Tell Us Something We Didn't Already Know

This is disturbing news folks but it's not surprising. Tough to lay the blame at any one source but the ultimate culprit is us!


The Following article is courtesy of the Sacramento Bee

Fall Chinook Salmon on Verge of Collapse in California

by Matt Weiser

The Sacramento River's fall chinook salmon population is headed for a collapse, according to new federal data, threatening the upcoming commercial and recreational fishing season on one of the country's most important runs.

The fall chinook run in the Central Valley has long been touted as a conservation success story. As many other species declined, fall salmon spawning in the Sacramento River and its tributaries held reliably above 200,000 fish for 15 years.

But in fall 2007, the number of spawners suddenly fell to just 90,414 fish, the second-lowest total since 1973. That includes wild and hatchery-raised fish.

The news came in a memo e-mailed Monday from the director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council to council board members.

The numbers are preliminary and normally are not made public until February. But they represent a steep drop from the 2006 return of about 270,000 chinook.

"It's frightening to think how far we've fallen so quickly," said J.D. Richey, a salmon fishing guide on the American River, a key tributary that contributes to the Valley's chinook run. "It's pretty bleak."

Even more worrisome, the count of 2-year-old chinook returning to spawn in 2007 was just 2,021 fish. That is not just a record low, but also a mere fraction of 36-year average of about 40,000 fish. Early spawners, also called "jacks," are considered a reliable indicator of the number of 3-year-old fish expected to spawn in the following year.

In addition, the 90,414 total falls below the council's minimum conservation target of 122,000 fish, which may compel officials to shorten the 2008 fishing season both in the ocean and in Central Valley rivers. The council meets in Sacramento March 8-14 to begin that regulatory process for the season that begins in May.

"The magnitude of the low abundance … is such that the opening of all marine and freshwater fisheries impacting this important salmon stock will be questioned," Donald McIsaac, the council's executive director, wrote in the memo. He called the numbers "an early alert to what at this point appears to be an unprecedented collapse."

The Central Valley run includes fish that spawn on the San Joaquin River. But the vast majority of the fall chinook spawn in the Sacramento River and its tributaries. These fish mainly range north in the Pacific Ocean, supporting the fishing industry in Washington and Oregon as well as California.

In 2006, the salmon season was drastically curtailed to protect the smaller Klamath River chinook. With fishermen still recovering from that, another reduction would sting.

"It's going to be devastating," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "It could mean no fishing at all."

It remains unclear why the run fell off so sharply in 2007. But many indicators point to poor ocean health, which may, in turn, be caused by factors linked to global warming, according to researchers.

For several years, changes in wind patterns have halted or delayed deep upwelling currents in the ocean. The upwelling drives a food cycle that produces plankton, which in turn feed tiny shrimp-like krill. The krill, in turn, are the primary food for young salmon spending their first year in the ocean.

The upwelling disruptions may have contributed to a decline in krill along with their salmon predators. Krill also feed a variety of seabirds, many of which also have declined in number.

Other experts said they believe poor environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are to blame. Six other fish species are declining there due to a combination of near-record water exports, poor water quality and competition for food from invasive species.

"It's just another piece of evidence that our management of the rivers and the estuary are insufficient to support these species," said Tina Swanson, senior scientist at the Bay Institute. "We need to do better, and really quickly."

Many anglers fear a reduced season in 2008, but it may not be much worse than what they just went through because of the poor chinook return.

Richey, for example, had only 10 percent of the usual number of clients booking salmon trips on the American River last year.

"I basically just stopped offering salmon (trips) because there wasn't anything to catch," he said.

"To me, it just felt like there was a void in the Valley. It was odd. I guess having the chinook was something I've taken for granted all these years."

Just Another Dead Wild Steelhead

The above photo appeared on the northwest's largest sports fishing internet forum and yes that is an intact adipose fin. It will no doubt spark some debate among some of the enlightened few that care that this steelhead was killed for this fisherman's glory shot but, unfortunately it will get far too many "atta boys"
Wonder if that dead wild steelhead tasted good? Certainly a wild steelhead must taste great or there would be no reason to kill them right?
Do you suppose this picture of this fellows grand achievement will reside in some drawer for years to come and that will be the only evidence this wild steelhead existed?
Some have said why even post these pictures of dead wild steelhead and the ignorant anglers who killed them?
I post them because I know there are some of you that read this blog who give a damn. I post these pictures to keep us motivated and focused on the ignorance that still prevails among the sports fishing community.
We cannot continue to allow these fish to be marginalized! They are a precious resource that must be protected and stood up for or they will be gone just like that! How many times have you heard that old and foolish statement that there are no "true" wild fish any more? That is the excuse that is used by the ignorant to justify the harvest of wild salmonids.
I will continue to post these egomaniacs pictures to show how far we still have to go in the ongoing battle for wild fish.

Stop the Insanity!!!

Anyone remember Susan Powter? She was that manic crew cut wearing blond exercise and diet guru and television huckster from the 90's who assaulted our senses with her commercials. Her catch phrase was "Stop the Insanity!!!" I always thought she was referring to her own commercials and so I took her advice and turned the channel.
I think she may have been on to something with that phrase though. I would like to apply it to our current wild fish management here in the north west.
I was talking to a friend who has a copy of the 1953 Oregon Fishing regulations and was amazed at just how progressive those regs were fifty five years ago. There were actually closures and protections of wild salmon and steelhead that were years ahead of their times. Sixty oneyears ago apparently someone at ODFW had the fore sight to think about the future of wild fish!
I feel the states of Oregon and Washington have taken huge steps backwards concerning wild salmonids in recent years though.
The steelhead broodstock programs on the Nestucca and Wilson rivers are a prime example of the harvest drunk mentality that pervades the thinking these days. We have convinced ourselves that we cannot possibly live without fish to harvest and by God we deserve fish to harvest! The broodstock programs are not the only misadventures of fishery management in this region.
Amazingly history has shown us time and time again just how resilient wild salmon and steelhead are. They have rebounded from poor logging practices, mining and even volcano eruptions! The main thing that has brought wild fish to their knees is.....hatchery fish. You can trace nearly every case of wild fish demise to the introduction of hatchery fish into the rivers of the region.
Wild winter steelhead were rebounding nicely on the north Oregon coast until these ill conceived broodstock programs started around 2001.They were started under the guise of better hatchery management but in reality they are nothing more than bait guide welfare programs. We see the decline but ODFW will not acknowledge it and any ground that was gained in bringing back wild fish from the brink has been lost. The proverbial one step forward and two steps back saying comes to mind here.
So here's to those of you that simply must have a fish to kill and the fishery managers that seem hell bent on sating that gluttony at the expense of wild fish. I hope in the end that you will be happy with your artificial and dwindling resource and the outraged fishing public that will want answers.
I find your thinking disturbing and disgusting but rest assured that those who truly do want to stop the insanity are not about to give up quite yet.
Oh and those of you that "pimp" the resource for financial gain? No, I haven't forgotten about you wonderful people who sell out wild fish without giving anything back. You know who you are and I have definitely had plenty to comment on you in past entries. You fishing website owners, guides and businesses who lack the integrity and conscience in favor of making money on the very thing you claim to love. If I believed in the existence of hell then I would certainly believe there is a special place for your kind there.
You might find my comments rude and angry but listen folks my passion comes from a deep seeded belief that we are responsible for the earth we leave our children and grandchildren. From the looks of things as they now are they are not going to be very pleased with us.

The Home I've Never Seen

I dream of a place that maybe one day I'll visit. I know I'll feel right at home and welcomed as the prodigal son returning to his home.It's a place I've never seen and yet I feel know it intimately at least in my heart.
I know the day that I step foot on this place it will be like deja vu. I've been here before but not in person but in my dreams.
That place, the place of my ancestors is Scotland.
I am a Stewart. The descendant of William Stewart of the highlands. The Stewart name is as ingrained in Scottish lore and history as single malt whiskey and Scotland's famous lochs.
I wouldn't begin to try to describe my ancestral home because as songwriter Jimmy Buffet once wrote "Don't try to describe the ocean if you've never seen it" but it's a place I know I will be quite familiar with the minute I step foot on it's soil.
My family is many generations removed from the "Auld Sod" but returning to it is a quest and yearning I cannot ignore and return I will.
I think this poem by Jeanette Simpson best describes my heart.

Oh Scotland, My Heart

Oh, Scotland!
How I long to walk your highlands and your glens,
To watch the flowers in your meadows wave in the breeze,
To hear the ocean waves noisily kiss the shores of your western isles,
To sift the sands of your beaches through my fingers,
To see the rainbows after your showers,
And to feel your history surround me.

You are not the land of my birth.
You are the land of my ancestors' birth.
My ancestors, who were involved in your struggles to become a nation,
Who were there in your shining hours and your darkest hours,
Who sacrificed for you and were shaped by your story
Then later left you for reasons I do not know,
But my innermost being knows there were tears at the parting.

As the ripples and tides of the ocean shape the sands and even the shorelines over time,
So did the experiences of my ancestors ripple through the generations and shape me.
The whispers and shouts of their patriotism have flowed through my blood since my birth.
And, I long to know your history, to fathom the riddles of your past.
I cannot read enough or learn enough about you.
I want to experience every facet of you so that I may better understand myself.

I must have inherited a homesickness gene, one that pines for you at times
And feels incomplete without my connection to you.
Your music soothes an empty corner of my heart
When I am aching to be on your sod.
My love for you permeates my soul.

No, you are not the land of my birth,
But you are the land of who I am.
You haunt me; your magic pulls me.
Oh, Scotland! You are my heart!

Neil Young - Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

In my humble and unlearned opinion this is maybe the greatest social commentary song ever written! As timely today as it was when Neil wrote it.
On election day of 2004 when exit polls indicated the end of the Bush reign of terror I drove around with this song blaring at full blast from my car stereo. Of course later that night the reality of an American despot who would not cede power so easily came crashing down on my hopes and the hope of millions of Americans. We had faith in the our electoral process and were confident that the constitutional mandate of free elections could not be derailed by corrupt little men like George Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove and our faith was betrayed.

.....that's one more kid that'll never go to school, never get to fall in love, never get to be cool KEEP ON ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD

What's Wrong With This Picture?

What a sad picture. I'm not begrudging this gentleman his triumph because that is a very nice, once in a life time wild steelhead. Many anglers fish their whole lives in search of such a fish. I've only hooked a couple of fish that came close to that size and both broke me off.
This wild steelhead was hooked, landed and killed legally on the Chetco river in southern Oregon. The Chetco is one of the few Oregon rivers where it is legal to harvest wild steelhead.
So you might wonder why this picture saddens me so much since this fellow did what he was legally entitled to do.
It's sad because of the lost potential of that fish. That steelhead spent at least three years in the ocean before returning to it's native river to spawn. It carried the genes to pass onto future generation it's unique qualities. It's sad because those of us that speak out for wild steelhead are shouted down by the harvest mentality crowds.
It's really more than just a dead wild steelhead though. It's the attitude behind it! The responses by some on the largest of fishing forums here in the northwest tells me a lot about the priorities that some "sportsmen" have. They could not care less about the well being of a vanishing run of fish. They couldn't care less about the fact that our wild steelhead runs are a mere fraction of what they were just a couple of decades ago. We have got to change and soon because there will not be any thing left to care about
I'm sure this fisherman had a few nice meals from this fish or maybe he even smoked it for the holidays. Yes I imagine it made a fine meal and this picture will live on the world wide web and in his memory for years to come. In a time when nearly every river in the northwest has hatchery steelhead to harvest don't you think that this fish could have been easily released? He could have taken a few quick measurements and photos to have a nice reproduction mount to hang on his wall. Wonder if this fish tasted good or if it now resides in the freezer among the frozen peas and carrots. We will never know this fishes fate except the the cold stark fact it never spawned and the progeny it could have produced will not return to the Chetco and that my friends is sad.

2008...What Lays Ahead?

Well faithful readers we made it through another year. For me it was a year of enlightenment, accomplishment and of course failure.
How was I enlightened you might ask? I would have to say that the biggest thing I learned was how politicized our fisheries have become. It seems like it is no longer a matter of doing what is the right thing for our resource but what is the most politically expedient. Often it's the path of least resistance that causes the decisions that are made to be made.

I would expect we will hear more politicians saying all the catch phrases that will capture the attention of the large sports fishing communities attention in order to garner their vote.
I've accomplished making a least some people more aware of the tasks before us in the coming year. We that care about wild fish know that this year could make or break the future of wild fish. We are not conceited enough to think we have so much clout as to pull it off ourselves either. Remember I've said before it should never be about individuals or personalities but the greater good of the fish.
Someone recently offered me help on a vital wild fish issue that is near and dear to me if I would go along with a plan to increase the daily take of hatchery steelhead. What is wrong with that scenario? Basically they offered to trade wild fish for more hatchery fish. So what happened to doing what is right instead of trying to do the old "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine" thing. Although I should be flattered by someone thinking I have that much influence I thought about it and it was just the wrong way of accomplishing things in my opinion.
I am just one person who cares for wild salmon, trout and steelhead and that's all. I look back on 2007 and realize that I have failed by not doing enough to protect and enhance the wild fish I claim to love so much.
Was there a letter I could have written to a fishery official that may have made a difference? Maybe! Was there a bit of garbage that I could have packed out of some area I was fishing? Without a doubt. Could I have spoken up about something that would have helped? Yes I could have. One thing for sure is that there is no time for a learning curve in the wild fish conservation movement. The time to act is now!
Wild fish are in peril and we cannot waste any time in doing what we can to help. Hopefully some of you will make that your 2008 New Year resoltuion.

The Responsibility of Being a Fishing Celebrity

Many of you have seen the fishing
"superstars" at various fishing industry trade shows haven't you? They usually have a group of people gathered around them as they tout their angling wisdom upon the unlearned masses. You can buy their latest and greatest innovations for fooling even the most stubborn salmon or trout into biting.They seldom miss a photo opportunity.
Yes these are the guys who amaze all of us mere mortals at the indoor casting ponds with their wonderous feats of casting skills.
You'll also see them on television as they hook fish after fish....truly they are fishing heroes.
So where are these guys when there are critical issues at stake and the well being of a certain species of trout or salmon hangs in the balance?
To be fair there are some that actually put their money where their mouth is. You'll see them at the heart of every worthy conservation cause and I have written about a few of them in this blog.These folks are worthy of their fame but most eschew the spotlight as much as they can.
Sadly though those who seem to make the most money and gain the most notoriety and even get enshrined in various so called conservation organization's hall of fame are noticeably absent. They are the ones who jump into the spotlight whenever possible.
We have a bunch of them right up here in the Pacific northwest. You'll rarely see them at any Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife meetings though because they are just too busy schmoozing and making money on the very resource that they claim to care so much about.
Sure they'll be front and center if it makes them more money like the infamous steelhead broodstock programs on the coastal streams but their self centered interest go only as far as the money rolls in.
I believe that these people, these superstars if you will, have a bigger responsibility than us little guys. They make money directly off of the resource. They make their money on the backs of wild fish but are woefully absent when push comes to shove and all of us do have a respondsibilty
I know that I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror if I were making money on those wild resources without giving something back! Think they feel that way?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

From the bottom of my heart I wish each and every one of you a joyous Christmas and a happy New Year. Thank you all for reading my humble writings and sharing in my passion for wild fish and fly fishing.

Are You Buying Into the CCA Spiel?

I'm not! Seems like they have performed a mass hypnosis on the fishing crowds here in the Pacific Northwest. Record numbers of members signing up and for what? To get a bigger slice of the pie? To increase hatchery influence? Looks like both!
When I read who some of the major players are in the northwest CCA I know that this is a group I want no part of. The pro hatchery fish crowd is well represented among the CCA numbers. So are those who want to water down the Endangered Species Act and for what? More fish to harvest, more hatchery plants and more of the careless stewardship that has jeopardized wild salmonids in this region in the first place. Oh sure they may jump on board various conservation issues but only if it serves to produce a larger piece of the harvest pie for the apathetic and selfish.
Nope I can and will put my money and efforts into groups have a true wild fish and their habitat agenda.
This might step on some toes and if it does then sorry. I am not so vain as to think I have the power of persuasion over the masses by means of this insignificant blog. I know what I believe and am intelligent enough to research the facts. Seems like the CCA and Gary Loomis have struck a chord with the desperate crowds who want fuller freezers and more jars of eggs.
Too bad because the kind of enthusiasm that the CCA has aroused into the apathetic thousands could really be a benefit to true conservation...stay tuned folks the next year should indeed be interesting for wild fish.

Priceless

I recently commented on the high price of rearing a hatchery fish. I think it's a price too high and the diminishing return that these concrete raised fish provided makes them a poor investment.
What about the cost of a wild fish? Because no real numbers are available as to their return rate it would be impossible to put a dollar and cents price on them.
Too many times in the past these fish have not been given their true worth and devalued to the point that they were deemed unimportant. After all we had this perfectly good hatchery product that should provide everything the angler should desire.

Well something happened along the way to hatchery fish utopia. It was found out that hatchery fish were very poor substitutes for the real thing,namely wild fish.
There are those who look upon wild fish, specifically wild steelhead, as little more than an egg source for their broodstock programs. One north coast guide says we are only "borrowing" wild fish in order to make a better hatchery product. They say the strip mining of the eggs and milt of wild fish is a good thing....I say hogwash.
The comment of borrowing wild steelhead is something I find particularly troubling.
The future generations of wild fish that those "borrowed" eggs would have yielded are essentially turned in hatchery fish so there is no borrowing at all. Those eggs are supposed to have been the future and their potential is gone forever. They are fin clipped and hatchery reared. They are hand fed in their concrete holding pens and released into the river system in the exact same manner as any other hatchery fish.
The value of what has been lost is irreplaceable and cannot be counted and all you have to do is the math for this fact to become real to you if you care about wild fish. Each wild steelhead that is not allowed to spawn and reproduce future generations of wild steelhead are not borrowed but stolen. Their off springs will never emerge from the gravel and defy the odds to return to their river of birth and thus continue the cycle as nature intended to for it to be. Instead they are made into just another poorly engineered facsimile to satisfy the greed of those that cannot see past their own selfishness. It's a vicious cycle we find ourselves in these days. The hatchery failures are well documented but the time to act is speeding by and after all what would you rather have? A healthy return of wild steelhead or just some bastardized man made product.
So if you are on any river in the Pacific northwest and you hook into one of these "superior" hatchery products think about what was sacrificed for that fish to be in the river to take your fly. Think about the wild fish this egg could have become and think about why you should think that the cost of a wild fish cannot be measured.

Ode to a Simpler Time

I was saddened to learn that Hardy Brothers. of Alnwick England, yes that Hardy Brothers, had outsourced much of their reel making operations to places such as China. It should have come as no surprise though, as it seems like the claim of high labor costs and materials have left many fly tackle manufacturers with no other choice.....supposedly.
Slowly but surely the spectre of cheap labor and higher profits have invaded almost every aspect of this affliction called fly fishing. It's just that one would think that Hardy might be immune to the effects of the global economy but that is unrealistic wishful thinking.
Excuse me if I don't buy into the whole global economy mantra because I have been personally effected by it.
I worked during a period of time where assembling hamburgers at McDonald's did not fit into the manufacturing category that our current administration would like us to believe. Remember when the Reagan administration attempted to classify ketchup as a vegetable on school lunch menus? Yep same type of bait and switch going on today. Gotta love them republicans huh?
Perhaps I'm just feeling nostalgic and thinking back to a different time.
You know the different times I' m talking about? I miss the time when you could go to places like Sears and Montgomery Ward and buy quality fishing tackle. They had a large sporting goods section where the images of Ted Williams or Curt Gowdy would be advertising the particular type of fishing tackle they endorsed.
At one time you could walk into just about any local hardware store and purchase a bamboo rod! Now in order to get the good old "Made in the USA" label on your gear you pay a premium price and "Made in Alnwick, England" meant ever more money! I didn't mind though because I felt the extra dollars on the sticker price meant superb quality and in many cases it still does.
I am so very lucky that I can still fish unpolluted coastal streams for trout without seeing another fly fisherman all day. I can rig up my fifites vintage Wright&McGill Granger bamboo rod with my sixties vintage Hardy reel with a fly I tied myself.If I had a silk line and gut leader then I really would be in a time warp wouldn't I?
Those days are magical and I should cherish each one. I fool myself into thinking it will always be like this. I get shocked back into reality when I leave the lush green rain forests of the coast range and reluctantly return to 2007 and the Portland metro area.
You can all me old fashioned if you like but if you love an avocation the way I love fly fishing you long for those throw back days. Heck even the seventies weren't all that bad.
So now with almost all fishing tackle manufacturers going over seas in the name of profit and relaxed environmental standards I think I'll search out the old stuff. I love my older reels and bamboo rods they are seasoned and experienced like myself...in other words they are vintage or in my case aged.
It seems ironic though that the best rod making bamboo world wide comes from China and always has but some of the cheapest and lesser quality rods also come from there, go figure!
Yes there are still many quality rods and reels made here in the states and in the UK but it looks like the numbers are dwindling every day.
So I think I'll grab my vintage gear and jump into my Canadian made Ford pickup and head to the river. If you see some old nostalgic looking guy fishing and picking out wind knots then stop by and say hello.

The Co$t of Hatchery Fi$h in Oregon

What does it cost to raise a hatchery salmon in the state of Oregon? Are we getting our moneys worth?
I ran across this information from the audits division of the secretary of state for Oregon.
We here in Oregon are addicted to hatchery fish and specifically hatchery salmon. The majority seem unwilling to make the tough choice for the betterment of the resource. You'll read about the simple minded solutions of some that suggest that we plant even more hatchery fish on top of recovering wild. They say "There are no true wild fish anymore"....sigh. To just minimize the viability of wild salmonids that way is hard to take isn't it?
Bear in mind that this audit was from over ten years ago so one can just imagine what inflation has done to these costs in 2007.

The estimated cost to produce a pound of salmon or trout during state fiscal years 1994-1997 varied considerably among the 13 hatcheries, ranging from $4.08 per pound at the Butte Falls hatchery to $9.09 per pound at the Clackamas hatchery.
Similarly, the audit showed considerable variation in the cost to produce an adult salmon that was reported to have been caught or to have returned to freshwater for spawning.
For an adult fall Chinook salmon, the overall cost at the hatcheries reviewed was $39Adult fall Chinook costs ranged from $14 per fish for fish produced by the Salmon River hatchery to $176 per fish for fish produced by the Rock Creek hatchery.
For an adult spring Chinook salmon, the overall cost at the hatcheries was $175. Spring Chinook costs ranged from $90 per fish for fish produced by the Cedar Creek hatchery to $254 per fish for fish produced by the McKenzie hatchery.
The overall cost for an adult Coho salmon was $97. Costs ranged from $67 per fish for fish produced by the North Nehalem hatchery to $530 per fish for fish produced by the Bandon hatchery.
Department management noted that ocean conditions were particularly poor during our audit period, resulting in very low salmon survival rates. Management also stated that fishing restrictions in place during this period resulted in lower catch rates. While the figures we report here may not be representative of current conditions, they do provide a means for making relative comparisons between hatcheries and the types of salmon they produce.
So taking into account the proven fact of the all around inferiority of the hatchery raised product we see in our rivers one must wonder if perhaps a portion of that money could have been spent on wild fish and habitat restoration.
I know if I had a choice as to where my contribution was spent it would be a no brainer for me.

Time to Put Up or Shut Up!

Almost no one complains more about the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife than I do. I take exception to their marginalization of native salmonids like coastal cutthroat trout, wild winter steelhead and various wild salmon species. They seem to be more interested in selling licenses than actually living up to their mission of good stewardship of our native fish.
It's extremely easy to sit back and second guess all that I believe they do incorrectly. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback and believe me there are plenty who do this.
Laziness and complacency are epidemics among the sports fishing crowds here in this region. We complain the loudest but do the least and then cry like newborn babies when things don't go our way or the ODFW does something we don't like.

Well guess what? The opportunity to actually have our collective voices heard is available. ODFW is seeking public input for fishing regulation changes for the 2009 season. This input is available to the public every four years and if you don't think that you can make a difference then guess again. In 2004 ODFW staff proposed a harvest season for coastal cutthroat trout and scheduled public meetings to give concerned sports anglers a chance to speak out in support or opposition to this proposal. Those of us that opposed this horrendous proposal showed up in Tillamook to let our feeling be known and it made a difference! To this date coastal cutthroat trout on the north coast remain protected with catch and release angling only.
I've been assured by ODFW officials that this stupid proposal will be revisited this next year that will affect the 2009 season.
Now before you say that you cannot attend these public meetings and think you have gotten yourself from actually doing something here is your chance to continue to be able to sit on your lazy ass but still contribute.

You can submit your proposals for regulations changes in writing.The 2009 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulation Development packets are available to the public at local ODFW offices, the headquarters office in Salem, or online at the link below

ODFW Website

Pretty simple huh? You can make a difference! Don't vicariously live your conservation strategies and ideas through me or anyone else! Get involved...please! If you can show up at public meeting that would be great but if you cannot and are willing to invest the price of a postage stamp on wild fish and reasonable managment in the years ahead then please help out. The future of wild fish in the state of Oregon depend upon it.
Don't live in Oregon but buy a license and fish here? Your input is also welcome.
I will be writing more on this in the next few weeks and months and share with those of you who care what I would like to see changed in the future.

The Smoking Gun on Hatchery Steelhead

I was prepared to write today about Norman Maclean and "A River Runs Through It" and indeed will at a future date but this story is too important.While it does state the obvious, as scientists and fish biologists agree about hatchery fish, it also punches some holes in the over all fitness of wild steelhead broodstock programs.
The linked article comes from the "Daily Barometer", a newspaper published by Oregon State University.
Here is the link to the article by Katy Weaver

Hatchery Steelhead Do Not Measure Up!!!


Of course those proponents of hatcheries and steelhead broodstock programs are already trying to put their uneducated spin on all of this with statements like this from professional fishing guide Jack Smith of Tillamook, Oregon

This is why true wild brood stock programs use only wild fish as parents for each hatchery generation. The resulting generation of hatchery fish are offspring of wild fish. Far from being ground breaking news this paper only states the obvious which is that the way we ran hatcheries for all these years was wrong and if supplementation hatcheries are to exist they need to move toward one generation from wild brood stock programs.

Apparently Mr.Smith did not read the whole article by Ms.Weaver. Especially where Blouin makes this statement

As every generation goes through the hatchery, there is a substantial decline in fitness

Get that? Every generation including the first! While they may be only one generation removed from wild parents they are STILL raised in a hatchery environment.
Let's call it like it is, shall we?

Thoughts on Winter

The short dreary days, the seemingly endless rains and the bone chilling cold is what awaits me in the months ahead...how I dread this time of year.
I guess at this stage of my life I could be called a fair weather fly fisherman and maybe so but I think I've earned it. Life has slowed down for me and I am fortunate to be able to pick and choose the days I spend on the river. I fear that I may have squandered too many of those ideal and perfect days which, as I grow older, will become harder to come by.
It's cold outside, very cold and my mind has not yet accepted that. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was on the Deschutes and Metolius? Didn't I just get back from a leisurely day of coastal cutthroat trout fishing? No matter how I try to prepare myself for the winter it always seems to take me by surprise.
I will pursue winter steelhead with my spey rod and hopefully have a breakthrough season however it's not the same as a spring or late summer day on the river with a big mayfly hatch and rising trout.
I have discovered one thing about my angling life though and that is simply this. The whole experience of fly fishing is more than just the single moment of hooking a fish. Of course that is the ultimate goal in any anglers life but is it really?
The sheer joy of a perfectly executed cast or the satisfaction of a well placed fly has become of greater importance in the over all scheme of things in this old fly fisherman's life. It's a well worn cliche to say that fly fishing is so much more than just catching a fish but however over used that statement may be it is something the the famous fly fishermen of days gone by absolutely believed. I believe it with all my heart because as I've grown older the simpler things are most important and I seek the simpler things especially when I am on the river. Just the day to day struggles of life are complicated enough for me so I want to have things simple while fishing.
Despite the dreariness that defines winter, I do find the notion of a fly caught winter steelhead as the ultimate challenge and that will sustain me this winter.
In the final analysis though, the winter will be totally what I make it. If I want to mope around the house most of the day in my underwear watching Jerry Springer or sitting in front of the computer that will be easy enough to do....I've done it before.
As I get older the more the winter brings out the little aches and pains as if I didn't enough trouble with those through the rest of the year. I actually do feel best while out on the river and so that shows me that my winter "blues" are purely of my own making.
The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has diminished now that my children are all grown and dealing with their own holiday issues so the anticipation of young children on a Christmas morning is past...I do wish I saw more of my grand childen though. Traditionally I have kicked off the winter steelhead season around Thanksgiving but thanks to the engineering of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife the hatchery steelhead arrive late in the winter along with the wild steelhead.
So here I perch on the brink of yet another winter and wonder what this winter will bring.
It reminds me of of an old song by an obscure rock group named "Firefall"
I especially like this verse.

"Last night it snowed for the first time.
Everythings covered in white.
How many months till the springtime?
It's a long winter's night"

Rivers Without Salmon

So where are they? That certainly must be the number one question on the mind of every Pacific Northwest salmon angler this season.
The annual fall return of the coastal chinook, coho and chum salmon is missing! No hordes of chum salmon filling the riffle and holes of the Miami and Kilchis river and no rotting carcasses that greet the angler's olfactory senses upon walking to the river bank. As recent as last year as I walked down the Kilchis river, scattering the hundreds of dying chum salmon that swam in my path, the runs seemed to be on track as far as a fragile recovering and endangered fish can be. Their numbers have not come close to the levels we saw in earlier years but they were still plentiful and would provide the exploring fly fisherman with a satisfied sense of well being because they had defied odds and returned once again....but not this year and that is frightening.
Chum salmon in Oregon are protected so there is no sports or commercial harvest. One has to think about some kind of change in the ocean or maybe global warming?
The harbinger of upcoming disaster was probably there for us all to see but we missed it.
Loss of habitat, climate change, a change in the ocean up swell, angling pressure and egg hunters can all share in the blame.
Let's take a look at the last of these culprits shall we? First let me state that prime salmon roe is gold! I've often mused that it could be used as currency in Tillamook county because of it's value. Enterprising bait dealers will sell their cured eggs at about $25.00 a quart and that is about normal for cured salmon roe.
The over sized eggs of a ripe female makes the egg hunters of the north coast giddy in anticipation catching a hen salmon. Doesn't matter what condition the edible flesh of these fish are, it's the five or so pounds of fresh roe that is the real prize. Often these "sportsmen" will release a big bright male salmon in favor of the eggs of a grey bellied female.
See the vicious cycle here? Gotta catch more hens to get eggs to catch more hens to get eggs and so on.
So how many eggs do salmon have?
Generally from 2,500 to 7,000 depending on species and size of fish. The chinook salmon generally produces the most and largest, most desirable by sports angler, eggs.
Those eggs will yield a return of one to five percent. Do the math because it all adds up doesn't it.
We Americans are very good at finger pointing except when it comes to pointing the finger at ourselves.
After years of egg harvesting it's bound to take a toll don't you think? Again the greed of some affects many.
So while egg hunters are not the biggest suspects in the salmon decline they surely have played a part in it especially in coastal rivers which are primarily wild fish. The commercially sold eggs are generally from hatcheries surplus and are not sports caught.
The recognition of the impact of this "egg hunting" is slow in coming but there are some that are now not keeping females and that is a good sign. Hopefully the enlightenment of some will influence others and that can indeed make a difference.

Idyllic Fly Fishing

Have you ever seen those old vintage fly fishing photos from back in the fifties? You know the ones I'm talking about. Usually an advertisement for product on the back cover of a magazine or perhaps on the inside but I really think they are cool.
The person fishing is absolutely immaculate! Not a hair out of place and neatly dressed. If the fly fisherman was not wearing waders then his trouser were perfectly pressed and creased. Usually this gentleman would be wearing a jaunty fedora of some kind with a brier pipe clenched firmly in his angular jaw.
If the ad features a female angler she is of course beautiful and showing just enough titillation to keep us guys interested. Some even wore skirts!!! Make up perfectly applied too. Of course those were the days when the dangers of cigarette smoking were not fully known but the picture looked good and the model was indeed beautiful.

The rivers and lakes are pristine, the fish are big and the sky is blue. Some ads showed the fly fisherman relaxing in his immaculate camp around the campfire that would be cooking up a pan full of tasty trout.
I often wonder if it was ever really like that. Was there a time that the rivers ran unfettered by dams and unpolluted by man? Or is it just a fantasy cleverly manipulated for the camera.
There are still plenty of places that the idealistic fly fisherman can wet a line and hook into some beautiful wild trout.
There are still places that hardly show the influence and impact of man. Pretty women and handsome men can still be seen casting the perfect loop to a rising trout. I think we are very lucky that those places do exist and one does not have to travel the globe to find them.
I know a few places near me that are still pristine and unspoiled. Take a look at the Metolius in central Oregon or the North Fork Umpqua or even high up in the headwaters of any coastal stream. You'll find me there and while I may not get mistaken for Brad Pitt from "A River Runs Through It" I'm not so much of an eyesore as to spoil the lovely setting. I doubt that I'll be getting offers to pose for any Hardy Bros. advertisements though.
Beauty and idyllic fly fishing can be found...just look harder.

It's All About Me !!!!!

The largest northwest internet fishing forum is in a tizzy because the CCA (Coastal Conservation Association) basically told them "Don't call us, we'll call you"
The owner of that website is so put off by this "dissing" by the CCA that this owner openly posts that they regrets joining them (CCA) and then the link to the CCA on that fishing websites homepage was summarily removed. It was later returned after the owner forced an apology from CCA Northwest.
So what does all this mean? Someone gets their feelings hurt because they didn't get the spotlight that they are so used to shown on them for once? Kind of childish when you consider the greater good of the resource that is involved isn't it?
I'm in no way endorsing the CCA. I know very little about them and have decided to take a wait and see attitude about this group. If they are only interested in quotas and allocation then I will not support them in any way. If they are truly a conservation organization then great!
The thing that makes this public disassociation by CCA of that website and the self important indignation by the owner of that site so ridiculous is this! Conservation should never, ever be about personalities or groups...ever!!! What is wrong with these people?
Are they putting their petty and childish behavior before the plight of the fish? It would sure seem so wouldn't it?
So this is what it's come down to here in the northwest huh? Peoples feelings are more important than the mission! So goes the selfish harvest mentality crowd.
It's disgusting that the focus always seems to be directed to personalities instead of what is really important.
Listen folks! It's all about wild fish and their habitat and how we best protect them. It's not about the spotlight or who gets the proper amount of attention shown them.
This is destructive and in the long run it hurts the resource.

.......And Summer Would Go On Forever

The end of summer has suddenly thrust itself into my consciousness and so it's reality time for me. Winter, with it's endless rains, short days and bone chilling cold is looming on the not to distant horizon. I can barely talk about it actually...sigh!
No more leisurely excursions to the north coast. No more casting a fly until almost nine o'clock in the evening and no more furiously tying reverse spiders. Coastal cutthroat trout season is over and once again it came too soon and left me unprepared for the cold months ahead. The season for coastal cutthroat trout ended October 31st.
I keep saying I want to get over to the Deschutes in the winter time but who am I kidding? It's a cold bleak place over there in the winter and to me the Deschutes is a place of warmth, life and movement not freezing winds blowing through the canyon.
It was a good season for this old fly fisherman. I had many joyful trips in pursuit of these great fish. I hooked many large trout that encourages me and makes me hopeful of their future. I hooked one "accidental" summer steelhead this year while pursuing cutts and that was just a very brief encounter.
I will begin my countdown until next years opener but it will be a busy off season. Once again the spectre of a kill season for these trout has reared it's ugly head. The usual greed and ignorance has supplanted common sense and those of us that care will try get the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to come to their senses.
It will not be an easy battle but I think with enough motivated conservation minded anglers involved we can and will make a difference.
So now I lovingly put my bamboo rods away for a few months knowing full well that some cold night in January I will take each one out and perhaps give them a fresh coat of briwax. As the spring approaches I will eagerly wait for the renewal that that sun and the trout will bring.

Return to the River

In Roderick L. Haig-Brown's classic book Return to the River the author describes the journey of the Pacific fall chinook salmon to the rivers of their origin.This book tells the saga of the arduous journey these fish endure and have endured for countless generations. Those of us that live in the Pacific Northwest and wander the rivers of this region have the privilege of seeing this ritual of nature every fall. The notion that these fish can travel from their beginnings as a tiny inch long frye just out of gravel, avoiding predators of all varieties to make their way to the ocean is mind boggling. To actually see them return to that very same spot on their fateful journey to fulfill their one purpose in life, to pro-create, thus insuring the continuation of the species is hard to grasp.
How these magnificent fish can smell their river of birth cannot be explained or at least explained in terms that a person like myself can fully understand.It is a wonder that plays itself out over and over each fall.
Autumn is a time of change and movement. The fall leaves paint the skyline with bursts of color that cannot be described adequately... blazing hues of change for sure.
The air is filled with migratory waterfowl on their way to warmer southern climes. Autumn is truly a magical time of year. The last of the indian summer days pass far too quickly as the threat of the winter ahead hints of cold to come at the same time the remembrance of the summer just past lingers also.
I will stand and watch in awe as the ritual of the salmon is played out before me in the fine gravel of a coastal river.
I've said before it is like watching a finely choreographed ballet. The males of the species anxious to "service" a solitary female. The beaten and savaged warriors bear the scars as they battle each other for the right to cover the females eggs with their milt.
When their purpose is met and their last ounce of energy expended they meet their inevitable fate which is death. Their decomposing bodies providing nutrients for the generation that follows. The cycle is thus played out on thousands of rivers and small tributary creeks throughout the northwest.
If you have never witnessed this then you are truly missing out on a miracle of nature.
It's so unfortunate that these salmon have become what amounts to being a political pawn because they stand for so much more. The native tribes of the Pacific coast knew the importance of salmon and still do.
As long as I am able I will always return to the river but not to try to deceive these fish with hook and line but to appreciate and marvel at what they do to perpetuate their kind. I sincerely hope that this fall ritual continues long after I am gone and I can go to my rest with the satisfaction of knowing that I did all I could to help them along the way in their journey of death and ultimately life.

Is ODFW Really This Clueless?

Photo by Bill McMillan

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife or ODFW apparently are unaware of the wild steelhead populations on the north coast! I really wish someone would wise them up before it's too late if it's not too late already.
Back a few years ago the gear guides on the north coast couldn't stand the fact that they couldn't make money off of the wild winter steelhead that return to the coastal rivers in February through April. They must have been thinking and scheming about a way to cover them from the end of the yearly winter hatchery steelhead bloodbath until the first spring chinook showed either in the Columbia or on the coast. They convinced ODFW that they would be willing partners in the wild steelhead broodstock programs. They would collect fish throughout the late winter months and by gosh if they made money at that time of year on guided trips then so must the better!
So now we have several years of the broodstock program under our belts and where are we?
Sure! the Tillamook area guides are making a bunch of money on their "collection" trips but what about the over all well being of the wild fish that is sustaining these programs?
Did ODFW forget about the wild fish in all this? It would certainly appear so.They are willing to plant some of the broodstock smolt in the lower river but they still insist on main stem plants in the very area and right on top of newly out of gravel wild smolt.
Were the area ODFW fish biologists off that day or something? Why did the head fish biologist not even know which fish were planted where? Do they even care? One has to wonder.
I'm obviously not a biologist but it does not take a degree to see what is happening. No, the ODFW biologists are not clueless! They know exactly what they are doing and that is ignoring science in order to pander to a vocal bunch of professional guides who have figured out a way to make money off of a recovering wild steelhead population that is being damaged by these broodstock plants.
So hey all you bait chucking, $175 a day mercenaries! Sleep well guys because you are contributing to the demise of what few wild fish remain...hope you can face your children some day when they ask you if you did all you could prevent the extinction of wild salmon and steelhead.

Oncorhynchus Clarkii.....Clarkii

The fish so nice they named it twice!
I cannot think of a species of fish that I love more than these silvery coastal dwellers. They come to a fly with aggressive abandon and fight like a fish twice their size.
Beautiful is not an apt description of their various colors of the spring, summer and fall. The resident variety will take on a heavily spotted bronze coloration with the red gill slash (where they got their name) very prominent. The sea run variety, while heavily spotted also will be silver with a deep hued blue back...hence the nickname "blue backs" and the red slash will be very faint.
The fall is prime time action for cutthroat trout which supposedly follow the fall salmon up river to feed on their eggs. That may just be an urban legend because while they will feed on just about anything, aquatic insects by in large make up the cutthroat's diet.

As aggressive as they are they are also a species most affected by man's interference. The introduction of various species of hatchery fish on the north coast rivers have pushed these trout out of their usual habitat and forced them to compete with those hatchery plants for available food. The coastal rivers are not blessed with an abundance of food so these sensitive fish have to feed on what is available, The over sized hatchery smolt have depleted their numbers to a critical point and so any harvest would put them in even more peril.
The north coast locals do not have much regard for cutthroat trout and treat them as little more than nuisance in their pursuit of the larger salmon and steelhead. They are not much more than a bait stealer to salmon/steelhead anglers and they take little care in releasing them.
The over all well being of a coastal anadromous river can be measured by it's cutthroat trout population.
If you have a wild coastal cutthroat trout population in decline it's a good bet that other wild fish in that system are in trouble also.
These fish face many obstacles in their recovery. Over harvest, habitat degradation, hatcheries and angler ignorance hurt these once plentiful populations.
These trout are the last of the wild trout on the northern coast save for wild steelhead.
They are as beautiful as they are mysterious and delightful.

Coho are Protected Again

Once again a federal court judge has had to undue the meddling of the Bush administration.
This is truly good news and will have an effect on how all the Oregon coast rivers are managed as far as harvest.
Kudos and appreciation go out to the groups involved for making this happen.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Protections for Oregon Coast Coho Salmon: July Court Ruling Upheld.

PORTLAND, Ore.
A federal judge has declared illegal the Bush administration’s decision to remove endangered species protections for Oregon Coast coho salmon. U.S. District Judge Garr King adopted in its entirety the July 2007 recommendation of Magistrate Judge Janice Stewart that the administration’s refusal to list the coho be set aside. The court ruled that coho’s legal “threatened” status be reviewed and a new listing decision be finalized within 60 days. Restoration of ESA listing would prohibit actions that harm the species and require the government to prepare recovery plans.
The decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by fishermen and conservation groups last year.
The decision to withdraw endangered species protections from the coho was predicated on a novel scientific theory adopted by federal agencies. The theory held that coho are inherently resilient at low populations, and that they will always bounce back. The court cited extensive scientific critiques of that theory from government scientists, who said that it was unreliable and failed to pass the “red-face test.” The court ruled that the new theory did not represent the “best available science” as required by law.

“This is a victory for good science and for Oregon’s future,” said Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who argued the case for the groups. “Restoring protections for these salmon today means a greener and economically vibrant Oregon tomorrow.”

“Oregon coast coho are still on life support, and recovery depends on protecting and restoring the rivers and streams these fish depend on,” said Dr. Chris Frissell, former Oregon State University salmon biologist and Senior Staff Scientist with Pacific Rivers Council. “This decision restores vital habitat protection so that the coho can begin moving toward recovery.”

Once a staple of Oregon’s salmon fishing fleet but now off-limits to commercial fishermen, coastal coho runs have sharply declined from their historical abundance. Fishermen look forward to rebuilt coho stocks which once constituted a substantial part of their income. They know this means rebuilding the stream side spawning habitat needed by the fish.

“For the sake of our fishing families and communities, now is not the time to slack off on habitat protections for coho salmon,” said Glen Spain, with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “Eliminating these protections shifted the conservation burden onto the backs of fishermen, without protecting the rivers and streams the coho depend on. With federal habitat protections restored, coho have a chance to recover and, one day, draconian fishing restrictions can be lifted.” Coast Range Association Director Chuck Willer said "let's put the legal issues behind us and get on with the work of restoring coastal freshwater habitat and returning the coho to abundance."

Historically, more than 2 million coho salmon spawned in Oregon’s coastal rivers. Due to decades of aggressive logging and poorly managed fishing, those numbers collapsed. Runs bottomed out at about 14,000 in 1997, a decline of more than 99 percent from historic levels. The runs were listed under the Endangered Species Act the following year. Coast coho returns showed some improvements in the early 2000s but have generally declined since then, and still remain at a small fraction of historic levels.
The slight rebound between 2001 and 2003 prompted the state of Oregon to prematurely declare Coast coho sufficiently recovered to be stripped of federal protection. The federal agency charged with administering the fishery, National Marine Fisheries Service overruled its own scientists who raised grave doubts about Oregon’s novel population analysis as well as the status of the species to remove federal endangered species protections in 2006.
The plaintiffs include the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Pacific Rivers Council, Trout Unlimited, Oregon Wild, Native Fish Society, and Umpqua Watersheds. They were represented by attorneys Patti Goldman and Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice in Seattle.

News Flash!!! Hatchery Steelhead Inferior

Please excuse the sarcasm but this is not exactly new information. Anyone with any modicum of common sense knows about the over all inferior traits of hatchery fish versus wild fish. Sadly many are either in denial or so blinded by their "harvest mentality" that they cannot see beyond their ignorance, greed and selfishness.
Their favorite argument is "I don't belive there are any truly wild fish left anyway"
My God if I had a dollar for everytime I've either heard that or seen it posted somewhere I could retire! Hey wait a minute I am retired!!! well anyway you get the idea.
Here is an article from Reuters that just reinforces what scientists already know.




By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When it comes to making babies, steelhead trout like it wild.

In a study published on Thursday with great implications for captive breeding programs, U.S. researchers found that after being set free, steelhead trout reared in hatcheries produced offspring far less fit than those of wild-bred fish.
In fact, when these captive-bred trout are released in the wild, they are roughly 40 percent less successful at producing offspring that survive to adulthood than their wild cousins, according to the research in the journal Science.
"With each generation through the hatchery, the fitness of the resulting fish when they breed in the wild declines remarkably quickly," Michael Blouin, an Oregon State University zoology professor who was one of the researchers, said in a telephone interview.
The researchers used genetics to track generations of steelhead trout in the Hood River in Oregon. They said the findings showed definitively that while they may look the same, wild fish and fish from hatcheries are not the same.
They added that the findings suggest that the idea of releasing captive-reared fish into the wild to help boost the wild population should be carefully reconsidered.
This is probably because the offspring of captive-reared fish inherited traits that might work in the slow-moving world of a hatchery but turn them into sushi in the fish-eat-fish world of the wild, the researchers said.
Blouin noted that there are two different missions for fish hatcheries. The traditional mission has been to produce fish for harvest, and Blouin said they are really good at that.
"These highly domesticated stocks perform well in a hatchery. The offspring are calm and they feed well and they grow well," Blouin said.
Another type of conservation-minded "supplementation" hatcheries produce fish intended to be added to wild populations to augment their numbers.
"There are no good data showing that supplementation programs work. And now we have genetic data showing that one might be a little concerned," Blouin said.
The steelhead trout is an important type of salmonid fish, which includes salmon and trout.
"If you're trying to create hatchery fish that are going to perform well in the wild, you want to minimize the number of generations in captivity. Even just a single extra generation through the hatchery causes a really large, detectable decline," Blouin said.