

It has come to my attention that you distribute and sell ESA listed wild steelhead to various Seattle restaurants.I would please implore you to stop and do not purchase these endangered fish any longer.
Wild steelhead are a very precious resource in this region and we cannot afford to let their numbers slip any further.
Once they are gone they are gone forever...there is no replacement for them in our rivers and in our rivers is where they belong not on someone dinner plate.
Please consider not selling them anymore.

Key City's Response -

Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead. We agree with your position that distributing unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is not a good idea.
The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we purchase is always from the sustainably managed Quileute tribal fishery on the Quileute River or the Makah tribal fishery on the Tsooees River. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. The Quileute and Makah Tribes are closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to effectively, and aggressively manage these fisheries so that they remain healthy and robust for generations to come. The state and tribes actively work with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to distributor and restaurant has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.
It is true that many Wild Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at:
http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.
We are aware that there is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that our interest in this fish is primarily as a fantastic food. The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we deliver is sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. If these official assessments were to change we would indeed adjust our use of this product.
Best Regards,
Johnpaul Davies
Key City Fish Company

So okay they don't care but we do! I urge anyone who thinks the conservation of wild steelhead is pretty important and that Key City Fish Company is wrong to write this company and express your unhappiness about their business practices and their commitment to wild steelhead.
You can also write to companies that get fish from Key City and make them aware of what is going on.
Here is the response from a restaurant that got fish from Key City Ray's Boathouse Restaurant in Seattle

Thank you for your feedback. We are no longer serving Steelhead. We will continue to work hard to find truly sustainable sources for our products and appreciate your comments at any time. Thank you for your time and passion on this very important issue.

Best,
Peter Birk, Executive Chef
Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering
6049 Seaview Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98107

Obviously Ray's think wild steelhead are pretty important and that putting them on the menu is wrong.....Thank You Ray!

Reaching out to businesses like Key City and Ray's does make a difference. Maybe Key City will change their minds about serving wild steelhead if they get enough emails and calls to quit serving them.

The New Normal

2011-01-26T23:18:00.000-08:00

The rivers of Puget Sound are closing again this year because of low returns of wild steelhead...yes I said again. This is the second year in a row that this has happened and I would have to applaud the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for taking this action in order to preserve the few wild steelhead remaining.
Do the names Skagit, Skykomish and Sauk sound familiar? These are the rivers of steelhead legend. The Stilliguamish once had 80,000 winter steelhead returning to it but now have fewer than 1000! How in the hell did this happen? I'm sure there is plenty of finger pointing going on but the fact remains that this is could be the "new normal"
Here is the link to the sad and alarming WDFW news release.

Puget Sound River Closures

Murphy Must Have Been a Fly Fisherman

2011-01-24T20:19:00.000-08:00

He had to be! That can only explain the various things that befall us hapless fly fishers in our never ending quest for fly fishing nirvana.
So here are a few examples of what can go wrong out on the river. Now bear in mind, dear readers, I am not necessarily owning up to anything here...wink wink, but after many years of investigation I've been "told" that these unfortunate maladies might happen to a fly fisherman.

- You are trying to thread a size 18 Pale Blue Dun but you don't discover that you've glue shut the eye of the hook and cannot fit your tippet through and the light is fading fast.
- You have one last dry fly that the fish cannot resist so you what do you do? You drop it in the the swiftest portion of the current.
- The cutthroat trout of a lifetime chooses to take your fly after you were too damn lazy to tie a good knot when attaching the fly to your tippet.
- You yell "Fish on and he's a huge rainbow!" for everyone within 100 miles to hear as you set the hook on a "huge" Deschutes river squawfish.
- Why does a knot less leader always turn into a tangled mess as you remove it from it's package and the trout are on the bite?
- You contemplate the wisdom of leaving your raincoat in the car as you wait out a torrential thunder storm under a tree...four miles from your car.
- The odds of the hole you are about to try to wade being one eighth of an inch deeper than the top of your waders are somewhere in the range of betting on the sun to rise the next day.
- Speaking of odds. What do you suppose the likely hood of the guide you miss while stringing up your rod is near the top instead of in the middle and of course you don't discover this until you've attached your fly.
- If that log looks too slippery for you to walk on then it probably is!
- Why are rattlesnakes coiled on the same rock you need to step on in order to avoid a tricky wade.
- Why does nature always wait to call after you are all dressed and ready to fish?
- How come that big trout waits to rise after you've put everything away for the day?
- The importance of the gear you forgot at home is in direct correlation how far you've driven when you realize you forgot it.
- Why is the hole in your waders only discovered on the coldest day of winter?
- The odds of you casting your fly into a tree on the first cast are in direct proportion to the time you took to tie it.
Like I said friends I've only heard rumours that these things happen.

“No Winter Lasts Forever; No Spring Skips Its Turn.”

2011-01-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

I dredged this up from 2008 and thought that everything I wrote about winter 3 years ago holds true today. This winter has been extra tough as I am helping a relative that refuses to be helped. Anyway enjoy these musings from a few years back....I think it's one of the best I've written.

Websters defines cabin fever as "extreme irritability and restlessness from living in isolation or a confined indoor area for a prolonged time"
The clinical definition is Seasonal Affective Disorder or some call it the shack nasties and yes I have it. Since my retirement I have the onset of the "winter blues". I've touched on this before in other entries but this season seem to be the worst I've dealt with. Constantly cold,drizzly and days that are too short. My favorite winter steelhead stream has a mudslide in the upper river that has kept the lower twenty miles of the main stem (most of the river) the color of a cappuccino and thus unfishable. The other nearby rivers have ran high for almost all of the winter and since I am not a gear fisherman it makes the swinging of flies tough and I don't need any more handicaps in hooking winter steelhead on a fly than I already have.
With ice and snow on nearly all of the coastal range passes and gasoline topping out over $3 well you get the picture. If it sounds like I'm whining or making excuses then I confess but you can only tie so many flies,watch so many fishing DVDs and have so many heated political or conservation debates with the unlearned so called sportsmen on the internet before it gets to you.
So my edginess may be more evident in my postings this time but bear with me for a few more months.
How I long for those exciting first few trout excursions of the spring over to the Deschutes and what I wouldn't give to feel a two inch long salmon fly crawling down my neck because it's late spring along the Deschutes. Those lazy late summer days of the coast streams where the new trout water I discovered awaits me and my four weight.
I can just feel it now! The warm breeze of the desert canyon with the juniper and sage doing natures aroma therapy on my soul.
When I'm hiking up above the locked gate on the Deschutes this year I'll remember the cold of winter and rejoice in the little things that are all a part of my angling life.
So fellow winter sufferers take heart in what British poet Anne Bradstreet wrote about winter.
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

NFS River Steward Op-Ed in the Oregonian

2011-01-19T23:48:00.000-08:00

By Spencer Miles

Over the past decade countless organizations -- including Portland General Electric, the city of Portland, Western Rivers Conservancy and The Freshwater Trust -- have spent more than $75 million on Sandy River habitat restoration with a long-term goal of recovering wild fish. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, on the other hand, continues to show more interest in protecting its harmful hatchery programs than in protecting our native fish. The results have been catastrophic.
Wild salmon and steelhead in the Sandy River desperately need our help. Native winter steelhead that once numbered 20,000 fish are now hanging on by a thread with a population of only 800 fish. Spring chinook are in even worse shape, having gone from a historic abundance of 29,000 fish to 750 today. Sandy River spring chinook, fall chinook, winter steelhead and coho are all listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and chum salmon are extinct.
For the past 40 years fisheries biologists have known that hatchery fish are extremely harmful to wild fish. A river can only support a finite number of fish, and over time, hatchery fish simply drive wild fish toward extinction. The ODFW fish commission continues to operate with little regard for science or the well-being of our endangered wild fish. This spring, about 1,250,000 hatchery-raised salmon and steelhead will be released into the Sandy.
In 1997 ODFW's abundance goal for the upper Sandy was 4,900 wild winter steelhead. By 2010 this number has been administratively reduced to a goal of 1,515 wild winter steelhead for the entire Sandy basin. Despite greatly improved habitat, these endangered fish are being managed out of existence.
At a recent ODFW meeting in Salem, Assistant Fish Division Administrator Bruce McIntosh stated that annual releases of 240,000 hatchery steelhead is a reasonable number for supporting a recovery of wild fish. The ODFW has been annually planting the Sandy with 240,000 hatchery steelhead for decades, and wild steelhead runs have declined precipitously as a result.
Albert Einstein once quipped that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In a recent interview with the Portland Tribune, ODFW District Biologist Todd Alsbury stated that reducing hatchery programs on the Sandy is a "last resort." Are four endangered species and one extinct species not grounds for this "last resort"? Must we wait for more extinctions before ODFW breaks from the status quo and starts protecting Oregon's salmon and steelhead?
It is time for the ODFW to stop ignoring the science and its responsibility under the law and truly commit to a restoration of Sandy River salmonids. Dozens of organizations have recognized the importance of these fish by giving more than $75 million to improve their habitat. If future generations are to ever witness a spawning salmon, the ODFW must take accountability for its deleterious hatchery program and designate the Sandy as a wild salmon sanctuary. Oregon will be a better place for it.

ODFW's Response

2011-01-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

After getting over 300, at last count, responses to the wild steelhead situation on the Sandy river here is ODFW's response.
I will let you read it and draw your own conclusions before commenting at the end of this post.Please click on the link below to read the response from ODFW

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Memo - Sandy Basin Concerns 1-14-11

So what is Mr. McIntosh saying here? In my opinion not much. He fails to acknowledge that what ODFW is doing on the Sandy is a violation of Oregon's Native Fish Conservation Policy. This was pointed out to him and Ed Bowles, ODFW Fish Division Administrator, at the January 5th public meeting in Salem by Spence Miles.
In fact Bowles went so far as to say in another correspondence to a Native Fish Society River Steward that if conservation groups were to pursue a solution to this that involved a lawsuit those group(s) bringing a suite would be "Marginalized"
Now isn't that interesting? We have a state agency whose responsibility it is to protect and conserve those native steelhead acting like a spoiled child.
What Spencer has done is open a huge can of worms and brought Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to task for their huge failure in protecting an irreplaceable wild steelhead population. Those of us that call ourselves friends of wild fish can learn a hell of a lot from Spencer Miles about motivation to action when dealing with ODFW and concerning wild salmonids.

Wild Steelhead on the Sandy Need Your Help

2011-01-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

Fellow Native Fish Society river steward Spencr Miles has done research on the wild winter steelhead of the Sandy River near Portland Oregon. He found that Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is sacrificing a disproportionate amount of endangered wild winter steelhead for the sake of yet another broodstock program. The details below are from a letter that Spencer wrote and posted on his blog Whitefish Can't Jump If after reading what Spencer has found out pisses you off...and it should, please take the time to write ODFW a letter stating your displeasure of this "mining" of wild milt and eggs for the sake of another hatchery program.
Here is a link to an automailer that you can use send a letter to ODFW Save Sandy River Wild Winter Steelhead
Thanks!

The Sandy River historically supported an annual native winter steelhead run of upwards of 20,000 fish (Mattson 1955). This run has now been in decline for decades, culminating in an escapement of 537 fish at Marmot dam in 1995 (Marmot Fish Counts) and an ESA listing of winter steelhead in 1998.

In 2000, just two years after the ESA listing went into effect, ODFW instituted a broodstock hatchery program on the Sandy with a goal of supplying 25% of the hatchery smolts with native Sandy River steelhead (Cedar Creek HGMP). In that year, with only 893 wild winter steelhead passing the Marmot dam, 140 wild steelhead were harvested from the river to support the new broodstock program. Between 2001 and 2007 an average of 83 wild steelhead were harvested for the broodstock program when the wild run above Marmot averaged only 781 fish (Marmot Fish Counts).
The Hatchery Scientific Review Group has determined that the primary cause of poor productivity in the Sandy is a high proportion of hatchery-origin spawners (HSRG 2009). Moreover, in 1998 NMFS estimated that as many as 45% of the spawning fish are of hatchery origin (Federal Register 1998).
During the summer of 2007 the Marmot dam was removed, allowing countless numbers of hatchery steelhead to reach some of the best spawning grounds in the watershed. The Marmot fish ladder also made it trivial to track escapement, and without this data, determining the maximum sustainable harvest to support the broodstock program is onerous at best.
How is it that the ODFW, despite a record low Sandy River escapement in the late 1990s, decided to implement a hatchery program based on harvesting this already fragile run?
Furthermore:
•How can the ODFW legally harvest native steelhead listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act?
•Does the ODFW have a scientific justification for harvesting ESA listed wild fish to sustain a sport fishery amidst record levels of low escapement?
•How does the ODFW measure annual escapement of wild winter steelhead on the Sandy, and how do the escapement estimates impact the number of wild fish harvested to support the broodstock program?
•At which point does wild escapement become too low to sustainably support a broodstock program?
•Does the ODFW feel that a harvest of up to 15% of an ESA listed fish is an acceptable method for supporting a sport fishery?
•In 1998 NMFS estimated a 45% hatchery stray rate on Sandy River spawning grounds, which has undoubtedly increased since the removal of Marmot dam. The ODFW has established a maximum limit of 10% hatchery spawners under the Native Fish Conservation Plan (OAR 635-007-0507), yet the Sandy River hatchery continues to operate with little regard to that administrative law. How does the Sandy River hatchery continue to legally stock 160,000 winter steelhead smolts and 80,000 summer steelhead (Sandy River HOP 2010) when it is clearly in violation of OAR 635-007-0507?
The Sandy River has the potential to be one of the finest urban winter steelhead fisheries in the country, yet the perpetuation of an unsustainable hatchery program has rendered it as anything but. It is my sincere hope that the Sandy River hatchery can be brought into compliance with state law, and that the Sandy River can once again provide amazing runs of native winter steelhead for future generations

The Smoking Gun?

2010-12-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

Okay guys are we in agreement that hatcheries are harmful to wild salmonid populations? Still not convinced huh?
Well don't take my word for it and why should you anyway? I am not a trained fisheries biologist but I do believe the science that the experts have come up with. You could counter almost every argument that I posted if you are in favor of robust and vibrant hatchery programs.
Would you argue with science? Maybe the following assessment BY THE EXPERTS will convince you.

ScienceDaily (June 13, 2009) — Steelhead trout that are originally bred in hatcheries are so genetically impaired that, even if they survive and reproduce in the wild, their offspring will also be significantly less successful at reproducing, according to a new study published today by researchers from Oregon State University.
The poor reproductive fitness – the ability to survive and reproduce – of the wild-born offspring of hatchery fish means that adding hatchery fish to wild populations may ultimately be hurting efforts to sustain those wild runs, scientists said.
The study found that a fish born in the wild as the offspring of two hatchery-reared steelhead averaged only 37 percent the reproductive fitness of a fish with two wild parents, and 87 percent the fitness if one parent was wild and one was from a hatchery. Most importantly, these differences were still detectable after a full generation of natural selection in the wild.
The effect of hatcheries on reproductive fitness in succeeding generations had been predicted in theory, experts say, but until now had never been demonstrated in actual field experiments.
"If anyone ever had any doubts about the genetic differences between hatchery and wild fish, the data are now pretty clear," said Michael Blouin, an OSU professor of zoology. "The effect is so strong that it carries over into the first wild-born generation. Even if fish are born in the wild and survive to reproduce, those adults that had hatchery parents still produce substantially fewer surviving offspring than those with wild parents. That's pretty remarkable."
An earlier report, published in 2007 in the journal Science, had already shown that hatchery fish that migrate to the ocean and return to spawn leave far fewer offspring than their wild relatives. The newest findings suggest the problem does not end there, but carries over into their wild-born descendants.
The implication, Blouin said, is that hatchery salmonids – many of which do survive to reproduce in the wild– could be gradually reducing the fitness of the wild populations with which they interbreed. Those hatchery fish provide one more hurdle to overcome in the goal of sustaining wild runs, along with problems caused by dams, loss or degradation of habitat, pollution, overfishing and other causes.
Aside from weakening the wild gene pool, the release of captive-bred fish also raises the risk of introducing diseases and increasing competition for limited resources, the report noted.
This research, which was just published in Biology Letters, was supported by grants from the Bonneville Power Administration and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. It was based on years of genetic analysis of thousands of steelhead trout in Oregon's Hood River, in field work dating back to 1991. Scientists have been able to genetically "fingerprint" three generations of returning fish to determine who their parents were, and whether or not they were wild or hatchery fish.
The underlying problem, experts say, is Darwinian natural selection.
Fish that do well in the safe, quiet world of the hatcheries are selected to be different than those that do well in a much more hostile and predatory real-world environment. Using wild fish as brood stock each year should lessen the problem, but it was just that type of hatchery fish that were used in the Hood River study. This demonstrates that even a single generation of hatchery culture can still have strong effects.
Although this study was done with steelhead trout, it would be reasonable to extrapolate its results to other salmonids, researchers said. It's less clear what the findings mean to the many other species that are now being bred in captivity in efforts to help wild populations recover, Blouin said, but it's possible that similar effects could be found.
Captive breeding is now a cornerstone of recovery efforts by conservation programs for many threatened or endangered species, the researchers noted in their report. Thousands of species may require captive breeding to prevent their extinction in the next 200 years – which makes it particularly important to find out if such programs will ultimately work. This study raises doubts.
"The message should be clear," the researchers wrote in their report's conclusion. "Captive breeding for reintroduction or supplementation can have a serious, long-term downside in some taxa, and so should not be considered as a panacea for the recovery of all endangered populations."

So you have to ask yourself is this the smoking gun? One would certainly think so but this study probably wouldn't convince many in Tillamook county because the hatchery addicition runs deep through many gernerations of anglers.
We see bogus "conservation" awards for those who put their efforts into increasing hatchery output and those efforts are bullshit! So instead of letting the opinions of a few knuckle draggers who post on ifish.net and who believe that the the only way to fishing nirvana is dumping a "gazillion" hatchery smolt into the watershed (actual ifish quote) then read the science! It's all out there and easily accessible....do your homework if you care to because you will find the smoking gun on dwindling wild salmon and steelhead.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Merry Christmas from the Quiet Pool

2010-12-25T00:34:00.001-08:00

The Bigger Picture

2010-12-24T01:21:00.000-08:00

It's a given that we all love fly fishing. If you are reading this blog you have to love fly fishing at least a little or you wouldn't waste your time reading my mindless drivel would you? Well it's the same for me also. The joy I get from casting a fly to a trout or steelhead is hard to measure. I fear my sanity would suffer greatly if I could not get out on a river on a semi-regular basis.
All that aside though I believe that there is something larger than our angling pleasures....namely the effort to save what wild salmon, trout and steelhead we have left. We cannot sit idly by and just expect the wild salmonids in our river to always be there because that has never worked with anything in the past and our endangered cold water fisheries are on the brink.
We have to ask ourselves just how important is our passion for these things. Can you set aside your desire to have some excellent fly fishing in order to save a few wild trout or steelhead...can you? I am not putting myself or my conservation efforts above those of any of you that are reading this but I can assure that I would give up fishing a river like the Deschutes if I thought I could make a difference in the survival of a wild species like the redside rainbows. I could set aside fishing on the Metolius if it meant that the Bull trout would survive and I could quit tossing flies at coastal cutthroat trout on my favorite coastal river if the survival of these trout hung in the balance.
We cannot pin our hopes that state fish and wildlife agencies or the federal government to do what is necessary to make sure wild fish survive because their track record is piss poor.
Here we sit on the eve of a new year and still our wild cold water fisheries are in grave danger because of greed and mismangment and a lack of imagination of our fish and wildlife agencies. So I am hoping that each of you have a wonderful 2011 out on the river and I ask you to consider just one thing as you hold that beautiful trout or steelhead oout the water for your hero shot. Think about what it takes for that fish and other wild salmonids like it to survive and perpetuate their species. What could you sacrifice in 2011 to make that happen.
2011 will mark the fifth year I have shared my thoughts with you on this blog and I wanted to take the time to thank all of you who stop by the Quiet Pool for putting with my ranting and poor punctuation. Your feedback is what keeps it going.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my fly fishing friends out there.

The World is Our Oyster

2010-12-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

I was just browsing the mega Pacific northwest website and sometimes soap opera known as ifish.net and reinforced. once again, my belief that sports anglers have to be among the most selfish and greedy bunch in the world. Everything from hatchery fish are our God given right to saying tough shit house boat owners the wake our water crafts put out is just something you are going to have deal with because we gotta a mess of fish to catch! Barbless hooks? forget it because it may cause me to catch less salmon.
In fairness though,ifish.net is not the only place where this self serving, "Screw everyone else I gotta get mine" mentality exists on the world wide web. It's pretty much everywhere.
It will come off sounding overly pessimistic but I have deep fears and doubts that we will ever save what little wild salmon and steelhead there are left because we just have no desire to sacrifice anything in favor of our own greed.
My generation grew up with our parents giving us everything we wanted. I had all the latest toys and bikes etc. because my folks gave them to me but failed to instill any kind of charitable character traits. I'm sure most of you had similar childhoods. To overcome the "me first" attitude we had to struggle and force ourselves to actually care about something bigger than ourselves. It's still and effort for me!
Some my age never over came it and they have passed "The world is my oyster" mentality down to their own children.
Fishing for salmon and steelhead in this region has brought out the worst in people and they cannot wrap their pea brains around the notion that they can no longer kill and harvest everything and anything they want. When told that there are not enough returning fall chinook in several watersheds they are outraged.
I've bitched about the "Harvest Mentality" for most of the almost 5 years this blog has been in existence. I've singled out Tillamook county as the worst offender but in retrospect maybe that was unfair. Oh sure they own a lot of the blame for their piss poor attitude about wild fish issues but they are really not much different than anglers around the Portland metro area.
My brother recently asked me during a heated political debate what I have done to change things. In my defense I listed the activities I have been involved with for wild salmonids however if I were truthful I would have said I have not done enough. I guess the thing that bothers me most is not just the half-assed efforts of people like myself but those who think more hatchery fish, broodstock programs that rob wild salmon and steelhead of the eggs that are needed to perpetuate the wild spawning species. They actually think that what they do is necessary and they feel good about it.
Listen folks, and this may come as a shock to some of you, but the state of Oregon and Washington is not obligated to supply you or me with fish to kill especially at the expense of what few wild salmon and steelhead are left.
The world is not our oyster no matter what Falstaff may have said. We get out of it what efforts we put into it and sadly, when it comes to wild trout, salmon and steelhead those efforts and attitudes are lacking.

Well Hallelujah...Our Hatchery Troubles Are Over

2010-12-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

A better hatchery salmon and steelhead huh? Wasn't that what they promised with the broodstock programs? Of course the harvest addicts will greet this as the best thing since sodium sulfite. Maybe if they make the tanks oval WDFW could draw in a bunch of NASCAR fans!!!!

From OregonLive
By Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian

Call it another example of survival of the fittest.
Researchers experimenting with juvenile salmon and steelhead at a Washington fish hatchery say fish raised in circular tanks with a swift current are faster and tougher than fish raised in the commonly-used rectangular raceways.
The findings come from a pilot project at Eastbank Hatchery in Wenatchee, Wash., carried out by Chelan County Public Utility District, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute. Researchers determined that fish raised in circular tanks migrated downstream faster upon release, reaching a checkpoint five days earlier than their brethren. More of them survived, as well -- 72 percent compared to 52 percent of fish raised in rectangular tanks, according to a Freshwater Institute news release. Also, the fish raised in circular tanks included fewer "mini-jacks," juvenile salmon that become sexually mature early and stay in freshwater rivers instead of migrating to the ocean. Researchers are concerned that hatchery-raised jack salmon can distort the genetic makeup of wild salmon over time.
Depending on the technology used, circular tanks can re-use up to 99 percent of the water in the system. The systems also collect waste and uneaten food, making them easier to keep clean, according to the Freshwater Institute. The institute, a non-profit based in West Virginia, advocates the sustainable use of water.
The findings are preliminary, but researchers are "extremely optimistic" that hatchery operations and water conservation efforts can complement each other, hatchery manager Joe Miller said in a news release. However, scrutiny is required because fish hatchery operations have a "history of unintended consequences" such as producing flawed fish, the news release said.
The research findings will be presented Dec. 7 at the Northwest Fish Culture conference in Portland.

--Eric Mortenson

Of Gray Days and Winter Steelhead

2010-11-29T23:35:00.000-08:00

Winter Steelhead caught by Jad Donaldson

It's November 29th but I know that the Pacific northwest is well into the winter season. It's not like it's early or anything it's just well...here. I decided I needed to get out of the house today and so I made my first trek over the coast range to look for winter run steelhead. Yes I know it's seems like a pipe dream but it wouldn't matter if all that was present were a run of suckers because I needed to get out on the river.
The winter scene is like one would expect during the early winter steelhead season. It's like you are looking at the world through a gray filter like the kind that might be used on a camera. The low peaks of the coast range had a typical winter fog obscuring their tops as the alders and maples stood in stark contrast to the green firs along the highway. The higher peaks of the coast range showed a trace of a recent Thanksgiving week snow. All the fall leaves have blown away during an earlier fall wind and those that did not make it into a coastal stream were now a ground up mulch along the river. The fall colors of October have been transformed in subdued hues of pale green and misty gray. Yes this is definitely winter.
I have a special steelhead run that has given me success over the last few years and so it was there that I headed.
Fishing in the upper reaches of a coastal river is a solitary experience for the most part and on this "winter" day I fished alone with only the occasional car or truck passing on the road that runs along the river.
In some ways these cold and solitary days on the upper river have an almost overwhelming affect on me,a kind of an anxiety that I cannot explain.
In other ways it is so quiet and still that I do not feel it is proper to talk, to myself of course, in anything other than a whisper.
I took out a new spey rod today hoping for that new rod mojo to reward me and to my utter delight and joy I did have a very strong grab and short run before the fish came unhooked. The sound that an older Hardy fly reel makes as a strong steelhead peels off line during that initial run is the most beautiful music a steelhead fly fisherman can hear. My short encounter with an early winter steelhead made the day instantly brighten.
These winter days are just too short and I cannot seem to get out of bed in the pre-dawn hours so my fishing days is truncated to just a few hours in the afternoon.
I decided to head home as the predicted storm was starting to make it's presence known but I felt that the day had been a success. A new rod and a brief but thrilling encounter with a winter steelhead warmed me like no cup of chicken noodle could even begin to.
With limited numbers of returning steelhead that seem to get fewer every year I count these fleeting encounters a gift and a sign of a hopeful winter to come.

Please Sir Can I Have Some More?

2010-11-20T01:16:00.000-08:00

Ah yes! The harvest mentality is alive and well in Oregon and Washington! I can just hear it in Tillamook and Clatsop counties right now. "Endangered fish? We don't care about no stinkin' endangered fish! We want our freezers filled with freezer burned fillets and sodium cured eggs"
Well I sure as hell care about them and know many people who also care about them. This damn hatchery addiction has got to end if we ever want to have wild salmon, steelhead and trout for the future!

From the Oregonian
ASTORIA-- Four counties say a draft federal plan for managing lower Columbia River fish hatcheries is "flawed" and "inadequate."
Officials from Clatsop and Columbia counties in Oregon and Pacific and Wahkiakum counties in Washington wrote a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding how the federally funded hatcheries will be managed.
The Daily Astorian reports the federal agency's draft environmental statement spells out five potential operating scenarios for the hatcheries funded with money under the Mitchell Act, the law that provides federal dollars for conservation of Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead.
The counties said the 1,100-page document is divisive and assumes that fish production will not increase. It does not acknowledge basin-by-basin efforts to restore fish runs, county officials said, that they claim they were not consulted in the process. They requested that it be withdrawn.
"The history of working together and the values we share for future abundance is too important to leave to this flawed and inadequate document," the letter said.
For 10 years, funding has ranged from $11 million to $16 million for annual hatchery operation funding of 62 programs. They have produced more than 71 million fish each year.
Congress has not appropriated the money to operate the hatcheries next year.
The five operating and funding scenarios included in the draft consider multiple options but none include increasing fish production.
One scenario discontinues Mitchell Act funding and others cut back the number of fish caught by up to nearly 50 percent. Four options close hatcheries and cut production.
In the zero-funding scenario, production would be cut to about 36 percent of the status quo. Another would operate lower Columbia River hatcheries with stricter standards to protect natural-origin fish, and a third would apply those tougher standards to upper river hatcheries.
Clatsop County Manager Duane Cole said the focus should be on developing resources needed to adequately support the hatchery system. The current funding of $12.5 million should be boosted to $35 million to $40 million, he said.
"The federal government needs to get serious about developing abundance by fully funding the hatchery system," Cole said. "The resources spent on this document should be spent on enhancing the system to restore the fish runs," Cole said.

The Hatchery Influence

2010-11-14T22:10:00.000-08:00

The following is an opinion by my good friend John Bracke of the Nestucca river. John has long been an advocate for wild salmon and steelhead.

The use of hatchery fish is nothing new. What has happened is the removal of the hatchery product from stretches of river that had been planted. While the removal of the hatchery product is good for the wild fish it is also bad for the wild fish. Many of today's remaining wild populations are being influenced with a percentage of successful hatchery spawn. With the removal of the hatchery product the obvious then comes out. A percentage of the wild run is made up of hatchery strays that have spawned successfully.
This fact is obvious on all of Oregon's hatchery polluted fisheries dealing with ocean migrating runs. The agency in charge realizing that the hatchery product is somewhat successful in the wild then removes the bad hatchery product and then begins to use the wild return for their hatchery use. This is justifiable because the fish is of wild origin and if they due spawn in the wild the agency feels the impacts are not as bad. Not quite so fast the agency has been put on notice not to exceed a 10% stray rate into the wild spawning population. Their new reason for failing to meet these guidelines are that they do not have the money nor the willingness too look into this problem. They are going to take this issue up during the new native fish policy.
Not so fast, a large part of the problem with the new broodstock fiasco is the run timing. We now have the hatchery return coinciding with the wild return in run timing and in spawning. The pressure is then twice as bad. Before you had a group just fishing on wild fish with little impact. Move a hatchery product on top of this run and you have a mess.
With the removal of the hatchery run you will see a decline in the wild population. Within 4-5 years depending on the hatchery influence in the drainage the true population of the wild return will become obvious.
How due we solve this problem. The hatchery fish are not cheap with the cost of the product being what it is let's put the expense of the product on those who would prefer to purse such prey and make it mandatory that they kill every hatchery fish they catch and not play catch and release on such fish. This form of fishing has had a much more negative affect on the wild population and creates even more problems.
Then we have those of us who would prefer to fish on wild runs instead of hatchery crap. We also need to pay for our fishery as well. A user fee for each drainage would benefit not only the drainage but also the surrounding area. What it boils down to is who is willing to pay for the expense associated with a wild fishery or a hatchery fishery. At this point in time the only people willing are anyone?
Then the idea of shifting towards a consumptive wild fishery on steelhead and everything else. Sorry folks, the ocean migrating runs that this state has left are not healthy enough for a total take on the wild population. Yes, they will open up certain fisheries to boost tag sales and optimism that the run is better than it really is.
What the problem really revolves around is public involvement. If the agency only hears from the kill crowd who do you think gets what they want. Those of us involved in the health and welfare of the wild fish can only due so much. The fisheries are in trouble due to the lack of involvement, from the new angler. When I say new I mean within the last 2 decades.
Those that have dropped out thanks for getting out of the way, you only created more problems than they were worth.

The Greatest Generation

2010-11-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

Can we ever thank the veterans of World War II enough? Probably not even come close but recently I got a chance to let one of them know how much I appreciate him and the other veterans who saved the world from tyranny and oppression.
I was entering a local variety store near my home and noticed an elderly gentleman wearing a cap that said "World War II Vet"
I felt the urge to ask him if I could shake his hand and I wanted to just say thank you to him. Of course I had to wander around the store for several minutes while I got up the nerve to approach this aged vet, Don't ask me why I was nervous because I couldn't tell you, but it took me a few minutes to figure out what it was I wanted to say.
My father was a veteran of that war and perhaps connecting with this man would some how give me a chance to connect with my dad. I did think about my father as I finally decided to go ahead and do what I knew was the right thing to do.
I had thought that he and his wife had slipped out of the store and I had missed my chance as I looked up and down the aisle for the octogenarian gent.
I finally found him and simply said in a voice choked with emotion "Sir, my father was a WWII vet and I was wondering if you would do me the honor by allowing me to shake your hand?" He gladly obliged and said simply "Thank you for noticing son"
Whether we agree with the politics of war or not we can never downplay the importance of our veterans and whenever I get the chance I will say thank you.

"It's a Money Thing For Me"

2010-11-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

This interview appeared on the blog Buster Wants To Fish
You readers can draw your own conclusions

Q & A with a North Umpqua Guide:

Q: I heard through the grapevine that you are advocating bringing hatchery summers back to the fly water. Is that true, and if so, what is your reasoning?

A: Well, I don’t know how much you know about the North Umpqua, but it’s just the last few years that we’ve stopped seeing hatchery summers in the fly water. The hatchery fish that were up there weren’t a problem, since they were main stem spawners. I grew up on the Umpqua, and I can tell you that 99% of Umpqua summer steelhead are creek spawners. The hatchery fish spawned in the main stem, where they were acclimated. Back then you might have seen one or two hatchery fish up at Lee’s pool.
My real issue is I don’t think the wild run can handle all the pressure. I mean, we have more guys coming up here every year. But we only have a couple thousand wild steelhead. Without the hatchery fish, guys are figuring out where the natives hang out and they are pounding on them every single day. Meanwhile, ODFW is planting hatchery summers in places where nobody fishes. I’d say 2/3 of the Umpqua’s hatchery fish aren’t even getting fished for. A third of them are planted below the I-5 bridge. Another third is planted at Whistler’s Bend, and the last third at Rock Creek. But nobody fishes below I-5 bridge. Look at Whistler’s Bend. I drive by there every day, and if you see one guy fishing there it’s a rarity. Two guys I know run down there in the fall. The fly water is the only good summer water, and without some hatchery fish up there, the wild fish take the brunt of the pressure.

Q: So you think that by adding a hatchery program above Rock Creek you’ll be decreasing pressure on the wild fish? I don’t think you could find any examples of that correlation. Hatchery programs result in an increase in angling pressure on wild fish. That’s according to Oregon’s leading biologists and decades of research.

A: I think people are over thinking this whole thing. I mean, do we have a true “wild” run in the Umpqua? With all the hatchery influences over the last century, are these fish really wild?

Q: Umpqua steelhead are wild as they come. Has nobody shared with you the DNA analysis on wild steelhead in Oregon? I can send you the graphs that show the distinct genetic groupings of hatchery and wild fish.

A: Well I haven’t seen what you are talking about, but you just said yourself that the wild fish weren’t harmed by all those decades of hatchery mixing, right? So what’s the problem? Your own data says the wild fish are fine. We had hatchery fish all over up here. All the way up to the dam.

Q: What I’m saying is that there has been very little, if any, genetic introgression from interbreeding. But we know the presence of hatchery adults on the spawning grounds reduces overall numbers of wild fish. So you’re going to have a hard time convincing wild-fish advocates that there is an acceptable risk, at any level.

A: I just don’t see it that way. I don’t think there was much, if any mixing. And if the wild fish are as pure as you say they are, that proves it, right? All I’m saying is if you’re going to have hatchery fish in the Umpqua, put them in the places where people fish! Or get rid of all the hatchery fish, and take the money and use it to repair lost spawning and rearing habitat. One or the other. But it doesn’t make sense to spend all this money and resources on a program that nobody can benefit from.
I’m all for wild fish. But right now we aren’t getting the numbers of wild steelhead we used to see. We’re under 5,000 fish. We need 7,000 to 9,000 fish to handle all the pressure on the fly water. The only way we’re going to get that is if they either let us have some hatchery fish or reclaim the lost habitat. Like Canton Creek. There used to be over a thousand wild fish in there. But it was wiped out when they built that road. It’s never recovered. So if ODFW took all the money from hatcheries and used it to bring back wild fish, I could get behind that.
Now our winter steelhead in the Umpqua really need protection. In the winter we get 10,000 to 14,000 wild fish. And ODFW wants to institute a hatchery program and a kill fishery! All of us guides are against it. ODFW makes no sense. You can’t kill wild fish!

Q: But you just said you’re against killing wild fish, but hatchery programs kill wild fish. Isn’t that an inconsistency?

A: I hear what you’re saying, and I could get behind a wild-only Umpqua. But it’s got to be one or the other. The way things are going now, I can’t make any money. I’m not ashamed to say it’s a money thing for me. If we’re going to have hatchery fish, let’s acclimate a third of them from Wright Creek down and offer people a little more opportunity in the summer. We don’t even need to increase the numbers. Just put them where they can be used. Or get rid of them altogether.

Q: Do you think you would feel the same way about this if you weren’t guiding?

A: I don’t know. The summer hatchery program, the way they’re running it now, just doesn’t make good economic sense. So I think I would be frustrated even if I wasn’t guiding. I’d still be up here in the canyon. It’s the only part of the river you can consistently get fish on dries throughout the summer.

Wild Salmonids Catch a Break

2010-11-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

I solicited Rob Russell to write an opinion on the current sodium sulfite based bait that are popular here in the Pacific Northwest.
Rob has been at the fore front of this issue and is a real friend of wild salmon and steelhead

Sodium Sulfite - Oregon Has Spoken
by Rob Russell

Regardless of your beliefs, it's time to prepare for a sulfite-free future if you fish cured roe in Oregon. A few recent developments: 1) The Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has informed egg cure manufacturers they have until August 2011 to remove sodium sulfite from their products or face regulation. The state agency's declaration was the result of findings in a recent OSU study showing that sulfite-cured bait is harmful to juvenile salmon and steelhead; 2) Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Commission made it clear at its August 2010 meeting that sodium sulfite is not welcome in Oregon's waterways, and that the commission will act swiftly if manufacturers fail to meet the phase-out timeline; and 3) The Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) joined ODFW in calling for the August 2011 voluntary phase-out, and also indicated that it will move toward regulation if manufacturers miss ODFW's deadline.
In a classy move, Oregon's Fish and Wildlife Commission recognized and thanked manufacturers who have worked closely with the state through what has sometimes been a stressful process of study, analysis and decision making. The voluntary phase-out affects many Oregon-grown businesses who must now develop and market new sulfite-free products. So far, a boom in business is buffering manufacturers' concerns. Oregon is in the heat of a good salmon season, looking forward to an even better 2011 season, and manufacturers are enjoying brisk sales. One sporting goods retailer on Oregon's South Coast said he's ordering cases of cure and pure sulfite powder for a hungry public. He speculated that people are stockpiling for the ban. Ya' think?
It was obvious this year that lots of folks responded in good faith when confronted with the results of the study. I met several salmon anglers this summer and fall who were vocal about having made the switch from sulfite eggs to something less toxic. One prominent Siuslaw River salmon guide made the switch to straight shrimp and had a great season. Of course, many serious egg fishermen stuck with their standard cures. Some were just squeaking in one last season before the switch. A large crowd of others declared the OSU study was bogus, part of a conspiracy by fly-fishers to make Oregon a fly-fishing-only state. Communists, hippies and tree-huggers were also implicated.
In fact, the original proponent of Oregon's egg-cure study was an avid roe-fisher before the results became public. Once the study showed the deadly effects of sodium sulfite on young salmon and steelhead, he simply eliminated sulfite-cured roe from his arsenal. His public awareness campaign has helped spread the word to anglers throughout the West, but several prominent salmon guides have complained, claiming his underlying goal is to eliminate bait fishing in favor of flyfishing. Regardless of those false allegations, concerned salmon anglers throughout Oregon are working hard to increase awareness of the facts, and the looming deadline.

One important note: Oregon's state agencies have, so far, only addressed concerns related to the health of salmon and steelhead exposed to sulfites. ODEQ has been alerted to possible risks to human health from exposure to sodium sulfite. The human health issues deserve study as well, and may prove to eclipse concerns for salmon and steelhead. In the eternal words of one of Oregon's leading manufacturers, "that stuff will give you cancer." Anyone who deals with sulfites on a regular basis knows how nasty they are. I, for one, am very pleased to have them out of my life. Though they did cure my warts.

Wild Winter Steelhead at the Crossroads - An Opinion

2010-10-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

We are 10 years into the wild winter steelhead broodstock programs on the north coast and what have we got to show for it?
Dwindling numbers of returning wild adults? Yes
Over sized and hungry broodstock smolt? You bet!
Gear and bait guides are the biggest benefactors in this program? Absolutely
The promised review and assessment of the program by ODFW? Nope!
So here we sit ten years later on the eve of yet another winter steelhead season with not much more knowledge of this program than when it first started.
Yes the broodstock program did supply a better strain of hatchery steelhead but you have to ask yourself if it was worth the price of the sacrifice of the wild eggs that were "borrowed". Experts do not think so.
Did it sell a lot more angling licenses and create the "angling opportunities" like ODFW had hoped? Doubtful since they pretty much eliminated the early winter season for thousands of November/December winter steelhead enthusiasts. Remember the old days of sneaking out for some winter steelhead fishing before Thanksgiving dinner?
Here is what we do know. Returning broodstock offsprings are less fit than the guides and ODFW would like you to know. The science and analysis of the broodstock programs fishery experts is out there and it refutes what all the bullshit the Tillamook area bait guides are trying to sell you at the largest fishing forum in the Pacific northwest ifish.net
Meanwhile the wild winter steelhead, the fish that really matter, are at a crossroads. Apparently a few at ODFW realize this but one has to wonder if it's too late and will they ever have a voice in making the correct policy decisions at that agency
I fear that another 10 years of playing dumb by ODFW will be the final straw for wild winter steelhead.

Good News For Bull Trout

2010-10-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

I guess hydroelectric dams aren't critical habitat after all huh George?

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — The Obama administration has issued its final rule on critical habitat for the bull trout, one of the most fought-over threatened species in the country the past two decades.
The rule issued Tuesday by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reverses Bush administration policy on endangered species by recognizing the importance of protecting habitat to restore fish and wildlife in danger of extinction.
The 2005 critical habitat designation was struck down by a federal court, and an inspector general's report found improper political influence went into its creation.
The new rule greatly expands the miles of streams and areas of lakes and reservoirs deemed essential to restoring bull trout in Oregon, Washington

Metolius River...it will humble you

2010-10-01T02:09:00.000-07:00

Photograph by Kathleen Lewis Stewart

First of all let me say that the Metolius is a beautiful river in every sense of the word. It's a place that I could easily live near and be quite contented! To be able to hang around Camp Sherman and the "Met" would be wonderful.
It also showed me that I am not the hot shot fly fisherman that I may have foolishly thought I was. Actually I know I'm an average fly angler at best so there was no delusional thinking going on here at all.
Crystal clear and swift is the best way to describe it and for the few hours I fished it I as might well have been fishing with no fly on my line for all the good it did me.
It was however, one of my best fishing trips of the year...go figure

Fall has Fell

2010-09-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

So where did the summer go? One day I'm wearing shorts and bitching about the rivers levels being too low and the water too warm and then the next minute I'm back to long pants and bitching about the river levels are too high and the water being too cold. Why couldn't I have found out that my waders leaked in July?
Actually autumn is one of my favorite times of year. It's a season of movement,change and big salmon plowing up through shallow riffles.
Alas the salmon are getting scarce these days but the miracle of the spawning runs is still a wonder to behold.
Fall is the season of my favorite fish, the Coastal Cutthroat trout. Over the years I have developed a special affinity for these wonderful trout and I try to protect them and even fight for them when I have to.
On the Oregon coast these trout are little more than an after thought and nuisance. In the immortal words of the great Rodney Dangerfield these trout "Don't get no respect"
Anglers on north Oregon coast streams are after the bigger salmon and steelhead so the lowly cutthroat trout are of little importance to them.
I've often said that I will take a 17 inch cutthroat trout over a 30 pound salmon any day is absolutely the truth and so naturally the fall season is a special time for me.
The thing about fall though is sometime the transition to winter is too short. In years past it seems like we go straight from balmy indian summer days right into the big chill. I need time to get ready and at least a chance to dig through all my junk to find my "mood" light that gets me through the cold months of winter with some semblance of sanity.
Last year I made one last trip over to the Deschutes in early November and almost played it too close. It started snowing hard about 25 miles east the summit at Government Camp. I was low on gas because of a malfunctioning fuel gage so it was pretty much touch and go until we found a gas station open.
Well that won't happen this year because this year I will not scoff at the weather reports when they call for snow at Mt. Hood.
I also like fall because I still have about 6 weeks of either Deschutes steelhead and cutthroat trout to look forward to. Some of the best fishing for the year is in September/October.
Even though the summer slipped by me this year I will still enjoy the fall season of salmon, cutthroat trout and color.

I hope you all have a pleasant fall season.

Heroes of Conservation?

2010-09-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

We use the title of hero very liberally in this country and when that happens the true heroes get short changed.
My belief is the real heroes in this country are our military forces, police officers and fire fighters. They are the people who make a difference in the lives of the rest of by going into harms way to save lives and assure our freedom. Scoring touchdowns or hitting home runs in the world series are not heroic deeds to be sure and neither is dumping hatchery salmon into streams where wild salmon live.
The outdoor magazine Field and Stream gives out annual awards to people they feel have helped "conserve" our outdoor resources. Two such recipients from Garibaldi, Oregon are recognized for their work with hatch boxes on a north coast stream. These folks seem, from the video on the Field and Stream "Heroes of Conservation" website, to be a very nice retired couple doing what they think is great work to provide more salmon for northwest anglers....very heroic!
I would think the title of "Villains of Conservation" might be a more appropriate title because we all know the affect of a hatchery product introduced into a wild population.
If there are true Heroes of Conservation I would think they would be people who fight hard to protect our wild resources that include wild salmonids and their habitat. I would think the true heroes would be people like Bill Bakke of Native Fish Society, or Tom Wolf of Trout Unlimited. My good friend John Bracke would certainly qualify. John lives along Oregon's Nestucca river and has fought tirelessly for the wild trout, salmon and steelhead in that river. John is an aggressive conservationist who will not spare the feeling of those who intend to exploit our wild resources.
So if you intend to bestow the mantle of Hero of Conservation on anyone it would be wise to be sure that they truly are heroes.
There are a lot of impostors, posers and down right frauds out there.

Get Up Off of Your Ass and Do Something

2010-08-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

The following article speaks for itself and there is really nothing more I can add to it. It speaks to me and if you give a shit about the environment, conservation, wild fish and a whole myriad of other things that we fly anglers are supposed to care about then it should speak to you as well. I not implying that what is good for Shane should be good for all of you but this is just common sense.
Know this much though. There has not been a single wild salmon, trout or steelhead that has been saved by posting on Facebook or an internet fishing forum about what a damn shame it all is and how mad we should be.
I can talk this way because the same goes for me and my involvement...it's not enough!
Thanks go to Tom Davis of Native Fish Society for emailing this to me and others.

Calling All Fanatics
Protecting nature should be more important than enjoying it

by Derrick Jensen Orion magazine
I’VE ALWAYS kind of hated that quote by Edward Abbey about being a half-hearted fanatic (“Be as I am—a reluctant enthusiast . . . a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic”). Not so much because of the racism and misogyny that characterized some of his work. And not even because of the quote itself. But rather because of how that quote has been too often misused by people who put too much emphasis on the half-hearted, and not nearly enough emphasis on the fanatic.The fundamental truth of our time is that this culture is killing the planet. We can quibble all we want—and quibble too many do—about whether it is killing the planet or merely causing one of the six or seven greatest mass extinctions in the past several billion years, but no reasonable person can argue that industrial civilization is not grievously injuring life on Earth.
Given that fact, you’d think most people would be doing everything they can to protect life on this planet—the only life, to our knowledge, in the universe. Sadly, you’d be wrong.
I think often of a line by the psychiatrist R. D. Laing, “Few books today are forgivable.” He wrote this, I believe, because we have become so very alienated from our own experience, from who we are, and this alienation is so destructive to others and to ourselves that if a book does not take this alienation as its starting point and work toward rectifying it, we’d all be better off looking at blank pieces of paper. Or better, actually experiencing something (or someone). Or even better, entering, as Martin Buber might have written, into a relationship with something or someone.
I agree with Laing that few books today are forgivable (and the same is true for films, paintings, songs, relationships, lives, and so on), and I agree for the reasons I believe he was giving. But there’s another reason I think few books (films, paintings, songs, relationships, lives, and so on) are forgivable. There’s that little nagging fact that this culture is murdering the planet. Any book (film, painting, song, relationship, life, and so on) that doesn’t begin with this basic understanding—that the culture is murdering the planet (in part because of this alienation; and of course this murder then in turn fuels further alienation)—and doesn’t work toward rectifying it is not forgivable, for an infinitude of reasons, one of which is that without a living planet there can be no books. There can be no paintings, songs, relationships, lives, and so on. There can be nothing.
The conservation biologist Reed Noss has called his field a “combat discipline”: we are in a crisis, and our attitudes and actions need to reflect this. And so I sometimes try to apply the Ed Abbey quote to the work of a firefighter. If you were trapped in a burning building, would you want the firefighters to be reluctant enthusiasts, part-time crusaders, half-hearted fanatics? Should the mother of a very sick child be reluctant or half-hearted in defense of that child?
I’m not saying we don’t need recreation. I’m not saying we don’t need amusement. Hell, I have three mystery novels in my backpack right now. I’m not saying a firefighter doesn’t need to rest—having hauled seven unconscious people out of the burning building, we could hardly blame the firefighter for grabbing a quick drink of water or sometimes taking a day off; and I’m not saying the mother doesn’t need to sleep or take some time away from the stress of caring and advocating for her child. We all need the occasional escape, or even indulgence. But we must be able to pursue those escapes and indulgences with the knowledge that others are rushing into the burning building, that others have taken over the job of advocating for whatever is necessary to heal that child.
And that, frankly, is part of the problem: there aren’t nearly enough of us working anywhere near hard enough to stop this culture from killing the planet. Obviously, or the world would be getting healthier, instead of being desecrated with ever increasing speed. If there were more of us trying to stop this culture from killing the planet, then those who are working themselves to death could afford to take a little time off and not feel as if things would fall apart while they climbed the mountains or ran the rivers.
“It is not enough to fight for the land,” Abbey continued; “it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there.” But this part of the quote might actually bother me more, in part because of its fatalism and in part because we—humans—are not the point. Yes, absolutely we should enjoy and commune with and make love with and touch and be with and absorb and be absorbed by the land. Yes, absolutely we should sit in the sun and feel it warm our bones, and we should listen to the whispering voices of trees, and we should open our ears and our hearts to the voices of frogs. But when the forests are being flattened and the frogs are being extirpated, enjoying them isn’t enough. So long as there’s still something we can do to protect them, shouldn’t protecting them be far more important than enjoying them? Because, once again, we are not the point. The trees, the frogs, do not exist for us. It is our culture that is killing them, and it is up to us to stop it.
Have you ever had anyone you love die or come to grievous harm needlessly, from some unnecessary act of stupidity or violence? I have. And in the aftermath I have never wished I had spent more time enjoying this other, but rather wishing I had acted differently such that I was able to prevent the unnecessary losses.
As my artist and writer friend Stephanie McMillan wrote in her essay “Artists: Raise Your Weapons”: “If we lived in a time of peace and harmony, then creating escapist, serotonin-boosting hits of mild amusement wouldn’t be a crime. If all was well, such art might enhance our happy existence. There’s nothing wrong with pleasure or decorative art. But in times like these, for an artist not to devote her/his talents and energies to creating cultural weapons of resistance is a betrayal of the worst magnitude, a gesture of contempt against life itself. It is unforgivable.”
I would extend her comments beyond art: in times like these, for anyone not to devote her/his talents and energies to defending the planet is a betrayal of the worst magnitude, a gesture of contempt against life itself. It is unforgivable.
The questions I keep coming back to are these: in this time, as countless multitudes of humans and nonhumans suffer for the profits and luxuries of a few, and as species go extinct at rates greater than any in the last scores of millions of years—as large-vertebrate evolution itself is being halted—what does the world need? What does the world need from me?
I want to be very clear: I don’t mean to imply that we shouldn’t love the world or each other (human or nonhuman). Or that we shouldn’t play games or have fun. I’m not saying we shouldn’t rest or go hiking or read good books (and Desert Solitaire is a great book). I’m not even saying I have a problem with Abbey’s quote as such; my main problem with the quote is the many would-be activists who use it as an excuse for inaction.
We are in a crisis, and we need to act as such. We need to rescue people from the burning building. We need everybody’s help.

Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute The Sky Is Crying

2010-08-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

August 27, 1990 the music world lost a legendary performer...I still miss him

Hatcheries

2010-08-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

Hatcheries are an unavoidable fact here in the Pacific Northwest. Good, bad or indifferent they have been here for over 100 years and are likely here to stay for 100 more.
Some and probably most are glad that salmon, trout and steelhead hatcheries will always be with us. They mean a fish to take home for the grill and many ego pictures for the internet.
As for me I am in the minority about salmonid hatcheries. I think they have spelled the demise for many wild salmonids populations over the decades and science backs me up.
I can easily imagine fly fishing the rest of my years without hatchery fish but I know that will not happen.
So okay people want to eat a fresh hatchery trout or salmon from time to time and I do not really begrudge them of that since our license and tags sales pay for hatchery mitigation through the Mitchell Act.
Remember though,science tells us that throwing hatchery fish into a population of wild salmon and steelhead is detrimental to the wild fish. Salmon and steelhead are a resilient fish that can take a lot of abuse and still recover. There are two things, however, that they cannot and historically have not recovered from and that is hatchery influence, over harvest.
The hatchery salmonids compete for food, intermingle and spawn with their wild counterparts and dilute the wild genes of a population of wild salmon or steelhead.
We can even look at poor ocean conditions and know that wild salmonids have faced this in the past and came back.
When wild salmonids are over harvested, whether by commercial or sport interests then those are fish that will not come back to spawn.
When those fish do come back to spawn their wild genes are diluted when hatchery fish are allowed to stray into their spawning waters. If they do produce offsprings those offsprings must compete with larger hatchery smolt that are not only bigger but are more aggressive and even carnivorous. Smaller wild smolt cannot compete with them for what little food might be available in any given stream and are eaten by the larger smolt.
Some of you may look at this and wonder if I am just talking out of selfishness or making this information up...I'm not! Volumes have been written about the adverse effects of hatchery salmonids dumped into an area that has a population of wild salmonids.
If you get the warm fuzzies when you release a hatchery salmon or steelhead to show what a great friend you are to the fish all you have done is harm wild salmon or steelhead.
You paid a bunch of money for that hatchery fish so harvest the damn thing.
You might even say that we fly fishers are doing nothing more than "torturing" wild trout for our own selfish pleasure. I can only speak for my self on this absurd and ignorant claim. I know how to safely release the fish I hook. I have no need for that glory shot of my holding a wild fish out of water in order to show what a mighty angler I am. Those days are long gone! I know that there is a 100% mortality rate when a wild fish is clubbed to death like so many "sportsmen" would like to do.
I do know one thing though and comes from doing redd surveys the past few years. Wild salmon, stee;head and trout are disappearing..the numbers do not lie folks they are just not there in the numbers that they used to be.
Someone naively said that they though the little smolt that jump in the summer pools in coastal river are jumping for joy. Well that gives them intelligence they just don't have and that sounds like something PETA would say.
I would be willing to bet that some of those wild smolt are jumping, not from joy,but to get away from over sized hatchery smolt that want to eat them.
Please harvest ALL hatchery fish you encounter! If it's missing an adipose then kill it! You will be doing the wild salmon, steelhead and trout a huge favor.

The River Why - Movie Trailer

2010-08-19T01:08:00.000-07:00

0 to - 6 A Story by Moon

2010-08-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

Moon has contributed to The Quiet Pool before and his fly fishing musings are always enjoyable.
This is his latest "adventure" with his long suffering(and expert fly tyer)
Monica

Look, I don’t like competition when it comes to fly fishing…. Competition as it pertains to anything to do with our life style (fly-fishing) seems to me to be a violation in nature.
Though it may not be in the rules, competition as to fly-fishing goes against the very spirit of the thang most of us strive to protect. Even you dirty damn good for nothing golfers have mulligan’s….. (just saying is all).

And this is what I tried to explain to my fishing partner the other night on the river…. Oh, she wanted to keep score…. So in the end to protect marital bliss and all that happy home bullshit, I let her…….

Yes, she caught four fish while I was sitting on a log in the shade retying and she thought she was all that, but as Monica soon found out – keeping score isn’t cracked up to be all she thought it was going to be….

First – if you’re going to use a bobber, then just take the penalty stroke and fish with one. Don’t try and skirt the rules by tying a nymph onto a dry fly…. This is an abomination and can get you disqualified. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard that the national headquarters of the FFF may even be looking into taking her membership away…. And I for one want to lend my support to them on this up-most important matter of ethics…. After all – this ain’t golf.

So after I explained the rules to her (again) she wasn’t so damn hot to keep score… yes, you caught three fish on a sub surface fly. But NOT only does that not count as proper fly-fishing. But it counts as a (negative) or penalty fish as to the “spirit” of fly fishing…

So that’s already (Moon – zero, to Monica’s negative three)…

Then you add in that she foul hooked a fourth one and that’s a negative two…. One for foul hooking a trout, plus another penalty fish for foul hooking one sub-surface with the abomination rig…..

So that’s (Moon 0 to Monica’s (neg) “-“5)……

Then I added in one more penalty fish just because she wanted to keep score in the first place. After all – this was a strict violation of the “spirit of the thang” ….

So the score card read (Moon 0 vs, Monica negative 6)….

Oh she threw a fit not to mention my water bottle up in the rough…. And proceeded to protest my score keeping all the while calling me very ugly names…. But in the end I explained that – “yes, your right honey – but” though I will admit might does not make right. It is enough at times….. so if you want to keep score, go play golf sweet-pea – cuz there are no mulligan’s in fly-fishing….

And so even though I never touched a fish, I did fish proper and with that – managed to hold onto my “fishing god” status for yet another year….

Life is Good Enough.

Used by Permission

El Rio Deschutes es Muy Ventoso

2010-08-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

Que? Usted dice? No habla espanol? Oh mi calidad! Actually I don't speak Spanish all that well but was in a silly mood so if by chance there are some readers from Spanish speaking countries looking in then I thought they might like a bit of their native tongue to start out this latest epic entry.
I've fished the Deschutes for many, many years and the ferocity of the wind and it always catches me by surprise although I know I am going to have to deal with it more times than not. It's like it has to remind you just who it is that is in control of your day of fly fishing.
Well I never doubted it for one minute! On Monday the wind had it's way with me and in between hurricane like gusts I did manage a few casts.I tried to get a picture of the full force of the wind as it took my fly line and threw it back in my face but the image does not do it justice.
Some people complain about the wind on the Deschutes and while it is a bit bothersome I think it defines the personality of the wild western river the Deschutes is. Without the wind or the treacherous rapids or the rattle snakes or the imposing canyon ot the dnagerous wading the Deschutes would just be another ordinary river. In my fly angling life I do not want ordinary and hence my affection for this river of danger and beauty.
The Deschutes is not for the meek or timid and I always feel that way when I fish it. If you never venture out of your safe little world and cannot bear the thought of not being able to douse your flies in shrimp scent while you attempt to impersonate a fly fisherman then stay away from this river. I do not mean this as a warning but it's true that if you cannot endure the wind and the ruggedness of the Deschutes you will in all likelihood not enjoy this river.
This was my first steelhead trip of the year and it was a very enjoyable one. I fished all the likely spots but did not find a willing steelhead in any of them. The wind made for tall tales of the strikes I missed from huge steelhead because of the wind.
While swinging flies for winter steelhead offers it's own unique challenges and the lush green beauty of a coastal river in winter is in stark contrast to the subdued hues of central Oregon I look forward to many great trips east of the mountains this year.
So in closing I would just like to say I Amor el río de Deschutes y de su cabeza de acero or something like that.

A Ray of Hope?

2010-08-06T23:28:00.000-07:00

I do not like salmon and steelhead hatcheries and I have not been shy about my dislike for them. When it comes to the demise of wild salmonids throughout this region hatchery programs are one of the biggest.
I posted the link below for the information to these possible cuts.

National Marine Fisheries Service to Consider Cutting Columbia River Hatchery Plants

I'm All for Wild Fish but......

2010-08-04T23:30:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of posers, frauds and down right liars in the Pacific northwest. You hear them I'm sure.
The usually start out by joining a pseudo-conservation group like CCA or Northwest Steelheaders. They swear up and down that they want to fight hard for wild salmon and steelhead. Their main argument is getting the "Goddamn gill netters" off of the Columbia because they are using non-selective gear to harvest salmon and killing wild fish.
Gill nets do pretty much kill everything that runs into them so that argument is valid. The thing that troubles me enough to call people these frauds is when push comes to shove they only support wild salmon and steelhead as long as it doesn't inconvenience them or when conservation efforts cost them money.
The most recent whine fest from these guys concerned the water temperatures on the Deschutes river. Recently PGE has been releasing water from the upper part of the reservoir behind Pelton dam where the water is warmer instead of their former practice of releasing water from near the bottom where the water is cooler.
Historically, before Pelton dam was built, the water ran warmer. The wild steelhead were adapted to it. Now days, with the hatchery addiction that most sports anglers are strung out on, when the water ran cooler the Deschutes attracted all kinds of Columbia hatchery steelhead strays that would journey up the Deschutes where the water was cooler that it was in the main Columbia.
Well to make a long story short the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the hatchery junkies has drowned out reason.
Then we have the sulfite egg cure controversy. It has been proven that sulfite based cures are harmful to juvenile salmonids! Harmful enough to kill them.
All of the phony conservationists are crying foul. These pussies are mostly bait guides that cannot get their clients into salmon and steelhead without the help of sodium sulfite cured salmon roe that they sell for $30 a quart. These guys will tell you all day long how much they love and care for wild salmon and steelhead....what a bunch of lying bullshitters they are.
Theses are the assholes who support the various steelhead broodstock programs because it makes them money.
I have never claimed to be a champion for the cause of wild salmonids. I know there is more I could and should do but I will say this much these guys are hypocrites in the worse way in my opinion. You just cannot be "sort of" in favor of saving wild salmon and steelhead. You cannot be "I'm for wild salmon and steelhead as long as it doesn't cost me money"
There is no half way here folks.
It all comes down to sacrifice and you and I have to ask ourselves what we would sacrifice for the betterment of cold water fisheries.
If you are not 100% for wild salmon and steelhead then you might as well be 0%

Time to Ban Sulfite Based Bait Cures

2010-07-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Native Fish Society, Trout Unlimited and other interested partys have petitioned ODFW to ban all sulfite based eggs cures.
Research has shown that sulfite cures have been proven to kill juvenile salmonids.

Here is what I wrote on The Quiet Pool last December

So something we have suspected for many years turns out to be true! Sodium Sulfite cured salmon and steelhead eggs kill fish.

When this study was made public a few well known bait guide David Johnson was quoted on ifish.net as saying

"They should do the same smolt study with twinkies and see how many die"

"I'll quit using cured eggs if you quit using toilet paper"

One unenlightened bait guide from Washington brags about how he discards left over baits in the river to "imprint" on the juvenile salmon and steelhead what to look for when they return in a couple of years....sheer brilliance huh?

The fact is these knuckle draggers have never evolved as anglers. They cannot leave their comfort zone of bait use no matter what the consequences.

This study is just another hurdle that wild salmonid must face and so far the professional guides out on the river could not care less.

The article below was taken from Bill Bakke's Home Waters and Wild Fish

CURED SALMON EGG BAIT KILLS JUVENILE SALMON AND STEELHEAD

By Bill Bakke - Native Fish Society

In 2007 Jeff Misler asked the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to test cured salmon eggs for toxic compounds, for he was concerned juvenile salmonids were being killed by ingesting the bait.

Oregon State University and ODFW researchers conducted the study for ODFW and made the following discovery: Cured salmon eggs killed juvenile salmon and steelhead.

The research discovered that within a 23 day span 30% of the juvenile salmonids were killed. Upon further investigation, they found that eggs cured with sodium sulfite were lethal. It is this chemical that kills the fish.

They also tested the eggs by giving them a soak to see if they were less lethal. They were testing whether fishing softened their impact. Soak times ranged from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, but the results were the same: the fish died.

Salmon eggs are a favored bait used by anglers fishing for salmon and steelhead. Anglers cure their own eggs or buy them, but if sodium sulfite is used in the curing process they are fishing a poisoned bait.

Additional research on nutrient enrichment of salmon and steelhead streams has pointed out the fact that eggs are preferred by juvenile salmonids. Most salmon eggs are available in early winter months when the juvenile fish are seeking food in cold water when other food supplies are less abundant.

Juvenile fish are seeking the fat rich eggs and anglers fishing steelhead and salmon are using cured eggs. The combination is lethal.

ODFW officials said in a news release that “We’ve already talked with several manufactures and we’re encouraged by their commitment to solving this problem.”

However, ODFW researchers said they “…cannot predict what impact, if any, the ingestion of cured eggs by juvenile fish has on the final size of the adult population.”

In the research proposal to investigate the toxic effect of cured salmon eggs on juvenile salmonids, there is evidence of even more mortality than what was found in the OSU research. A 1979 study showed that consumption of borax cured eggs led to decreased growth and an increase in plasma corticosteroids in chinook and rainbow trout juveniles. Furthermore, we recently observed between 50-60% mortality in a preliminary study feeding cured salmon eggs (Clements Pers Obs).

Measuring the impact based on the effect on adult salmon and steelhead production, is like taking pins out of the voodoo doll. They can reason that not all juveniles survive to return as adults, so the loss of a few or even a gob of young fish is, at best, immaterial and mitigates any need to manage the use of eggs as bait.

At a time when most of our wild salmon and steelhead are depleted and designated a threatened species, sensitive species, and candidate species for ESA-listing, one would hope that the management authorities would recognize a problem rather than trying to minimize it.

Salmon Are Vital

2010-07-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

We all know about the economic value of healthy salmon runs to our northwest rivers. Tourism, commercial and recreation dollars and the well being of many towns along both the Columbia and north coast is vital to hundreds of thousands of people.
How about the ecological value? The value of salmon to the well being to the river in this region cannot be counted because it is huge.
Having healthy salmon runs and what they add to the ecosystem is important to not only future generations of salmon but other salmonid species like steelhead and trout as well.
Juvenile salmon and steelhead depend on the nutrients supplied by the decaying carcasses to sustain them during their stay in fresh water before their out migration to salt water. Aquatic insect that these juveniles also feed on depend on those carcasses not to mention other stream side animals that feed on the dead salmon.
When this cycle is interrupted by a lack of salmon then the whole river life cycle is interrupted. Young salmonids will not survive to return to the river for future generations. Without salmon and steelhead returning to their spawning grounds the future will be bleak! Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife claimed that 5 spawning salmon per river mile is enough to sustain the needs of the river for the future. Thanks God that science and a federal judge intervened.
We need spawning salmon and I cannot put it more succinctly than that. When wild salmon are removed from the system, whether it be by sports anglers, commercial fisheries or even tribal nets then those fish will, obviously, not spawn and the progeny they would have produced will be lost forever. Those decaying carcasses will not be their for the salmon and steelhead juveniles to feed upon.
Am I painting a bleak picture? Yes I am but it's reality folks.
Those of you that use salmon roe as bait might want to think about the long range consequences when killing a female chinook for her prized eggs.
Many experts think that the over harvest of egg laying fall chinook contribute to the decline of coastal fall chinook runs.
I would think ODFW would recognize "hen hunting" as a culprit to dwindling salmon populations but they seem to think that this is not a problem.
The numbers don't lie and instead of ranting about seas lions and Caspian Terns some of you bait guys should release that over ripe hen.

Think about it guys because you can play a part in salmon recovery instead of being one of the road blocks hindering it.

Thanks
to Bill Bakke for some of the material used in this post

Deschutes Steelhead in Hot Water...Literally!

2010-07-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

Lots of debate going on at the various fishing websites here in the Pacific Northwest but, of course, it's mostly mindless whining by guides and hatchery steelhead lovers.
I am not going to offer an opinion on this because guess what? I wouldn't know what I am talking about just like most of the other internet geniuses that do have an uneducated opinion.
I decided to communicate with Bill Bakke of Native Fish Society who does know what he is talking about and here is the the information he emailed me.

Bakke spoke with Don Ratliff, biologist for PGE, about temperature profile changes for the lower river due to adjustments in temperature below the dams from the newly constructed fish passage and temperature adjustment tower at Round Butte Reservoir.

He asked the following questions:

1. Have you modeled the temperature changes using blend 17 at the mouth of the river, 100.1 miles downstream?
2.Have you modeled the effect of temperature changes in the lower river on resident trout, steelhead, and fall chinook?
3. Have you modeled the effect on small mouth bass breeding response in the lower river due to temperature changes?
4. Can adjustments be made in outflow temperature to deal with high ambient temperatures in the lower canyon and its affect on water temperatures?
5. Is there funding available to monitor the temperature effects on fish below the dams?

Here are the answers he received
Question 1:
According to Ratliff the temperature changes have not been modeled at the mouth using blend 17, however, the work of Chuck Huntington on temperature changes in the lower river have been used to estimate the effect of these changes.
Question 2:
The temperature changes and their effect on salmonids in the lower river, primarily below Sherars Falls to the mouth have not been determined.
Question 3:
The improved spawning and rearing conditions for small mouth bass in the lower Deschutes River below Sherars Falls due to temperature modification have not been evaluated.
Question 4:
Water temperatures in the lower Deschutes will be cooler due to releases at the dam in August and September, but it would be difficult to make adjustments in releases of water to adjust for hot ambient temperatures affecting the river in July. A concern regarding the flexibility to adjust temperature to meet environmental hot spells in the lower river is unclear because of existing regulations.
Question 5:
There is no funding available from PGE to monitor temperature effects on fish below the dam. This would have an impact on adaptive management for temperature in the lower river. Monitoring funds are directed at re-establishing salmon and steelhead above the dam.

I'm not going to try to second guess the PGE biologist but it seems to me that this whole thing was kind of a "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" by PGE.
One thing the colder water temperatures do is bring in straying hatchery steelhead destined for other watershed like the Grand Ronde. Higher temperatures would help keep those fish out in the cooler Columbia and reduce that straying.
One thing we do not need is hatchery steelhead straying into the Deschutes to inter act with wild steelhead that belong there.
I know that the Deschutes is a favorite river for many anglers throughout the region and of course they welcome steelhead to catch no matter what river they are headed for.
Let's also not forget the probable increase in small mouth bass that warmer temps will bring. I can just see it now! Metallic painted super charged bass boats hauling ass up and down the Deschutes in search of a "hawg" or two.
All I can say is I really don't trust PGE to do the right thing and I certainly do not respect any of these "Johnny Come Lately" concerned guides that are worried that their hatchery meal ticket is not going to get punched this year.
Stay tuned.....

Please Help Kyron!!!

2010-07-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

For the Brokenhearted

2010-07-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Fly Fishing Ethics

2010-06-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

For various reasons we fly fishermen are held to a higher standard as far as angling ethics go and while most of us try to exhibit good angling ethics some don't. So if you are confused or wondering what good fly fishing ethics are then you've come to the right place.
Here are a few to ponder.

Spawning Fish

Never fish in an area where you can see spawning fish working. I know it's tempting but just move on and let those spawners do their thing in peace.

Redds

Same as above. You want to leave spawning redds undisturbed. Not sure what a spawning redd looks like? Google it!

Low Holing

Gear and bait fishermen do this a lot and if you have evolved from the gut slinging crowd into fly fishing then leave this rude habit, along with your Powerbait in the past. Always ask if it's okay to step below a fellow fly angler! I like at least 100 yards of swing water below me and on the short coastal winter streams that is hard to come by. Even on big rivers like the Deschutes it is hard to get that much space. Some fly guides take it to the other extreme and act like they need a mile of river below them.

Barbless Hooks and Nets

If you intend to release your catch then pinch those barbs and try to avoid using a net. Sometimes you have to net your fish so be sure it's a rubberized net that won't remove slime from the fish. Be sure you are educated on handling wild fish.

Photos of your catch

If you've hooked a wild fish then keep it in the water. It is not good for the fish to be held out of the water for your ego shot.

Remove hatchery fish from the river

You and I pay BIG money for these fish so for cryin' out loud utilize them! You are not doing the wild salmonid populations of your river any favors by releasing hatchery salmon, steelhead and trout. Unfit to eat? Simple!Bonk it, Tag it if that is the law, open up the body cavity and THEN release it back into the river. This will provide stream nutrients for smolt, aquatic insects, crawfish and other river life. You can also take it home and use it for crab bait or fertilizer.
Disclaimer - This is what I do and might be against the fishing regulations so do this at your own risk.

Leave the river in better shape than you found it

Pretty simple actually. Anything you brought in please take it with you and maybe some extra.

It's Hatcheries to the Rescue

2010-06-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Once again hatcheries are going to ride to the rescue and save us all! The California Department of Fish and Game released 16.5 million fall chinook smolt as an effort to bolster horrendous returns of fall chinook in the states central valley streams.
16.5 million is a shit load of smolt! However it is pretty well known that fall chinook hatchery programs do not work out well and I would be surprised if this turned out to be any different.
In Oregon we have our own hatchery fall chinook failures in nearly every coastal river from the Necanicum all the way south. We don't see the massive numbers like California is planting but we get about a .03% return. That makes those fish that do return about as rare as Sasquatch and about as expensive as an Imelda Marcos shoe buying trip.
This all reminds me of the saying "The height of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result"
So good luck California! I'm sure you are going to need it.

Here is the original press release from California F&W

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) completed the release of 16.5 million young Sacramento Fall-Run Chinook salmon in northern California on June 15. The majority of the young salmon, called smolts, were placed into acclimation pens in San Pablo Bay prior to release, while others were released in rivers that flow to the bay. Smolts that survive to adulthood will return in two to four years to spawn in Central Valley rivers, boosting the recovery of the species in California waters.

“We hope this year’s above-average water flow and the use of a variety of release sites will improve the overall survival of the smolts and increase the return of adult salmon to their home rivers,” said Neil Manji, DFG Fisheries Branch Chief.
On June 8, the last major release of 650,000 Sacramento Fall-Run Chinook smolts took place near Mare Island Straits adjacent to San Pablo Bay. They were trucked from Nimbus Hatchery in Rancho Cordova to the site, confined in net pens to acclimate and towed out into the bay and released on the outgoing tide. The acclimation pens are operated by the nonprofit Fishery Foundation of California (FFC).
Since the collapse of the Sacramento Fall-Run Chinook salmon stocks in 2007, DFG has stepped up acclimation efforts and selected new release sites to help improve survival rates. This year, new sites for release included the mouth of the American River (to boost returns to the American River) and Eddos Harbor on the San Joaquin River near the Antioch Bridge (to boost returns to Mokelumne and Merced rivers).
“The releases went well,” said Biologist Kari Burr, FFC Acclimation Project Manager. “Once adults return and information is collected, biologists will be able to fine-tune release locations for the coming years.”
At release sites in the San Pablo Bay and Eddos Harbor, acclimation pens provided safe haven for the 3- to 5-inch-long salmon when they were released from pitch-dark transport tanks into bay and river waters. The pens allow the smolts to adjust to their new surroundings inside the safety of the net pens.
The release sites were selected in order to minimize in-river losses due to predation, pollution and other causes, and to help minimize the number of salmon that return to a different river than the one where they were raised.
The salmon smolts were raised at and trucked in from four DFG-operated Central Valley hatcheries.

The Story of Heartbreak Hill

2010-06-18T00:55:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm a typical angler. Somewhat superstitious, prone to rituals and mostly full of shit!
With all of that in mind I want to tell you the story of "Heartbreak Hill"
Through my fishing life I have known more than one "Heartbreak Hill"
Let's see...there's the steep hill going down into Cedar Creek on the Sandy. Then there are a few spots on the Wilson that I should call "Cardiac Hill" because I swear I am going to have a coronary infarction hauling my over fed carcass up to the road after fishing at that spot and so I don't fish there anymore.
The one I'm talking about is really a slight incline going east bound on Highway 6, better known as the Wilson River highway. It's not a hill one must ascend on foot either.
The reason I call it "Heartbreak Hill" is mainly because of the frame of mind I am most times in as I travel home after a day of swing flies for steelhead on the north coast..get it? I'm heartbroken that I didn't hook anything.
It's not always a heartbreak though. If I have a particularly good day on the river, whether it be hooking a fish or two or maybe something like seeing a bald eagle up close or a nice herd of elk. This last Tuesday I travelled to the north coast in search of trout or steelhead. My first stop was at my former go to hole for big cutthroat trout. This spot has yielded many big trout for me over the years but since ODFW, in it's infinite stupidity, deemed that these wild trout are plentiful enough to kill a few my former honey hole is now occupied by plunkers! You can only imagine the horror and anger I felt last year as I was shown a cutthroat trout near 20" gutted and in some assholes ice chest.
It was on to another former go to spot that the trout just don't hang out in that much anymore. After doing my typical ritual of working this spot downstream I was rewarded with the unmistakable take of a coastal cutthroat trout. These trout are not nibblers or slurpers as some rainbows tend to be. They announce their presence firmly,aggressively and acrobatically after they are hooked.
I was pretty pleased with that and hoped that there were other trout present but there were not so on I moved to another nearby river.
I swung steelhead flies for a while with no success and I decided to move upriver to another favorite spot.
I got a very strong take on my first cast into a quick run but he didn't stick so I moved a bit upstream and after playing tag with this fish he finally committed and I played him until he did a long line release and went on his way. I fished my way down stream but had no other willing trout. Now I know many of you catch a lot more fish than me but in my advancing years I no longer feel the need to whip the water to a froth and put up big numbers. Those days are gone and I have my memories of fish long past.
These days a couple of quality encounters do me just fine and this day was no different.
As I travelled home I did not go up "Heartbreak Hill" this day. The day was a success all in all and this old angler was more than satisfied with what he took home from his day on the river.
I guess "Heartbreak Hill" rarely shows up much anymore. I cannot think of too many bad days I have had while fishing. Sometime it's just the little things that make a trip a success. If I find a nice agate or quartz then it's a great day indeed.
It's important to me to make sure a day does not end with a ride of"Heartbreak Hill" and I fish or don't fish in my own way to see to it that that happens.
I would think that some first time visitors to this blog thinking it's site full of fly fishing secrets..sorry to disappoint. I chose the title "The Quiet Pool" for a reason and after some refinement over the 4 years of it's existence it's about where I wanted it to be from the beginning.
And while I still do my rants at the mismanagement of ODFW I mostly just like to reflect.
Thanks for reading

Spawning Wild Steelhead

2010-06-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

Wild steelhead spawning in the river is an awesome thing to witness. When you take into account that these ocean going rainbow trout travel thousands of miles into the ocean from their river of birth and return to the same river 2-3 years later boggles the imagination.
This is why the conservation of wild salmon, steelhead and trout is so important and something very near and dear to my heart.