Fill 'em Full of Lead

Yes friends, those dastardly and conspiratorial pinnipeds days are numbered. We're gonna round 'em up and fill them full of lead at long last. I mean after all how dare they have the audacity to eat OUR salmon! Those fish are ours and it's just not right that sea lions are eating them. Never mind the fact that we over harvested the Columbia River smelt that the sea lions used to feed on in the Columbia causing them to seek other food sources for survival. It also doesn't matter that it was us that pretty much set the dinner table for them to feast on salmon by putting man made fish barriers like hydro-electric dams.

The prevalent thinking is to vilify sea lions as selfish gluttons who take more than their fair share of salmon but wait! We say the same thing about the commercial fleet who take more than their share of salmon don't we? Maybe when we talk about selfish gluttons we should look in the mirror!
You see what I'm getting at?
I have no doubt that sea lions eat a large amount of migratory spring chinook as they make their way up the Columbia River. I also have no doubt that something needs to be done about the situation. What I am wondering is when the sea lion problem is taken care of and the commercial gill netters are kicked off of the river and the commercial trollers are kicked off the ocean and then the runs still crash who do we point the finger at then? Who will be the scapegoat?
Oh heaven forbid that we should look at the proverbial man in the mirror because after all we are owed salmon aren't we? To hell with every other user groups, it's us in our $30,000 jet boats back bouncing eggs who are entitled to it all.
You know as sarcastic as this blog entry may seem it is the way that far too many people think.
They don't really give a damn about wild fish because after all you cannot smash them on the head to get freezer burned. Sure they may say it's all about the fish but it really is only about those fish that they can harvest. We cannot be inconvenienced by caring for the wild salmon that used to range far into the Snake River system and beyond in Idaho.
The sea lions are just the most convenient thing to blame right now and what could be better than having the Columbia River run red with pinniped blood because like some spoiled rotten child we sports anglers refuse to be told "You can't have it" so we will throw ourselves on the supermarket floor and have our little tantrum.

The Road Less Travelled

Shane on the Metolius

I've expounded on the joys of fly fishing a few times on this blog so please bear with me on this latest.When I think about why I pursue trout and steelhead in this method I seemingly cannot begin to run out of flowery adjectives on why I fish this way. For many years I have pursued what many consider the greatest freshwater game fish that swims and even with conventional casting and spinning gear they were still a worthy adversary.

Shane with Cutthroat Trout - 2007

I learned to drift fish, which is no small feat considering the fact that you are trying to detect the most subtle of takes from a winter steelhead. Consider also that winter steelhead are lethargic at best in the cold water of winter so they would not move very far to take ones offering. I feel that after about a decade of this style of fishing that I had achieved every thing that I could achieve fishing this way so I felt it was on to the next challenge and that is the stalking this magnificent trout with a fly.
To say that I have not accomplished or ever will accomplish everything that there is to accomplish in steelhead fly fishing is a huge understatement. I have had limited success in this endeavour due mostly to the fact that I am, for the most part, self taught and so it's apparent to me that my teacher is a buffoon and woefully inadequate.
In spite of poor training and a myriad of mistakes I push on ward though while some of my friends fill their freezers with hatchery steelhead and tales of legendary trips. Well I've had a few of those trips with casting or spinning gear filled with a plethora of fish and so I'm not all that impressed anymore.
Ah but when it comes to fly fishing then that is different. Fly fishing for steelhead is the big mystery that I've yet to solve. It's the Rubik's cube of all angling pursuits and just when you think you have the whole thing figured out that one red cube shows up amid a field of green and so you must dismantle the whole puzzle to start again.
I've been fortunate of late in that I've become friends with one of the great ones in steelhead fly fishing. I've written about him before and his name is Mike McCune. Mike patiently helps me with my Skagit casting and I know he must get frustrated in my amateurish efforts.

Mike McCune on Coastal River - Winter 2008

So I push forward along this road less travelled and I know as even the legends of this sport know that the end of the road is never in sight. There are too many wonderful and magical side trips to take along the way. The joy of fly fishing is just that...pure joy. I cannot ever recall being unhappy while on the river casting a fly well except for when it is time to go home. I cannot say the same thing about other angling methods I have pursued.
I do not want to come off as elitist either but for me this is the best path and only path for me and it's the path that I will follow until the end of my days.

Crawl Before You Walk

When I purchased my first fly rod, some thirty three years ago, it was a gaudy creation by Johnny Hooker, a local Portland rod maker. Johnny bought all the factory seconds fiberglass blanks that he could get his hands on from Lamiglas up in Woodland, Washington. These blanks, while structurally sound, usually were linearly challenged meaning they were not close to being straight. I had really no idea what it was I was after but I knew I wanted to catch steelhead on a fly rod so old Johnny set me up an eight foot seven weight with a severe left turn permanently built in the tip.
Now mind you I had never even caught a trout on a fly much less a steelhead but I wanted to skip elementary school arithmetic and dive right into college trigonometry.
Needless to say things did not go as planned. I should have started out pursuing trout and going on from there. Could have saved myself more than a little frustration I think.
I see a lot of people doing the same thing these days and after a season of frustration, which usually includes a windy day on the Deschutes, these folks discard the notion that they too can be the second coming of Paul Maclean. Their enthusiasm for fly fishing is shattered and their gear ends up on ebay or craigslist.
Not all of them are stubborn like me and doggedly pursued this addiction called fly fishing.
It's really too bad that this happens because they are depriving themselves of the joy of angling that, in my opinion at least, cannot be matched.
The legend and lore of fly fishing has filled countless books that inspire the imagination of each generation that reads them. Where else will you find names that will be recognized by those of us that love this sports. What serious fly fisherman is not familiar with names such as Wulff or Kreh or Haig-Brown.
While it's true that the movie "A River Runs Through it" brought droves to the river when it came out in 1992 you have to wonder how many got fed up with tailing loops and wind knots so they gave it up.
When I am asked by newcomers about steelhead I always try to counsel them to experience the joys of trout first before becoming the hopeless masochist that is the steelhead fly angler.
I also think those that get past the clumsiness of those first years become, not only better anglers, but also learn to appreciate the fact that fly fishing encompasses many things beyond catching fish. The learn to care deeply for the fish, the river and the environment.
So the next time you encounter a neglected fly rod or reel at a garage sale think about the hope that rod once provided and take comfort in knowing you crawled before you could walk and became the angler you are today.

ODFW Gets it Right? When Hell Freezes Over Maybe!

Has hell froze over? Are the Chicago Cubs a sure bet to win a World Series? Apparently that is what it's going to take to get ODFW to change course and go all the way with responsible wild fish management. They took a baby step but it's not enough....by a long shot it's not enough.

After several years of a misguided and dogmatic strategy of upriver plants of hatchery steelhead on the Nestucca river they have re-evaluated the program and decided to move the large majority of these plants into the lower portion of the river.
Realize of course that their are still some 40,000 hatchery and broodstock steelhead smolt being released in the old release area so obviously this is not even close to a perfect scenario...yet.
Plainly speaking the much touted steelhead broodstock program is not doing what it was intended to do! On top of that, and most troubling of all, is the over all effect on main stem spawning native steelhead. This is an ill conceived program that boils down to a state sponsored welfare program for gear and bait guides. Having the hatchery steelhead planted in one up river location and given their propensity for straying, provided north coast gear guides the opportunity to fish during a time of year (late winter) when in the past was reserved for wild steelhead only. The out of basin hatchery stock, which comprised the bulk of hatchery plants in the past, was done by the time the native steelhead showed up. The native steelhead were pretty much not interfered with as far as intermingling hatchery fish being present.
The broodstock program changed all of that and what we have today is a late arriving hatchery stock that is intentionally timed to arrive during the same time endangered native steelhead arrive.
Folks it was like a mass hypnosis among the north coast fishing scene. This program, with the nearby Wilson river and the further south Siletz river also having similar programs along with the Nestucca was supposed to make everyone happy with a phasing out of the out of basin stock from the Alsea river being replaced by the so called superior broodstock plants.
As most of you surely know it just does not work that way and what we have today is a declining native winter steelhead population in those rivers that was making a comeback prior to the implementation of these broodstock programs.
So here is hoping that ODFW does not stop there and takes into consideration the big picture and that is the welfare of wild native steelhead and not the welfare of a handful of bait guides....keep your fingers crossed.

Looking For That Silver Lining

Photo Courtesy of Artic Explorers

Being the Internets angry fly fisherman is not an easy job folks. The threats to wild fish and their habitat are never far from my thoughts.
It's not all angst and worry though and the many things that attracted me to fly fishing in the first place are the very things that sustain me.
It's like that perfect cast that I stumble into every once in awhile. The stars and planets all seem to align and I do my best Lefty Kreh imitation. The line rolls out in a perfect arc and my fly graces the surface in such gentleness that it seems like it was dropped out of the sky by heavenly hands.
A well executed cast is truly a thing of beauty and at least for me since it does not happen nearly enough but when it does then it will always bring a smile to my face.
The quietness of a late summer day on any coastal river while in pursuit of coastal cutthroat trout is another quality of this sport that defies description. I sometimes even find the quiet intimidating because maybe I'm afraid of doing something to disrupt it. I would compare it to the stillness of a church in silent prayer and so maybe it is my church so should I say "Amen" under my breath?
I am fortunate to live just over an hour away from some blue ribbon coastal cutthroat trout fly fishing and very seldom is there anyone else encountered along the stream, a stark contrast to what takes place during the time that the fall salmon are present. In these days of petroleum insanity the relatively short run to the upper Wilson is my refuge. I pine away for my cutts during the seven months of closure and treat the opener as some sort of holiday. So is it any wonder why one would fight so fervently to protect these fish?
Then there are those very special and very magical treks east ward to the rivers of such beauty that one could easily get emotional at the very first sight of them. Of course I'm talking about the Metolius and the Deschutes and
these are truly the rivers of my dreams.
I have tried to paint a picture on this blog as to the way I feel when I'm on these rivers.
The Deschutes in it's brawling, wild ruggedness and the Metolius in it perfection of beauty. As I've written before these rivers do not give up their trout with the same generosity as a coastal cutthroat stream and some have even asked why bother then?
Many of you know why I take the all too seldom trips to these rivers and I think it's something that only a fly fisherman can understand.
So while I fight what I consider is the good fight for wild fish I hope you readers understand why this way of life and the resource involved are so worthy of the fight. It's certainly not so I can have a pleasant place to reflect and cast my fly in my old age...well at least that is not the only reason. It's because there are some places and things in these tumultuous days that need to be reflected and written about for nothing other than to appreciate how lucky we are to have such escapes.
I know you have them and they may well be your escape and the elixir for your soul to help you cope.
They are silver linings even in the darkest times aren't they?

It's Not Logical

Will someone please explain to me the logic in taking wild steelhead and turning their off springs into hatchery fish! Also please show me the logic in providing a harvest fishery that was created almost exclusively for professional bait guides.
Well folks that is what we have going on right now on many of our river. These are rivers that have fragile populations of wild winter steelhead .The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, out of their infinite wisdom and wise stewardship of the resource, created the steelhead broodstock program. These broodstock programs amount to little more than a guide welfare program.
Why on earth is it better to make wild spawning winter steelhead into nothing more than hatchery stock? Where is the logic in releasing these bastardized off springs of wild parents on top of emerging true wild off springs?
Why does ODFW ignore the studies that show the total unfitness of these first generation returnees? and finally why would one well know north coast gear fishing guide actually applaud the concept of wild steelhead spawning with returning uncaught first generation broodstock steelhead? The logical outcome of such stupidity and greed spells disaster for wild steelhead.
The evidence is there!

You Need to Ask Yourself

What is really important to you as a fly fisherman? Is it having nice gear? I know I really enjoy my bamboo rods so I guess that is important to me. Really though, all the nice equipment in the world does not matter one iota if there are no wild fish left. We can have all the exotic destinations and fly in to remote locations but when that last fish is caught then what good is it all?
It's been said time and time again by people a lot smarter than me that we have to, as sportsmen and women, become involved in protecting what we have too long taken for granted.

It works to! The Steamboaters lead by Frank Moore decided that their love for the North Umpqua needed to be more than just lip service and they have dedicated their lives to that river and it's fish. Yes, it's great to be around a bunch of friends who enjoy fishing as much as you but after the rods and reels are put away what do you do then? What do you do when your favorite river, your beloved river has no fish left or is getting pollution dumped into it? Do you fight like crazy to do all you can to attack the problem or do you just move onto other waters? I'm betting you would fight like crazy.
When you see trash and vandalism along the banks of your favorite river do you get mad? Do you take along a trash bag and clean it up? Or do you just shrug and shake your head and say what a shame it all is?
It's not enough anymore to just be a good citizen and leave the river the way you found it! We have to be involved if we ever expect our children and grandchildren to enjoy what we have enjoyed. We have to become proactive!
Lord knows there are so many forces working against wild fish or clean water. We have had nearly eight years of attacks on our natural resources by an administration that has no soul. An administration who only sees things in the profit and loss column.
It's the individual conservationist/angler that will win the day if everyone does his part.
I need to remind myself of this same thinking. Just because I might write an impassioned blog entry about wild fish or conservation does no let me off the hook as far as doing my part. I need to be more involved and I intend to do just that!
I doubt that any true conservationist is really ever satisfied at the amount of work he or she is doing. I would bet that they think they can do more because it's just that important!
It's our responsibility.

Save The Metolius....Again

Here is the scenario folks. Let's take a pristine wilderness area with the most wonderful trout river in all of Oregon and do what with it???? Make a couple of destination resorts!!! Hell yeah! We need a few more damn golf courses so rich fat cats can chase a little white ball all over what used to be Ponderosa pine forests.
All in the name of money. Thing is most common middle class Oregonians will not be able to afford to even stay at places like what they are planning to build.
I have to wonder is anything sacred anymore? Must we spoil the truly magical and beautiful places we have left?
They say minimal impact huh? We'll see but the point remains that these resorts bring hordes of people to an area where the human footprint has been minimal.
For those of you not familiar with the Metolius river and the area surrounding it just picture a trout stream bubbling up from deep volcanic caverns. Crystal clear water and so breathtaking in it's beauty that one can literally shed tears over this place.
It's a damn shame!

Article from "The NuggetNews" Sisters, Oregon

The decision rendered last week by the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) appears to be little more than a speed bump in the road to building two destination resorts within a few miles of Sisters. One of the developers is pleased with the results of the decision, and the other is cautiously optimistic about the ruling, which will require further work by Jefferson County on identifying wildlife habitat and descriptions of forest zones.
Nothing in the remand ruling would appear likely to derail resort plans.
The two "Final Orders and Opinions" were issued on February 11. One document consisted of 48 pages and the other was 49 pages in length. The various parties are still studying the documents to determine the finer points of the decisions, and in some cases it may be a few weeks before each of the parties has determined the full implications.
Ponderosa Land and Cattle Company, with a 2,500-acre development in the Green Ridge area has expressed cautious optimism but is waiting until their legal representatives have had the opportunity to examine the decisions in detail.
"We haven't yet gotten together to really go over it as our lead council is on vacation. We expected it to come back and are pleasantly surprised that it is a manageable short list, but it will take some time to unravel all of what needs to be done," said Rick Allen of Ponderosa Land and Cattle Company.
Oregon Landwatch is both pleased and disappointed by the final order and is considering whether to appeal the decisions which must be filed by March 3.
"We haven't yet completely digested the decisions or talked yet with our clients. Obviously, we were pleased with the remand that we got, but the significant decision that we are not happy with is that Code 5 doesn't protect the water," said Paul Dewey of Oregon Landwatch.
Friends of the Metolius are in much the same situation. They still haven't had the time to fully digest the information.
"We will be getting together to discuss the decision and see where we will go from here," said Gregory McClarren, the president of Friends of the Metolius.
Sisters-based Dutch Pacific Resources has already examined the two opinions in some detail and is pleased with the decisions on several fronts.
"We were very pleased with the decisions, especially that most of the complaints were dismissed by the Land Use Board of Appeals and the one that was remanded was really more of just a request for more data," said Jim Kean, co-manager of Dutch Pacific Resources.
Kean also believes that the decision was an important one for Jefferson County that created the furor through its development of a new comprehensive plan for the county that included destination resorts.
"Jefferson County went overboard in their process to comply with state law when they adopted the mapping amendment. The main contention was that Jefferson County ignored everyone and didn't do a good job and it was incomplete. I think that Jefferson County has been vindicated. They (Jefferson County) knew that it was going to come to this and went the extra mile with their process. For a small and under-resourced county, it was no small achievement to develop such a comprehensive plan," Kean said.
During the time of appeals and while waiting for LUBA's rulings, Dutch Pacific has not let the grass grow under its feet.
"We have been quietly working on the project, and there have been tons of people who have come out of the woodwork wanting to be involved. We have a really top-flight team working on our project, and we have received tons of invitations to come to charrettes (meetings) about sustainability and water use. I think we are in an exciting time," said Kean.
The Dutch Pacific destination resort development is called "The Metolian" and is unusual in that it is designed to have minimum impact on the land and the environment. Sustainable principles and green building practices are at the heart of the development, and it is believed by the owners that this kind of development may serve as a model for future resorts in the growing eco-tourism market.

For Shelly

I lost a friend today. I wrote about her back in 2006 although I never revealed her name.

"One person stands out to me as one of the most real and sincere people I know. She suffers from a very serious health problem but you would never know it by reading her posts or her blog. She does not complain at all! She also will rip you a "new one" if you cross her but those who do cross her have it coming. She does not mince words and I find that very refreshing. She knows I'm talking about her and she is what I consider a good "net" buddy and besides she has some really cool tattoos"

She lost her long battle with lung disease but she fought a courageous fight until the end. Shelly had classiness about her that we all could learn from and I know I did.As I wrote previously she didn't seek sympathy or pity! She was tough as nails and never minced words but if she liked you she would do anything for you.
It's a lonelier world tonight as I mourn the passing of Shelly Talent. Too many times we tend to over glorify a person after their passing but it's not the case as far as Shelly is concerned. To borrow a cliche she was the real deal in every sense of the word.

Perhaps William Shakespeare says it best

Fear no more the heat o' the sun
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone and ta'en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust
Fear no more the frown o' the great,
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke;
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no mote the lightning-flash
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash
Thou hast finished joy and moan:
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.

Goodbye Shelly I will miss you

So Much For Tradition

Sad news!
Hardy of Alnwick England, the maker of legendary fly reels and the major caretaker of fly fishing tradition has fallen to the riches of a global economy.
So hold on to those old Perfects, Bougles and St.Georges because they are now relics of a bygone day when tradition meant something in our sport.
Certainly the Hardy Brothers must be rolling over in their graves at this.
Here are the details from nebusiness.co.uk
World famous fishing tackle manufacturer Hardy & Greys aims to double in size within the next five years.
The plans come after dramatic restructuring saw the Alnwick-based company make 16 redundancies at the end of 2005 after moving reel production from its headquarters to Peterlee.
It has farmed out manufacturing abroad, upped its exports and moved out of solely producing its celebrated fly-fishing gear into coarse angling equipment and even making aerials for military vehicles.
And as the changes began to take effect, 2006 saw the 128-year-old company generate £9.1m worth of sales, 10% up on the previous year and £4.6m higher than 2003. In three years, Hardy's has reduced costs by moving 80% of its manufacturing to the Far East and by looking beyond its traditional fly-fishing market into sea, carp and coarse fishing.
As part of this strategy, Hardy & Greys took over European distribution for the US company Fishpond in 2006 and in 2005 bought Chub, an Essex-based carp fishing equipment firm.
It now employs 87 people, most of whom are located at its headquarters, with seven employed at a new 50,000sq ft warehouse in Cramlington. Hardy's managing director Richard Sanderson said: "Three years ago, 66% of our staff were employed in manufacturing our products. Now that figure is less than 20% [about 20 people], with a far greater emphasis placed on sales and marketing and research and development."
Now after driving through the changes and seeing the business double in size since his arrival in 2003, Mr Sanderson is bullish about the future. He said: "We are confident of achieving our objectives by continuing to incorporate three main thrusts to our strategy.
"The first is that our products are now largely manufactured in the Far East and, as a result, they have become price competitive in foreign markets like the US [because the pound is much stronger than the dollar]. Secondly, during the course of 2007 we anticipate producing around 350 new products with in excess of 500 anticipated for 2008, which will give us a tremendous sales boost.
"Thirdly, we are aiming to expand in all markets where we are currently under- performing. Despite enjoying a significant share of the fly-fishing market, we have now also entered the carp and course fishing business and they are the biggest parts of the UK market."

A Master at Work

I was fortunate enough to take a trip down a coastal stream today with guide Mike McCune of Spey Water Guide Service and although I did not hook any steelhead I had a great time! Mike is an expert of the Skagit line for two-handed rods so the learning experience itself was worth it. Mike is also an expert oarsman as he floated my over fed carcass down some very tricky white water and I also got to see him hook,land and release this beautiful wild coastal winter steelhead.

I don't usually promote a business on this blog but I will make the exception for Mike as he is a true gentleman and a fine angler.
Thanks again for the great day Mike!
Actually I was doubly lucky to share the front seat with another expert spey angler and good friend John Bracke. John has a passion for wild fish and so it is no surprise that he and I get along so well.

John has helped me focus on what is truly important as a responsible fly fisherman and conservationist. He has long fought the battle for our wild coastal steelhead and anyone who share a concern for wild fish owes a concerned conservationist like John a debt of gratitude.

Dr. Lenox Dick 1916-2008

From The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches Weekly Newletter 2/17/08

A treasured friend, Lenox Dick passed away peacefully and apparently at his own wish after a short hospital stay several weeks ago. Len's notable list of accomplishments included being a founding member of the Fly Fishers Club of Oregon, author of many fly fishing articles & the book The art & Science of Fly Fishing. He was perhaps the oldest person to row his drift boat through White Horse Rapids when he was 86 years old. At 91,he was still scrambling up and down the steep banks of the Deschutes on his stretch above Maupin. The fly fishing community will miss him.

Guess What? Hatchery Steelhead Do Spawn!

Flyfishing for hatchery steelhead on Oregon's Umpqua River


The following article by Bill Bakke of Native Fish Society generates more questions than answers for me.
If hatchery steelhead are allowed into upper areas of a river with a wild steelhead population and can spawn then why would fish and wildlife department release hatchery smolt at the upper reaches of a river?(This happens in Oregon) They had to know that this could be disastrous for rivers with a population of main stem spawning wild steelhead.
This goes to show that we cannot take what our fish and wildlife officials say at face value.I would also exhort anyone fishing for hatchery steelhead to harvest the maximum the law allows...please. You may get a warm fuzzy feeling releasing a hatchery fish but in truth you are doing the wild steelhead population of that river no favors by doing so


I’m sure it’s a surprise to most of you reading this to find out hatchery fish do spawn naturally in rivers. At one time Oregon declared that they shouldn’t do that, but it has now been confirmed that they do anyway.
The Skykomish River is a tributary to Puget Sound. In a recent genetics study of Skykomish summer steelhead by Todd W. Kassler and others said, “Hatchery salmonids can naturally reproduce.”
Since 1962 from zero to over 200,000 hatchery steelhead smolts were released in the river per year. Because many of these were released above Sunset Falls, (an impassable barrier to steelhead on the NF Skykomish River), the fish are transported over the falls.
Since 1998, the authors note, “the number of non-ad clipped adult steelhead has been between 26-73% of the number of steelhead counted at the falls.” Since there was no wild production above the falls, these fish are naturally produced by hatchery fish above the falls. They also found there are three distinct groups of summer steelhead in the river, but Sunset Falls steelhead are more similar to hatchery fish than to NF Skykomish river steelhead.
This research came to the startling conclusion “that there has been mixing between hatchery-origin and wild-origin steelhead in the Skykomish River basin.”
Since the hatchery summer steelhead came from Skamania Hatchery on the Washougal River (a Columbia River tributary) the scientists have also proved that it is possible to transplant fish successfully from one ecosystem to another. It is a great success story that confirms the theory behind WDFW’s long-standing “one size fits all” steelhead management policy. All one has to do is set up a structure where steelhead are reared at a hatchery then transported around the state for release. Oregon has long followed this same policy. Borrowed from industry, it is an economically efficient model that is more concerned with supplying hatchery fish to the sport and commercial fisheries than protection of wild runs.
The Skykomish steelhead study has uncovered an additional benefit of this industrial hatchery approach: hatchery fish create their own naturalized run, adding to the benefits of stocking.
Over forty years ago, I asked Cliff Millenbach, Washington Game Department, about the wisdom of stocking non-native hatchery steelhead in Washington Rivers. With firm conviction he told me that all the steelhead raised in Washington hatcheries are native to Washington. That was not only the agency’s version of sound science but a summary of their genetic policy. We know better now, and probably knew better back then, but both WDFW and ODFW continue to release non-native steelhead and salmon into far-flung rivers, even those with ESA-listed fish.
Wild steelhead in Puget Sound rivers are now listed as a threatened species, so it was with relief that the researchers concluded that: “…hatchery steelhead have reproduced naturally for multiple generations, but does not provide any evidence that they would be sustaining if the hatchery program quit supplementing the run.”
The WDFW leadership may take that statement to mean the hatchery program must continue so the sportsmen can have a kill fishery. 
It would be entirely progressive and welcome if they stopped the hatchery releases and invested their time and money in recovering the Skykomish River wild summer steelhead as required by the ESA.

                    Do you wear this badge RJ?

The Angry Angler

Yep, that's me apparently. I make no excuses or apologies for my scorched earth attitude concerning wild salmon and steelhead.
The way I see it is there can be no fence sitting as we watch the steady decline of the abundant wild fish we once took for granted.
I think, as I've written on this blog, that those who are in the spotlight of the fishing scene have a responsibility to the fish and to all who put these people on some sort of pedestal.
They can claim that they never sought the notoriety they now have but since they accept it and in some cases profit from it then it's time to step up and set the example but many do not.
I get angry when they don't and their undeserved influence causes their followers to take the path of least resistance when it comes to conservation.They need to be called out publically and I'm not the only one who does it.
Apathy will defeat us if we let it and we just cannot afford to let that happen besides apathy got us here in the first place didn't it?
Perhaps my methods are crude and annoying to some but how else do we motivate and educate those who do not realize the peril our wild fish are in.
My good friend says "Shane, you are too confrontational" and maybe I am but since the whole future of wild salmonids has been politicized and marginalized what other tactic is there?
Could I say "Please help wild fish...pretty please" ? Would that work or would the in your face, get involved or get the hell out of the way technique be more effective?
I've no doubt made some enemies along the way but I suppose that is inevitable and while I never wanted to make enemies I accept it as the consequence of my fervor.
I'm not in the mood to make nice as the Dixie Chicks would say because making nice does not work when the harvest mentality is being dealt with.
So as Popeye would say "I yam what I yam" and I'm not involved in helping wild salmon, trout and steelhead to make a name for myself and I'm not about to spare the spare feelings of those who are the stumbling blocks to wild salmonid recovery.
The use of the word "recovery" might be too euphemistic though. It may be more of a case of trying to staunch the hemorrhaging as much as possible but it has to be done.
So if I've offended some then really all I can say is deal with it because it's the way I am and the way I will be.
Thanks

Ain't it Glorious?

What are some of the most wonderful words one can ever hear? Certainly "I love you" would be at the top and especially today. "Congratulations,it's a boy or it's a girl" would rate right up there as would "Would you care to come up for a drink?" at the end of a date a with a beautiful woman.
For this old man though, I would have to put "PITCHERS and CATCHERS REPORT TODAY" right up there as wonderful,glorious and invigorating a statement I would like to hear this time of year and at this time of my life
There is plenty of time as the spring and summer progresses to get disgusted in the plight of my favorite baseball team but right now today, February 14, 2008, those words are music to my ears.
With the beginning of spring training comes a renewal of hope after a tough winter. A rite of passage from the gloom, a moment in the sun...ain't it glorious?

John Fogarty knew the feeling

and so did Kirk Gibson

Are Wild Fish Just a Commodity?

Websters defines a commodity as one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market. The key word here is exploitation! With this in mind have our wild salmon, steelhead and trout become just another means to make money?
I certainly think they have. The state of Oregon will take a run of wild steelhead and turn their offspring into harvestable hatchery fish with the claim that these broodstock fish are a better hatchery product. In truth what they have done is use these wild steelhead as a means to sell licenses and provide area fishing guides with a way to capitalize on this diminishing resource. My friend describes this as guide welfare.
How about allowing a harvest of wild coastal cutthroat trout? Again the state claims that by doing this it will get young people excited about fishing and since they are the future license buyers it will be a win/win situation? See the big picture here?
It's really not a new concept at all unfortunately. The country has been exploiting nearly every natural resource this tired old planet has to offer without putting anything back. We have pushed our environment to the brink!
It's not a very encouraging scenario and one could easily get discouraged but there does seem to be an awareness emerging among concerned people who want to take whatever steps necessary to turn this alarming trend around.
In the past I've witnessed the state of Oregon take steps to return our runs of wild salmonids back into some semblance of recovery. The north coast wild steelhead were making a come back due largely to angler education like catch and release for wild steelhead. The Nestucca river was turning the corner and we were seeing good runs of these wild fish returning and successfully spawning proving that it can be done with some intelligent fishery management. Well you probably can guess the rest of the story and the sad saga of the steelhead broodstock programs on the coastal rivers. We are now seeing these recovering runs slipping back into critical condition and for what? To sell more licenses and give the fishing guides a money making opportunity on a run of fish that should have been left alone or at least not exploited for profit.
It's all about money and keeping antiquated programs afloat and maybe a little cronyism thrown in just for good measure.
It is time to get a grip with reality and that reality is easy to understand. We cannot allow our last few remaining wild salmonids to be bartered about like a sack of corn.
The Quiet Pool has been likened to some radical Eco-terrorist group like ALF (Animal Liberation Front) because of my outspoken defense of wild salmon and steelhead. First of all I really doubt that I have that much influence, if any, on ODFW policy through my writings here. This is just my thoughts and opinions and while I strive to back what I say with facts I make no claim to be an expert.
I am simply a concerned angler trying to make a difference in whatever humble way I can.
Thanks for reading

Save the Coastal Cutthroat Trout

It's a pretty sure bet that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will advance a public proposal to allow a harvest of coastal cutthroat trout in all rivers above the Salmon river near Lincoln City. Although the fish biologists have no real clues as too actual populations of these trout their desire to make up for a shortfall in fishing license sales will make them focus their attention on the last remaining wild cutthroat trout populations in order to boost sales and public interest.
This is a battle we fight every four years and this year will be no different. The harvest drunk "sportsmen" of Tillamook county are already salivating over the prospect of two a day, with an eight inch minimum, harvest.

You find a few of these knuckle draggers on the internet in the usual places talking about how great it would be to kill a few of these fish. After all how are we going to keep our kids interested in fishing without letting them kill their catch?
So friends I am asking you to make your voices heard and let the ODFW know how foolish this notion is. I am not claiming to be a biologist but I do know a bit about the cutthroat trout populations in this region and the huge numbers that locals claim are just not there. Anyone who gives a damn about wild fish and is familiar with these trout will tell you the exact same thing.
They can be reached at the Tillamook Regional office of the ODFW 503-842-2741 and you can talk directly to the individuals that will be involved with any cutthroat harvest.
Ask for either Rick Klumph, Robert Bradley or Keith Braun at the Tillamook ODFW office. Ask them where they are getting their evidence that these trout can sustain a harvest and be sure and ask them where in the watershed they are collecting this information and by what means.
I'm pretty sure you will get a lot of double talk but ask them anyway. I will write more information as to dates for public hearing etc. where this harvest can be addressed in public.
I'm putting everything on the line to save these fish and if you have enjoyed anything I've written over the almost two years the Quiet Pool has existed I am asking you to please help save the wonderful and wild trout.
Another thing you can do is register on the discussion board of the largest fishing forum in the northwest Ifish.net and post your feelings about a potential harvest of these trout.There are many on that website who want to kill cutthroat trout....even the owner thinks it's a good idea after once saying she was against it.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us!

The much anticipated spring chinook salmon allocation hearing has come and gone. The sports groups have pounded their chests with grandiose promises of vanquishing the hated commercial gill netters into some kind of salmon bizarro world. Yep! The vocal masses of the internet fishing website ifish.net promised to unite sports fisherman of the Columbia and Willamette river and kick ass.They made a lot of bold claims and vowed to finally get their day in the sun.....fat chance!

First of all I was not at the meeting and even if I could have I would not have gone! One lonely voice for wild fish was their from Trout Unlimited but this was not a day to discuss wild and endangered spring chinook. This was the day of fighting over the scraps of hatchery fish that the upper Columbia river native American tribes were not entitled too and what a spectacle it must have been. I followed the play by play from Oregonian outdoor columnist Bill Monroe who was present at the meeting as he gave the cyber world an outline as to what was being said before the ODFW commission.
In the end the sports groups still got the lion's share (57% to 43% for the commercials) but it was not the lion's share they anticipated. They still get six out of seven days to fish with the commercials getting only one day and still they bellow like a spoiled fat kid who didn't get the whole candy bar. Oh yes and they also started to do what they do best! Fighting amongst themselves and finger pointing. The out numbered commercial gill netters, putting their individual differences aside, still outflanked them and both user groups will have to vie for the available salmon between the I-5 Bridge and Bonneville dam.
So we once again see greed win out and sports fishermen still come out of this looking as ridiculous, greedy and fragmented as they always have.
Hope these people will be as motivated when addressing issues that affect wild fish but I will not be holding my breath. Sports groups have always been conspicuously absent when it comes to conservation issues.
The one winner of the day is, as it always is when it comes to dividing the hatchery pie, greed.

Pimping the Resource - Revisited

Yes friends I know that I am kind of cynical sometimes but hey if the glass is half empty then that is the way I see it.
So once again this year I go to the Portland Sportsman show and yes I got in for free. Seems someone actually thought my meager fly tying skills was something to be exhibited so go figure.
The one thing that was different this year was the presence of the CCA. I must admit that I was impressed at their efforts as far as getting their name out there.
Their banners proclaimed "Save our Wild Salmon and Steelhead Join CCA" Hmmmm. One would think that this group is going to be force in anadromous fish conservation. Well , as I have stated before, we shall see.
So anyway back to my day at this outdoor sports extravaganza. Once you get passed the buxom young females hawking archery gear and the seemingly endless array of lodges, guides and outfitters what do you have? Well let's simply put it this way. If you go there expecting to find a plethora of nice fly fishing gear, conservation groups and the intimate camaraderie of fellow anglers you will be disappointed.
What you will find is huge amounts of testosterone, stuffed animals and good old American excesses and oh yeah, a lot of cowboy hats. I mean come on folks why would anyone display a mounted head of an African elephant or an African lion? I found these displays offensive! Then you have the caged up north American predator exhibit. Wolves, coyotes, bobcats and foxes looking miserable as people filed by no doubt many of them wishing they could put a bullet in one of these pitiful captives.
In short I found this "Sportsman's" show to be little more than a chest thumping display of gluttony and greed.
Trout Unlimited was there, safely sequestered in some distant corner of the hall but the lack of true conservation organizations was noticeable and troubling. Instead I saw a lot of wild fish being hoisted out of the water for ego pictures and a lot of dead animals that should not have been dead like a full sized mount of a Grizzly bear.
Even in a depressed economy there was a lot of money changing hands with many poor saps who didn't get a freebie admission like I did having to shell out almost twenty dollars for parking and admission before setting foot in the door.
I found this bazaar to be a microcosm of the state of our natural resource awareness and I'm sure the "Kill the Sea Lions" stickers sold well. The things that really matter like wild fish and responsible conservation practices are not profitable enough to merit much attention.
Oh yes and most of the northwest fishing celebs and guides were there for maximum face time. These are the folks that make their money on northwest hunting and fishing but give little back! A $3 salmon and steelhead lure with a popular NW fishing websites URL printed on it???? How does $10 sound?
To quote one of the few enlightened people from ifish.net when commenting on a well known NW fishing guide who was lamenting on ifish.net about how much money he lost from lack of fish.

"It is all about money, nothing more nothing less. To not express concern for the resource but for the money you did not make, you should be ashamed of yourself.
People look up to professionals for accurate and expert advise on issues such as this, what appears to have happened is it turned into an issue if you do not help I will be broke.
Good luck in abusing your resource wait a minute you are also abusing mine!"

The enlightened poster is describing resource pimping of the worst kind here! I think one of the biggest pet peeves I have is people making money on the backs of our resource and giving nothing back. If you think I might be talking about you then I probably am.

Super Tuesday for Coho Salmon

NOAA's Fisheries Service Lists Oregon Coast Coho for Federal Protection

NOAA's Fisheries Service said today it was listing Oregon coast coho as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. A federal district court said last October the agency had erred in deciding not to list the stock in 2006 because it took into account certain information provided by the state of Oregon. The court directed NOAA Fisheries to issue a new listing decision by today, without considering the information from Oregon that the court identified as not being the best available scientific information.

Oregon coast Coho have been the subject of debate and litigation almost continuously from the time the agency was first petitioned to list the stock in 1993.
"As the court ordered," said Bob Lohn, head of the agency's Northwest regional office in Seattle, "we have made a new determination based on the information available to us in this limited time. This schedule didn't allow us to develop and consider new information about the condition of the habitat and the benefits the coho are receiving from the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds."
"Had it not been for these limitations," Lohn added, "we may have reached a different conclusion. I continue to believe that there is great value in the Oregon plan. It boosts salmon recovery through funding, protective regulations, and -- most of all -- through the voluntary restoration efforts being undertaken by thousands of Oregon's landowners. I think the plan is making an important difference."
The agency said it would also put into place specific ESA protections, including a so-called 4(d) rule, which prohibits certain activities that harm fish, and the designation of critical habitat. The agency said there would be some impacts to state and local governments and landowners as they adjust their actions to avoid harming the newly listed coho stocks, but these effects are expected to be minor.
State restrictions on harvest and hatchery operations have been in place for some time, NOAA's Fisheries Service said, and no new restrictions are expected.
Lohn said that Oregon has mounted a "sustained and serious" effort to protect this stock, even before the court's ruling, and he hoped that work would continue.

So do you suppose the harvest drunk folks on the north coast are upset?

Can Spring be Far Behind?

Mark February 14th on your calendar folks. No, I'm not talking about Valentines day either because I would think all you guys should have that date ingrained in your psyche and if you forgot then your wife or girlfriend will probably kill you in your sleep anyway.
I'm talking about the first day of baseball spring training. Now that we have the unpleasantness of the NFL safely behind us we can turn to the sport that every fly fisherman should love.....baseball.
I've always looked to Super Bowl Sunday as the first indication that winter will eventually end, even though this winter seems endless. Although the teams are in either Arizona or Florida where even the winter temperatures are warm at times, it still invigorates me and gets me thinking about the warmer weather,insect hatches and the Deschutes.
Even in this day and age of inflated contracts and over inflated cap sizes due to steroid use I love baseball! Always have and always will.
I've always said that the football season is just a way of filling the time between the end of the World Series and the beginning of spring training.
I like tho think that spring training is much like fly fishing. You begin with high hopes and optimism. Sometimes your hopes are dashed but sometimes you meet with success. Hey if you succeed only one third of the time in baseball you are considered a star! I succeed about one third of the time in my trout angling endeavors so what does that make me? Of course my steelhead fly fishing success or I should say lack of success would surely put me back in the minor leagues.
So as the players head to the sunshine of Florida or Arizona I am anxiously awaiting the sunshine and warmth of my favorite trout haunts. I am anticipating a great season because even if I do not hook many fish I know that just being out in the sunshine will be enough.

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!