Don't Insult the Trout

If our father had had his say, nobody who did not know how to catch a fish would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching him.
Norman Maclean
"A River Runs Through It"

As I stumble through this angling life I've found that there are few absolutes in fly fishing.
Yes, of course, there are certain commandments that one does not break...ever. Commandments like not cutting off a fellow angler by stepping below him, a commandment I see broken all too often unfortunately. What I'm talking about is the things in the pursuit of trout that are just done and not strayed from.
I think using an indicator for trout is an insult to the trout! There I said and I'm sticking to it. I mean come on guys is that really that much fun? Sure it's effective but so is putting shrimp scent on your fly but anyone who calls themselves a fly fisherman and does this is really beyond contempt don't you think?

An indicator immediately destroys any kind of graceful casting. It makes, what should be a challenge into little more than bobber and jig fishing. No thanks I say, because isn't fly fishing supposed to be kind of a graduate school for anglers?
I took a trip last summer with some of my friends from my fly club to a Willamette Valley river. It has a pretty good rainbow and cutthroat trout population and they can be taken rather easily on dry or wet flies. As we were rigging up for our day of fishing I noticed that every one of them, except myself, installed an indicator with tiny split shot on their leaders!!!! I just shrugged, to myself of course, and headed for the river. I allowed one of these fellows, all great guys by the way all though misguided, the best part of the run where I had success before while fishing soft hackles and dries.
Sure enough one them hooks up with a very nice rainbow measuring about seventeen inches. He got it fishing some kind of nymph or whatever, under and indicator.
Thoroughly disgusted at myself for allowing such an insult to the trout, I set off upstream to try my luck away from these unwashed cretins.
To not come off sounding too much like Henning Hale Orviston of "The River Why" fame I must admit that I once dabbled into the paganism and debauchery that is indicator fly fishing. I found it unwieldy and generally a pain in the ass to put it bluntly. I had served my angling apprenticeship with all the bait,scent, lead and bobbers so decided to travel that road less travelled that I have alluded to in the past. I fear I might have offended some you heathen indicator tossing brethren and to that I offer apologies to you....well not really but it seemed I should offer something at least.
So to my superior and more highly evolved fly fishing comrades I raise my tumbler of single malt and smoke a fine Monte Cristo to you fellows. Alas it's not easy to be an elitist so I will instead toast you with stale Pabst and a White Owl instead.
Cheers and good fishing to all who navigate the road less travelled including you indicator guys.

Gonna Miss Ya George

I just learned of the death of comedian George Carlin. I bought one of his early comedy albums " AM FM " and never laughed so hard in my life. His irreverant commentary on everyday life and his twisted reasonings were timeless...I will miss him

Here are a few of his best

Always do whatever's next.


At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.


Atheism is a non-prophet organization.


By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.


Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.


Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.


Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established.


Electricity is really just organized lightning.


Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.


Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.


Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?


"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?


I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.


I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.


I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.


I think people should be allowed to do anything they want. We haven't tried that for a while. Maybe this time it'll work.


I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me - they're cramming for their final exam.


I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.


I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.


I'm always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize I'm listening to it.


I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.


I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect.


If God had intended us not to masturbate he would've made our arms shorter.


If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.


If we could just find out who's in charge, we could kill him.


If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten.


In comic strips, the person on the right always speaks first.


Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.


Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.


May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.


Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.


Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did.


One can never know for sure what a deserted area looks like.


One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.


People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think.


Religion is just mind control.


Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.

Dry Fly Perfection

I think one of the biggest thrills in fly fishing is a trout violently grabbing a dry fly on the surface. There is just something about the sudden flash and realization that you did everything right and fooled this trout into thinking, if trout are capable of thinking that is, that your little bit of fur and feathers is something edible.

Last week while plying my craftiness and immense angling skills on an Oregon coastal stream for cutthroat trout, I achieved "Dry Fly Perfection"
The trout were not interested in anything subsurface like my favorite soft hackle offerings but there was a couple trout slurping Mays and yellow stones off the surface. I proceeded to tie on a #14 Royal Humpy to see if it could fool a cutt into eating it.
Sure enough the fly was not on the water two seconds until a large resident cutthroat inhaled it.
The fish did all the normal things these great trout do and what gives me so much pleasure in pursuing them. Spectacular leaps and runs that really pushed my four weight to it's limit.
I brought him in and with a slight pull the barbless hook was out and he was gone to contemplate his sore lip.
I really believe that fishing for trout with a dry fly is fly fishing at it's purest and most basic form. No gadgets or weight forward lines or weighted fly just the line leader and fly...nothing else. It just cannot get any simpler than that can it?
Dry fly fishing must surely be a big reason that this sport so endearing to so many and I wish I were better at it. It's not, however, just tossing your fake bug out there and hoping for the best. You have to make this floating imposter look like a natural insect so manipulating the line in order to produce that elusive and much sought after drag free drift is the key.
Surely this must be what Gingrich was thinking about when he titled his book "The Joy of Trout". Is there anything more joyful than making the perfect connection? When all the stars in the cosmos line up correctly and you put it all together....ah perfection!

Can I Super Size That For You?

So here we sit looking into the abyss that is the current salmon runs on the west coast. We can point fingers at so many things like El Nino or pinniped predation or hydro electric dams or over harvest by commercial and sports fishing interests and all have played a part in the current down turn to be sure.
When things were fat and a lot of salmon and steelhead were returning everyone was happy and everybody got their share of the salmon pie.
Seems like there were new fishing "superstars" everywhere and the number of "expert" guides increased ten fold. The builders of fishing boats and fishing tackle manufacturers reaped the rewards of the years of plenty.
These boom years and the emergence of the world wide web spawned more than a few fishing forums that cashed in on the good fishing.
So let's fast forward to less than ten years later and see what we have. Of course there is even more bickering and infighting amongst the various users groups and with few exceptions the internet fishing forums have petered out.Many of those self proclaimed angling "experts" have vanished.
I will not be surprised if I see a few of the Tillamook bait guides flipping burgers at The Fern restaurant or maybe ushering at the downtown Tillamook movie house in the near future. Yes these carpetbaggers from the Willamette Valley have found that the well is running dry and all those dark hen chinook they kept and discarded the unfit for the table carcasses simply for the eggs has finally caught up with them.Is it any wonder that the owner of ifish.net, a business that has benefited greatly from those fat years of salmon returns, has hinted about selling the popular fishing forum?
It's kind of too bad for some businesses though. There are some that were friends of the resource, unlike those previously mentioned, who will lose out. I'm not totally heartless you see.
During those boom years we would seldom see most of those previously mentioned guides and businesses at important public meetings concerning fisheries. Oh yeah they would be at the ones that served their own selfish interests but when it came to the real conservation stuff they were all no shows!
With the bloated budget of ODFW surely to find the scissors of the governor of this state maybe just maybe we will see some of the worthless and wild fish killing programs die a painful death. Those programs like the steelhead broodstock programs will not go easily though and those who have made a bunch of cash on the backs of wild fish will not give up without a fight.
I will not mourn however, I knew these times were coming and not because I am especially enlightened or anything. I saw it from the perspective of conservation and anyone without any self serving agenda could see the same thing.
So friends don't feel too bad for those that hastened the downturn because after all they did their part to bring us where we are today.I can hear them saying it now "Would you like french fries with that order sir?" I call that poetic justice!

The Quiet Pool Turns Two!!!!

This little blog is officially two years old! To those of you that have been faithful followers of my often incendiary rants and musings I say thank you. I know some if not most stumble upon this blog by accident but some have followed this faithfully since it's inception.
I started this blog as just a way to write down my thoughts and opinions. I have not always been politically correct and I must confess that at least some of that has been intentional.
I'm sure a few have been offended but like I've said before everything I write here has been based on facts and not just something I've pulled out of mid air. I don't believe that feelings should be spared when it comes to matters of conservation. We cannot afford to be nice that way.
I have no idea who the many readers from right here in the Pacific northwest are but if you care about conservation and the beauty of fly fishing then a thank you to you also.
I know there are detractors among the countless millions (yeah right)of you readers out there and hopefully I have not offended you to the point of murderous thoughts. Keep reading though as I am sure we have some common ground somewhere.
To all who care about pristine waters and healthy runs of wild trout and salmon please continue to do your part. We cannot let up for one second in the ongoing struggle to protect our precious natural resources.
So hopefully friends this little wayside among the madness of the worldwide web will continue.
It costs me nothing but a small amount of time. Thank you again for the words of encouragement I've received along the way. Thank you for putting up with bad punctuation,run on sentences and bad spelling. Hope to see at least some of you along the river sometime.
Cheers!
Shane

True in 1968 and True Today...The Words of Robert F. Kennedy

Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Robert Kennedy.While we can only speculate about what a second Kennedy administration would have meant for this country. We can appreciate his words of hope in a tumultuous time. His words are as relevant today as they were back in 1968.



This is a speech given by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reflecting on his father. These words by RFK were ahead of their times and could easily be said by anyone sick and tired of George Bush's folly in Iraq.

In 1968, my father, running for President, addressed in a speech, the White House's proposal for a troop surge in Vietnam. Robert Kennedy had initially supported the U.S. intervention in Vietnam. Forty years later, as Congress and the White House debate the further escalation of yet another war that has already claimed the lives of an astounding 640,000 Iraqis, killed 3,256 U.S. soldiers and wounded another 50,000, his words should have special resonance to those of our political leaders who are still searching for the right course in Iraq:


"I do not want--as I believe most Americans do not want--to sell out American interests, to simply withdraw, to raise the white flag of surrender. That would be unacceptable to us as a country and as a people. But I am concerned--as I believe most Americans are concerned--that the course we are following at the present time is deeply wrong. I am concerned--as I believe most Americans are concerned--that we are acting as if no other nations existed, against the judgment and desires of neutrals and our historic allies alike. I am concerned--as I believe most Americans are concerned--that our present course will not bring victory; will not bring peace; will not stop the bloodshed; and will not advance the interests of the United States or the cause of peace in the world. I am concerned that, at the end of it all, there will only be more Americans killed; more of our treasure spilled out; and because of the bitterness and hatred on every side of this war, more hundreds of thousands of [civilians] slaughtered; so they may say, as Tacitus said of Rome: "They made a desert, and called it peace." . . .

"The reversals of the last several months have led our military to ask for more troops. This weekend, it was announced that some of them--a "moderate" increase, it was said--would soon be sent. But isn't this exactly what we have always done in the past? If we examine the history of this conflict, we find the dismal story repeated time after time. Every time--at every crisis--we have denied that anything was wrong; sent more troops; and issued more confident communiques. Every time, we have been assured that this one last step would bring victory. And every time, the predictions and promises have failed and been forgotten, and the demand has been made again for just one more step up the ladder. But all the escalations, all the last steps, have brought us no closer to success than we were before. . . . And once again the President tells us, as we have been told for twenty years, that "we are going to win"; "victory" is coming. . . . It becoming more evident with every passing day that the victories we achieve will only come at the cost of the destruction for the nation we once hoped to help. . . .

"Let us have no misunderstanding. [They] are a brutal enemy indeed. Time and time again, they have shown their willingness to sacrifice innocent civilians, to engage in torture and murder and despicable terror to achieve their ends. This is a war almost without rules or quarter. There can be no easy moral answer to this war, no one-sided condemnation of American actions. What we must ask ourselves is whether we have a right to bring so much destruction to another land, without clear and convincing evidence that this is what its people want. But that is precisely the evidence we do not have. . . .

"The war, far from being the last critical test for the United States, is in fact weakening our position in Asia and around the world, and eroding the structure of international cooperation which has directly supported our security for the past three decades. . . . All this bears directly and heavily on the question of whether more troops should now be sent--and, if more are sent, what their mission will be. We are entitled to ask--we are required to ask--how many more men, how many more lives, how much more destruction will be asked, to provide the military victory that is always just around the corner, to pour into this bottomless pit of our dreams? But this question the administration does not and cannot answer. It has no answer--none but the ever-expanding use of military force and the lives of our brave soldiers, in a conflict where military force has failed to solve anything yet. . . .

"But the costs of the war's present course far outweigh anything we can reasonably hope to gain by it, for ourselves or for the people of Vietnam. It must be ended, and it can be ended, in a peace of brave men who have fought each other with a terrible fury, each believing he and he alone was in the right. We have prayed to different gods, and the prayers of neither have been answered fully. Now, while there is still time for some of them to be partly answered, now is the time to stop. . . .

"You are the people, as President Kennedy said, who have "the least ties to the present and the greatest ties to the future." I urge you to learn the harsh facts that lurk behind the mask of official illusion with which we have concealed our true circumstances, even from ourselves. Our country is in danger: not just from foreign enemies; but above all, from our misguided policies--and what they can do to the nation that Thomas Jefferson once told us was the last, best hope of man. There is a contest on, not for the rule of America, but for the heart of America. . . . I ask you to go forth and work for new policies--work to change our direction--and thus restore our place at the point of moral leadership, in our country, in our hearts, and all around the world."

My Angel on Earth

May 28th marked the ninth anniversary of my beloved grandmother's death at the age of almost 101. She was my angel on earth. She was the rock of our family when my father and uncle, her sons, died within three months of each other and sustained us in our grief while she held the family together as only she could.
She was a simple and uneducated women but the wisdom she had could not be taught anywhere. In her simple southern ways she was the wisest person I knew and her faith in God was unflinching.
She was an excellent cook and one of her specialties was her applesauce cake that me and my brothers literally fought over when she would send one for Christmas. I still have the recipe and make it from time to time and each time I do I cannot help but get sentimental about her.
No matter how much we disappointed her and I know that I did, she never judged us and never quit loving us.I was fortunate enough to attend her 100th birthday celebration in Florida in 1999 but sadly I knew that this would be the last time I would see her. I miss her terribly but am joyful and truly blessed for the many years she gave us all.

I miss you Mama and I love you

Regarding Steelhead Broodstock Programs by Bill McMillan

I've corresponded with Bill McMillan over the last few years about various wild fish conservation concerns in this region.
I know of no one more passionate about the fate of wild salmonids as Bill McMillan is.I thought I would share his comments on wild steelhead broodstock programs, a subject that I have touched on more than a few times.

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

As with all hatchery programs, the B.C. native brood programs started out as promising ventures that inevitably deteriorated and failed to accomplish the goals intended: that being to maintain wild steelhead runs and to supplement them with additional hatchery fish for harvest. As in the U.S., the B.C. hatchery programs have tended to replicate what has long happened in the U.S. no matter what the hatchery program, wild brood or otherwise: that is replace the wild fish with hatchery origin fish. In the first generation removed from the wild (that is the eggs from wild brood held in hatchery trays and the juveniles juveniles reared in a hatchery for a year), there are significant changes from the wild fish they originated from. In other words, domestication occurs within the very first generation.

Among the most common alterations to salmon or steelhead in native brood programs are phenotypic changes in body form and fin sizes that occur in the very first generation as initially discovered with Atlantic salmon in Norway.
The best information available on using native broodstock is a very complete assessment done by Bill Bakke of the Native Fish Society. You can find that recent paper online by going to nativefishsociety.org. I have heard from several B.C. biologists who read the paper as well as from two of the most trustworthy scientists I know in NOAA Fisheries that Bakke's collection of quotes from papers and sources is the best piece of work out there to date.
The only success stories I know of regarding wild steelhead recoveries have been those instances where hatchery programs have never existed, or where hatchery programs have been eliminated. Regarding the former, the John Day River is a great example, although hatchery strays due to all the Columbia River barging are increasingly reducing the John Day's wild reproduction and rearing capacity. Despite these compromises to wild John Day steelhead, it remains the only major river system on the Columbia where wild steelhead are considered healthy. Joseph Creek on the Grande Ronde River is also an exceptional example. Even though Joseph Creek steelhead must go back and forth through 8 dams, they do incredibly well when good dam passage conditions are provided with good ocean conditions. Regarding an example where hatchery steelhead elimination has proven of great benefit, unfortunately we have only one river where it has been attempted, but it has been quite successful to date. That is Wind River. I attempted to get hatchery steelhead eliminated on the Wind back in 1980-81. They were eliminated for 3 years but the 1983 El Nino event sent the local steelhead manager there into a panic and he resumed hatchery plants. As the wild steelhead tumbled toward extinction there in the 1990s with numbers down to snorkel counts of 40 steelhead, the WDFW manager finally eliminated hatchery steelhead releases there above Shepherd Falls, and those that strayed he had removed via the Shepherd Falls trap that is in the fish ladder there. As with many rivers, the wild steelhead began to recover with the better ocean conditions in the early 2000s. However, as the wild steelhead numbers have begun to crash again as the ocean conditions have returned to less productive conditions, the Wind River wild steelhead have continued to recover with growing numbers the past 2 years. For the first time in many years, Wind River will likely be opened to a catch and release wild fishery this summer or fall due to this success.

Just What is ODFW's Mandate?

According to Webster mandate is defined as simply this
An authoritative command; especially : a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one
So that tells me a state government agency is ruled by public decree correct? Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, being a public agency, should do the will of the public that trusts them to manage fish and wildlife. Seems pretty simple to me!

Let's take it a bit further by looking at the simple Mission Statement of this public agency
"To protect and enhance Oregon's fish and wildlife and their habitats for use and enjoyment by present and future generations"
I think the key word here is future.
I do not think for one moment that this mission statement is being followed and here is why.
Under the agencies priorities for 2007-2008 they show their hand plain and simple so even a dumb guy like myself can understand.
Bullet number two in these strategies is this....
Develop strategies for recruiting and retaining hunters, anglers, and wildlife viewers
What are those strategies?
Anyone who has done the ODFW public circuit of meetings knows that this agency is in fiscal trouble and big time.Angler participation in this state is declining at an alarming rate and it just so happens it coincides with the likewise alarming down turn of returning salmon and steelhead into Oregon's rivers.
ODFW recognizes this and the agencies intentions are clear! They use the clever euphemism of "Increased angling opportunities" but if you read between the lines it becomes apparent that ODFW wants more bodies on the river and lakes and will do what it takes to get them there.
They also use the excuse of getting young anglers involved. That is a noble gesture but teaching them to kill trout is not the way to go about it.
In the 2008-2009 angling regulations developmental cycle ODFW asked the public to participate with regulation changes they would like starting in 2009.
I myself sent in several proposals that I felt were biologically sound and were consistent with ODFW's mission statement I listed above.
I knew not all of them would make the final cut but I thought maybe one or two would. I read all of the public proposals and thought the conservation side was very well represented with some very thoughtful public proposals.
I was impressed by the thought put into those proposals that protected wild fish "for future generations"
Never once did I think that almost every publicly submitted conservation proposal would be summarily rejected by the angling review board.
Seems like all the rumors of license sales before conservation are true. Harvest of wild winter steelhead on the North Umpqua is back and, of course, so is a potential harvest of north coast cutthroat trout. Seems like the review board would rather protect invasive and illegally planted warm water fish than native salmonids.
These harvest proposals are still in the public review and comment process and may not get any further than the several public meetings scheduled this month BUT the fact that they made it this far while sensible wild fish management proposals did not is very telling and disturbing.
As I've stated before there are some very talented individuals working for ODFW. Intelligent biologists that really do care about wild salmonid conservation. I've met a few of them and they are a credit to the agency. There also seems to be a fair amount of arrogance too and it seems to be what drives ODFW.
Needless to say the fight for these wild fish is far from over. While some ODFW staffers believe we will just roll over and let them ride rough shod over wild salmon, steelhead and trout populations in Oregon for the sake of increased angling opportunities. I am certain that it will not happen this year or ever! I have faith in the voices of thousands who cared enough to be involved in trying to make ODFW own up to it's mandate.

Trout

It's that time of year again. A time of year that all we who fly fish wait for. We wait patiently and in my case not so patiently, for the endless storms of winter to pass.
The blooming daffodils are usually the first indication that our winter of discontent is finally coming to an end and then of course the beginning of the baseball season.
What is it that causes us to pursue trout? Why are we drawn to this fish?
I think we as fly fishers have a lot thank trout for. It's trout that brought us into this wonderful form of angling after all. It's trout that gives us camaraderie with other like minded souls and in many cases life long bonds of friendship are formed. It's trout that keeps us young and optimistic and above all else hopeful
In his classic work "Year of the Trout" author Steve Raymond poses these questions.

"What magic quality does the trout possess that compels men to search for it in such dark and desperate weather? What virtue does it offer to command such unwavering devotion?"

He goes on to explain why he loves trout so much.

" I love trout because they are among the most beautiful and graceful of all creatures and because they dwell in some of the most beautiful and graceful of all places.
I love them because I am a fly fisherman and trout inspired the invention of my sport; without them it would be a very different sport, if indeed it existed at all"

I would ask any of you reading this if you feel the same way...I know I do.
Would I love the Deschutes or Metolius so much if it weren't for the wonderful trout that live there? Oh I know I would love those rivers for just their beauty alone but it is the trout that drew me there in the first place.
Has a fish ever been as written about as trout? Think of all the classic fly fishing books devoted to trout. "The Joy of Trout" or "Trout Magic" or "Year of the Trout" just to name a few.
I have staked my reputation, for what it's worth, on the salvation cutthroat trout. Why would I do that? Why would anyone think that this trout is so special as to put so much passion behind saving them?
I cannot explain it except to say trout and the pursuit of them maybe the one thing I may do well and I'm not talking catch ratio either. Trout brings out the little child in us and we know that we want them to endure because it is the right thing to do for everyone, even those who do not fish.
A good friend has taught me this pursuit we call fly fishing is something that is filled with tradition even in this day and age tradition still matters doesn't it? He taught me that it is giving it your best effort. So why wouldn't we give the preservation of trout our best effort also?
Why would I spend my children's inheritance on sticks made out of an asian tall grass? Why would I go to great length to acquire a single action fly reel from a maker who is unknown outside of the fly fishing world and spend as much money on it as a set of fine golf clubs.
The logic escapes the most romantic dreamer except those who share this obsession called trout.
Here's wishing all of you a fine trout season filled with the joy and yes even the frustration of trout.....tight lines!

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Rant

Oh yes friends I have got plenty to rant about too!
I was reading in the latest edition of Northwest Fly Fishing about how the state of Washington is cutting back on hatchery winter steelhead releases in the Cowlitz river and they have raised the bag limit from two fish to six fin clipped steelhead.
Why are they doing this? Why all of the sudden has Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife decided maybe just maybe wild fish are important enough to try to restore in this major Columbia tributary? It's not just hatchery steelhead that are being cut back either. WDFW is also taking steps to restore wild salmon and coastal cutthroat trout.
Now admittedly it may be too late to save SW Washington wild salmonids. The damage has been both severe and long lasting. I recall a day some thirty two years ago standing above the Cowlitz river and seeing the thousands of hatchery winter steelhead stacked up below Barrier Dam. Of course the fishermen were also "stacked up" trying to hook them! It was not exactly what I would call a defining moment of pristine Pacific Northwest angling if you know what I mean. The state of Washington had turned the Cowlitz into just another hatchery fish super highway and the damage may be irreversible but we can hope.
The point of this rant, however, is why can't we get the same enlightenment here in Oregon ? Heck why can't we get the same enlightenment on the northern coast of Oregon for that matter?

I went to an ODFW budget meeting the other night and had the pleasure of meeting Todd Alsbury, a fish biologist for ODFW. Todd is in charge of the winter steelhead broodstock programs on both the Clackamas and Sandy rivers. He told me that they do not use 100% wild stock for the source of eggs for this program like is done on the Wilson, Siletz and Nestucca rivers. They use only 30% and they see to it that the returning generation broodstock off springs do not stray into the upper river to mix with wild fish. Hey I call that pretty progressive don't you? We know that the hatchery spectre is here to stay and we have become addicted to it and therefore it would be impossible to totally end hatcheries. While it is not realistic to think we can end all hatchery plants we can expect and even demand responsible hatchery practices and procedures. We are not getting this on the northwest coastal river of Oregon and you just have to wonder why?
Why is our neighboring state trying to undo years of hatchery fish damage to great rivers like the Cowlitz.Taking it a step further even in regions of our own state progressive thinking fish biologists are trying, within the constraints and agendas put forth by ODFW mind you, to take into consideration the plight of wild salmonids?
This is what you get with no basin management plan and district biologists are given pretty much free reign as far as this program goes.So who is running the show in Tillamook? Why is there such a vast difference between Oregon and Washington and even within different regions around the state? I cannot get information from district biologists as to how much time they actually spend on wild cutthroat populations in the Tillamook basin much less answers to the way the wild fish are managed or should I say mismanaged.
I was,however, able to find a picture of who is in charge in Tillamook and it's posted above.....nyuck, nyuck, nuyck.

Wild Fish are Important

I rant a lot on this blog about wild fish and how important they are but being just a layman I am not eloquent enough to put it layman's terms as to the importance of wild fish . As a matter of fact I don't even try because there are scores of people who know this stuff better than me so the practical thing to do is let them explain it.

I gleaned the following from The Wild Steelhead Coalition website. Whose website is linked in "Friends of the Quiet Pool" column.

All species live in constantly changing environments. To overcome environmental
fluctuations, it is essential for species to exploit all available habitat. The long-term existence of a species is maximized through the adaptation of numerous populations and sub-populations to specific environmental conditions. These adaptations have evolved over hundreds and thousands of generations in concert with a natural, fluctuating environment. As the environment changes so does the composition of individuals within a population.
While the environment acts as a changing variable to individuals within a population, the one constant is that individuals pass their genetic makeup, which includes chromosomes, genes, and non-coding regions of the genome, to their offspring. This inherited genetic material is passed from one generation to the next as the foundation upon which individual uniqueness and population differences are maintained and is known as genetic diversity.The genetic diversity maintained within a species is a genetic reservoir upon which natural selection acts.Populations with unnaturally altered or low levels of genetic diversity can be stripped of their evolutionary future because their ability to respond to changing environments has been reduced. Loss of genetic diversity can lead to reductions in fitness and decrease an individuals ability to adapt to environmental changes. Fitness is a measure of an individuals potential to produce viable offspring. Fitness reductions can be caused by either inbreeding or genetic drift. Inbreeding is often observed in populations with low numbers of mating individuals, and occurs when closely related individuals mate as opposed to unrelated 26 individuals. Inbreeding often increases the frequency of deleterious genes within a population.
A classic example of inbreeding and its effect is the lethal genetic disease hemophilia within the European monarchies, most notably Queen Victoria of England and her descendants.

Food For Thought

I know at least a few of you that read this blog are persons of faith. I would hope the following entry will not offend but perhaps make those of you that beleive in a creator open to opposing ideas/


Science Must Destroy Religion
By Sam Harris
Most people believe that the Creator of the universe wrote (or dictated) one of their books. Unfortunately, there are many books that pretend to divine authorship, and each makes incompatible claims about how we all must live. Despite the ecumenical efforts of many well-intentioned people, these irreconcilable religious commitments still inspire an appalling amount of human conflict.
In response to this situation, most sensible people advocate something called "religious tolerance." While religious tolerance is surely better than religious war, tolerance is not without its liabilities. Our fear of provoking religious hatred has rendered us incapable of criticizing ideas that are now patently absurd and increasingly maladaptive. It has also obliged us to lie to ourselves — repeatedly and at the highest levels — about the compatibility between religious faith and scientific rationality.
The conflict between religion and science is inherent and (very nearly) zero-sum. The success of science often comes at the expense of religious dogma; the maintenance of religious dogma always comes at the expense of science. It is time we conceded a basic fact of human discourse: either a person has good reasons for what he believes, or he does not. When a person has good reasons, his beliefs contribute to our growing understanding of the world. We need not distinguish between "hard" and "soft" science here, or between science and other evidence-based disciplines like history. There happen to be very good reasons to believe that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Consequently, the idea that the Egyptians actually did it lacks credibility. Every sane human being recognizes that to rely merely upon "faith" to decide specific questions of historical fact would be both idiotic and grotesque — that is, until the conversation turns to the origin of books like the bible and the Koran, to the resurrection of Jesus, to Muhammad's conversation with the angel Gabriel, or to any of the other hallowed travesties that still crowd the altar of human ignorance.
Science, in the broadest sense, includes all reasonable claims to knowledge about ourselves and the world. If there were good reasons to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, or that Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse, these beliefs would necessarily form part of our rational description of the universe. Faith is nothing more than the license that religious people give one another to believe such propositions when reasons fail. The difference between science and religion is the difference between a willingness to dispassionately consider new evidence and new arguments, and a passionate unwillingness to do so. The distinction could not be more obvious, or more consequential, and yet it is everywhere elided, even in the ivory tower.
Religion is fast growing incompatible with the emergence of a global, civil society. Religious faith — faith that there is a God who cares what name he is called, that one of our books is infallible, that Jesus is coming back to earth to judge the living and the dead, that Muslim martyrs go straight to Paradise, etc. — is on the wrong side of an escalating war of ideas. The difference between science and religion is the difference between a genuine openness to fruits of human inquiry in the 21st century, and a premature closure to such inquiry as a matter of principle. I believe that the antagonism between reason and faith will only grow more pervasive and intractable in the coming years. Iron Age beliefs — about God, the soul, sin, free will, etc. — continue to impede medical research and distort public policy. The possibility that we could elect a U.S. President who takes biblical prophesy seriously is real and terrifying; the likelihood that we will one day confront Islamists armed with nuclear or biological weapons is also terrifying, and it is increasing by the day. We are doing very little, at the level of our intellectual discourse, to prevent such possibilities. 

In the spirit of religious tolerance, most scientists are keeping silent when they should be blasting the hideous fantasies of a prior age with all the facts at their disposal.
To win this war of ideas, scientists and other rational people will need to find new ways of talking about ethics and spiritual experience. The distinction between science and religion is not a matter of excluding our ethical intuitions and non-ordinary states of consciousness from our conversation about the world; it is a matter of our being rigorous about what is reasonable to conclude on their basis. We must find ways of meeting our emotional needs that do not require the abject embrace of the preposterous. We must learn to invoke the power of ritual and to mark those transitions in every human life that demand profundity — birth, marriage, death, etc. — without lying to ourselves about the nature of reality.
I am hopeful that the necessary transformation in our thinking will come about as our scientific understanding of ourselves matures. When we find reliable ways to make human beings more loving, less fearful, and genuinely enraptured by the fact of our appearance in the cosmos, we will have no need for divisive religious myths. Only then will the practice of raising our children to believe that they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu be broadly recognized as the ludicrous obscenity that it is. And only then will we stand a chance of healing the deepest and most dangerous fractures in our world.

The Great Shute

The Great Shute (Chute) was a name that the Lewis and Clark expedition called the Columbia River Gorge on their voyage west back in 1804.Looking past their spelling mistakes I think they described what they saw appropriately.
What a grand sight it must have been too. The huge river was teaming with migrating salmon, the abundant waterfowl nested along the shore and the deer and elk grazed the meadows along this mightiest of American rivers. Is it any wonder that Chief Joseph fought so hard for his land, this land of the Nez Perce?

Celilo Falls was just one of the major obstacle that the Corps of Discovery encountered on their journey to the Pacific ocean so long ago.
The sheer raw beauty of the river and it's gorge must have taken their breath away as they went from desert to lush Pacific rain forest.
Think about the many legendary rivers that drain into the Columbia. Names likes the Snake, Deschutes, Willamette,Clearwater and Wind just to name a few.Is it any wonder that this river was truly the river of dreams.
Those of us today cannot fathom what the Columbia once was as we travel east along I-84. We encounter man's intrusion upon river almost from the beginning. Hydro-electric dams that have forever taken away Celilo Falls and created one slack water reservoir after another.Water that in the summer time reaches the fish killing mid-seventies in temperature and pollution that makes the windsurfers near Hood River sick. These dams have become fish killing barriers with so many awful consequences that one cannot begin to list them here.
Then there are the ghosts of the huge salmon and steelhead runs of the past. Countless hundreds of thousands of all the salmon species along with steelhead,cutthroat trout and smelt are just memories anymore. Take your pick of reasons for their decline because there are many but at the bottom of it all is, of course, greed. Greed that began when in 1792 Captain Robert Gray first encountered the river which he would name after his ship. Greed when the legendary Lewis and Clark paddled down it and surely greed today.
On this Earth Day 2008 I think it is only appropriate to pay homage to the once mighty Columbia river.

Cutthroat in the Crosshairs

I heard from Rhine Messmer of ODFW that the agency will promote a coastal cutthroat trout harvest starting in 2009.
I will have petitions in River City Fly Shop and Kaufmann's by next week and I will try to get them to other shops if I am able too.
If you cannot get to those shops to sign the petitions then please by all means write ODFW and let them know that you oppose any harvest of these wild trout.
Here are some addresses to send your letter of opposition to
Keith Braun - Keith.E.Braun@state.or.us
Ed Bowles (Fisheries Director) - Ed.Bowles@state.or.us
Rick Klumph - Rick.L.Klumph@state.or.us
Rhine Messmer - Rhine.T.Messmer@state.or.us
You can also contact any or all of the commissioners
at the ODFW website. ODFW LINK
There will be public meetings on 5/22 in Newport and 5/23 in Tillamook. We could use as many people there as possible.
If you believe that these fish are worth saving then please make your feelings known.
With the state of Oregon planting hundreds of thousands of hatchery rainbow trout in lakes and reservoirs throughout the state there is absolutely no reason to kill wild trout!
ODFW is dealing with a revenue shortfall from declining license and tag sales so it appears they think they way to sell more licenses is to allow the killing of these wild trout.
Here is the first paragraph from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's mission statement.
The mission of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is to protect and enhance Oregon’s fish and wildlife and their habitats for use and enjoyment by present and future generations.
You make up your own mind if killing wild cutthroat trout fits into this strategy.

Snow in April???? The Year of Endless Winter

Above photo taken 4/20/2008 in Salem, Oregon

I should have taken a picture of the snow on my truck yesterday morning because I would not have believed it myself.
Isn't April that time of year when I take a trip east of the mountains to the Deschutes? Isn't it time to mow my lawn? Isn't it time to put away the winter steelhead gear for a few months?
I know I complain about winter a lot on this blog but who wouldn't complain after an April 20th snow shower in western Oregon. This isn't Alaska after all! Heck this isn't even Lake Tahoe where my brother tells me they got snow on the fourth of July one year.
Eventually spring and summer will get here...won't they?
Last Saturday it was eighty friggin' degrees and I was wearing shorts for crying out loud! I had to open a few windows in my home because it was so warm. I drove around with the windows on my truck down! The very next day the temperature dropped something like thirty degrees!!!! It's like what the the DJ in the movie "Ground Hog Day" radio DJ would say "Rise and shine campers! Don't forget your booties because it's cold out there. It's COLD out there everyday!What is this, Miami Beach? Not hardly!".
Have I been mysteriously transported into the cold version of that old surfer movie "The Endless Summer"? All I can say is "Cowabunga"
The way I figure it the eighty degree day was just some kind of cosmic tease and I think it may have been directed at me. Call it a conspiracy theory if you will but sorry folks I feel like I am the reason we got an eighty degree day followed by a fifty degree day. I was being punished because of all my winter whining and I dragged all my Pacific northwest neighbors down with me. Have faith though folks because I'm sure winter will not last too much longer. In fact it will arrive by fourth of July...won't it?

Still Relevant

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.