An Angler in Autumn

I have decided to take "The Quiet Pool" in a different direction, or should I say an old direction.
When I started this blog back in 2006 my desire was for it to be a place to write my inner most thoughts about this piscatorial pursuit that I love. I feel some of my best postings have been when I wrote in that vain.
I went from writing fly fishing prose to being fly fishing's angry old man. I ranted and raved at every inequity and slight that offended me, there was plenty to be offended about in my mind. I informed you readers about what was going on with the sorry plight of wild trout, steelhead and salmon and I correctly had reason for such offenses.
I was sometimes brutal in my assessment of the wrong of what state fish and wildlife agencies were doing and I believed this and still do,
The thing is that there are plenty of places throughout the internet and especially social media to find out what is going on with our wild resources. I run a group on Facebook called For the Love of Wild Fish that is specially for information about our wild fish and the water they inhabit.
The Quiet Pool is going to be about fly fishing and everything that makes fly fishing beautiful. I will write about my experiences on the river and with the wild trout and steelhead I love so much.
I am weary of beating the conservation dead horse. Yes, it's important and should be discussed but "The Quiet Pool" is not going to be the place. 
This is my personal journal of my fly fishing life so that is what it's going to be.
I may recycle a few old posts that I wrote in the past to help the process along. I will be sharing the things that are dearest to me, 
As I've grown older I cannot do the things I once did. The water seems colder, the hills steeper and the rivers wider. I have to measure all I do on the river as I usually fish alone because I just cannot tolerate other anglers quirks and I'm too old to learn any different. This is how I want it. I want to write about the delights of a bamboo rod or a fine old Hardy reel. I want to share my triumphs and failures with a Spey rod and the wonders of my recent trip to Scotland and Ireland.
I don't have a large following on this blog and that is the way I have always wanted it to be. I have no desire to make any money from this blog either....too much work.
I want to go to that "Quiet Pool" of my dreams and relax beside it and marvel at the many things that make a river different from any other.
There is a time and place to fight for our wild resource but that is for another place and you can bet I will be involved. There are many battles yet to come but I want to reserve this place, with it's bad punctuation and all the warts it has to record my thoughts, if not for anyone but for myself.
I appreciate everyone who has come here in the almost 10 years I have been doing this blog. I consider each and every one of you my friends,
I would like to especially thank Erik Helm for his friendship and inspiration. Erik you are a true artist with words,
So here we go folks. no rants or raves or anger just peace, serenity and fly fishing.

When Winter Did Not Matter

Remember that old Janis Ian song "In the Winter" ?
One of the lines is  "and in the winter extra blankets for the cold, fix the heater getting old"  That song is playing in my head these days.
Although it's not quite winter yet here in Oregon it certainly feels like it outside. Night time temperatures are down in the higher 20's and the day time temperature doesn't get much above freezing. So as I wait out this cold and rainless weather my lack of piscatorial activity give me a lot of time to reflect on my angling life.
When I was in my 20's this weather was little more than a minor inconvenience. Yes I had to deal with iced up guides on my rod and maybe wear an extra layer of clothing but so what? Dude this was winter steelhead season we are talking about and there's is no way a little cold was going to stop me.
Back in the day before breathable waders we wore whatever cheap chest high waders were on sale. There was almost no flexibility in those old Red Ball rubber shrouds but I was about 75 pounds lighter and 35 years younger and, like I said before, it just didn't matter. Cleated soles for traction? How about felt soles? Nope! It was rubber to rock and you hoped for the best. I lost a brand new fly rod on the Washougal river one year after falling in the river one winter and my friend that was with me that day in 1976 still reminds of it every time he sees me. Those old rubber chest highs fill with water pretty fast let me tell you. It's because of that "spill" that I am a super cautious wader today.I will even pass up to the promising looking water because I am not comfortable with the wade I needed to make to get to that water.
Back then I never even used a rain coat, most of the time, while winter steelheading and also got drenched, most of the time, coming home looking like I went swimming instead of fishing. It was fun though and I have a wealth of memories from the days when winter didn't matter.
Today...well it's a whole different story. These old bones need some warmth and although I have a rain coat at the ready I still rather not deal with any rainfall that is little more than a mist.
The desire to get up at 4:30 AM with a chance of marginal water conditions (no internet back then remember) is long gone because I finally realized that in the winter the steelhead are just as apt to bite at 10am as they are at 6am.
Since it's no longer necessary to be the first one on the river in order to get the choice spot I get a few hours more sleep these days.
I feel I enjoy my fishing more these days without the need to be hard core about it.
Although I take a more laid back approach to my fishing I still feel nostalgic for those old days of trips to the Grays river in Washington or the walk up to the pipeline hole on the Sandy to fish along side of my 50 closest friends...no exaggeration either!
It was fun laughing in winter's face back then but in the end winter won as it always will inevitably.
The drive back over the coastal range is always enjoyable for me. I have seen more elk this fall and winter than in prior years. The smell of rotting salmon carcasses greet my nose along the river bank and while it is not exactly Chanel No.5 it is a good sign that these noble fish reached their spawning grounds and accomplished their purpose, insuring the future of the species.
I do not enjoy the winter season like I once did but I try to make the best of it remembering that there can be no spring without winter and in my 62 years spring has never failed to arrive.

The Internet Makes Many Mighty...

From the blog Chucking Line and Chasing Tail

No Bait.  No Barbs.  No Kill

And a little bit of in river refuge for the fish.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, based on the North Coast Steelhead Advisory Council recommendations,  adopted 4 common sense rule changes for the rivers on the Olympic Peninsula 

These changes had to happen.  Years and years of missed escapement on the majority of the rivers on the North Washington Coast and having to deal with co-managers who are netting the runs to death, anglers had to take a leadership position to lessen impact on the ever dwindling resource.

To some, you would thought the sky had fallen.  Fish recovery is such a political quagmire, but the devolution of discourse on the internet....especially on the side of the street that oppose these changes is down right nuts.  NUTS.

The examples of internet tough guy syndrome came in hard and fast

"All the catch and release guy's kill a ton of fish. I'm still going to kill every "wild steelhead" I can. Leave our hatchery fish alone"

"Even with a ton of opposition the commission does whatever the fly fags tell them too because they are getting the golden handshake somewhere along the line and the only way the commission is ever going to listen to the common man or average sport fisherman is for all of is to stop buying licenses and fish elsewhere just for one year......if 300,000 of did not buy a license in 2016 because of the arrogant , elitist rules they are adopting I fucking guarantee you we would get a few spots at the table and this shit would be over turned.......lets band together and just say no to buying a license in 2016 until they quit fucking us and give is spot at the table........fuck Miranda Wecker and the rest of her elitist posse.."

"Screw the wild fish and make a lot of hatchery fish for us to kill. Most of the wild fish comes from stray hatchery fish and are interbred. The tribes don't care either so why should we. Everybody is afraid of endangered species. Last time I checked there was lots of species extinct and guess what, the world did not end! Get overy it!"

Then you have this article.  Lots of LOLz in that one.

Reminds me a lot of a South Park episode, except change jobs to fish.

Lets think about it a second.   

You make no changes, stay the status quo.  Runs continue to decrease and  it stays the ONLY place in the state of Washington, and about the only place in the damn world you can keep a wild fish.  

100% of a run are caught at least once.  ZERO inter river refuge for the fish.  

Folks, the Endangered Species act is knocking at the door.  Once that comes in, we as a state and as sportsmen have NO control.  

Yes, the 800 LB gorilla in this situation is the relentless netting by the tribes that have rights on these rivers.  The Bolt Decision means we have to co-manage the fishery.    Big changes are needed in their approach to the fish runs because they wont sustain in the future with bank to bank gill nets.

Also, a few popular myths to dispel.

There is no fly fishing vs gear fishing agenda.  Absolute red herring

These rules are meant to take opportunity away from gear fisherman.  

The "agenda" is pushed by some secret illuminati of rich, old white fly fishing only men and women.  Nope, the proposals where submitted by the North Coast Steelhead Advisory Council which was made up of guides, sports, fly and gear fisherman.

As a matter of fact....when WDFW held public comments in Olympia back in November, people who spoke in favor of these changes were there in mass, out numbering the nay's 4-1

Control what you can control.  Make the changes necessary to enhance the resource and lets do what we can to bring the co-managing tribes to the bargaining table.

And when you feel like bitching on the internet.  Go ahead, it does nothing to help.  Get involved, now.

Misconceptions, Myths and Out Right Bullshit

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

Like anything else once a rumor gets started it is hard to make people realize that they are buying into false information. Just look at all the people who believe FOX News

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



Wild fish conservation groups want to end fishing 

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



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

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



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

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

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

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

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


Hatchery steelhead do not stray in large numbers

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

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



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

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


There are no true wild runs of steelhead anymore

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



Holding wild fish out of the water for pictures is okay

Holding fish up for a photo can cause internal damage to that fishes' internal organs if not done right. So next time you just have to get you ego stroked think about what possible damage you may be  doing and keep the fish in the water. Yes we are all sufficiently impressed with your ability to floss wild and dark coho but how about keeping them in the water.



There are a lot of other myths but these seem to be the major ones that are making the rounds on the internet. Always check the facts before buying into any bullshit from people who make their livings on the backs of native and wild fish. They have no soul and could not care less about the fate of wild salmon, steelhead and trout.

A Fishing Primer

 
In my on going effort to educate the fishing public to the "World According To Me" I thought a new dictionary of fishing jargon would be in order. Now mind you these terms and their definition are mostly from the boat and river bank of my forty plus years of fishing the rivers and lakes of the Pacific Northwest but a few are originals.
So with out any further delay here we go!


Dough ball - Fairly common term used to describe unlearned or dumb anglers.

Boat Whore - A fisherman who will do just about anything to secure an open seat on a boat during salmon and steelhead season

Pellet Head - A hatchery reared trout. Easy to catch and awful to eat.

Corkie Bite - Description of the action of a snagger who plunks his corkie and giant hook in the middle of a coastal salmon hole waiting for a salmon to bump into it so he can foul hook it.

Egg Whore - A bait angler that will do anything to secure fresh salmon roe. Fresh salmon roe in Tillamook county is almost as good as cash

Side Drifter, Boon Dogger or Bobber Dogger - An unskilled angler who doesn't have the courtesy, ethics or intelligence to reel up his gear while floating through the hole you are fishing.

Gut Slinger - Egg  fisherman  


Low Holer - Similar to a side drifter except this angler plants himself just below you in a hole. Sometimes your fishing partner will do this. 

Dope on a Rope - Boat angler who anchors up in a river and watches his rod tip all day.

 Limp Wristed, fly chucking, faggot  - a term of endearment used by gut slingers and low holers to describe fly anglers. Been called this a few times myself but never to my face.....funny how that works.


Hatchery Truck Chaser - A fairly unskilled fly fisherman who follows the hatchery truck that is dumping pellet heads into a lake.


Arm chair fish biologist - Talks a lot of crap, using big words and offering ignorant solutions to our fisheries problem but is unwilling to commit any time to solving them.

Redd Stompers - Carelessly wading on top of salmon redds thus destroying them.Mostly fly fishermen do this during chum salmon season on the North Oregon coast.

Hero Shot - Pictures taken of every single fish an angler catches to show just how truly magnificent he/she truly is.

"Shitting" in Your Own Back Yard - Taking new people to productive fishing spots that not many people know about.


Please feel free to add to this list....tight lines everyone!

ODFW At It Again

Metolius and Deschutes Wild Trout in Peril

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife does not give a shit about wild fish. With a regime change at ODFW they are working to "simplify" the fishing regs. What does this mean? It means marginalizing wild trout on the Metolius and Deschutes to make it easier for anglers.
What it means is an end to slot limits of native redsides on the Deschutes and wild rainbows on the Metolius.
The Metolius is a special place and a special fishery. Pristine waters and spawning areas will now be opened to angling. Redds will be walked over by careless anglers.
On the Deschutes the slot limited will be eliminated and anything over eight inches will be harvestable.
ODFW is a state bureaucracy that has continually spent itself into the red for as far back as I can remember and the ever present mantra of "angler opportunities" has run amuck.
Increases in tags and license fees apparently isn't enough to sate this agency and get them out of the red ink.
Friends please don't sit idly by and let this happen.

Contact ODFW   -  odfw.commission@state.or.us  

Tell them that you think wild trout are pretty important.

Stay Home!

SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has curtailed fishing hours on most of Oregon’s rivers to avoid additional stress on native fish already suffering from high water temperatures and low stream flows from this year’s drought.

Effective Saturday, July 18, and until further notice, all waterbodies defined as streams in the 2015 Oregon Sportfishing Regulations are closed above tidewater (where applicable) to fishing for trout salmon, steelhead and sturgeon from 2 p.m. to one hour before sunrise.
  

Angling for these species will be prohibited at all times in the Willamette River downstream of Willamette Falls, including the Clackamas River up to the Interstate 205 Bridge, the Multnomah Channel and the Gilbert River. The following sections of the John Day River will also have complete closures:  The mainstem of the John Day River above Indian Creek near Prairie City; the Middle Fork of the John Day River above Mosquito Creek near the town of Galena; the North Fork of the John Day River above Desolation Creek and Desolation Creek.

Some streams will remain open for angling under normal hours because they are less prone to high water temperature risks due to springs, tides, cold water releases from some dams and high elevations 

 Full Press Release

ODFW Takes Action To Help Native Fish

The Pursuit

In the nearly 40 years of casting a fly it seems like fly fishing is no longer a outdoor pursuit but a way of life. No matter what hobby I have done in those 40 years, and there have been a lot of them, it's always fly fishing I come back to. It calls to me and even if I cannot ford swift streams or climb down into remote river canyons like I used to, it's still a lasting love.
I've read about the legendary fly fisher Mike Kennedy who requested that his favorite bamboo rod be cremated with him and the ashes sprinkled off of Mott Bridge along the North Umpqua and I think Mike knew then what I finally know now.
It seems to me that fly fishing isn't something you do casually. One can dabble in fly fishing, never really letting it become a life long pursuit but it must feel kind of hollow . If you take it seriously it will take you places, if only in your dreams, that you never imagined. You become intimate friends with the trout you pursue and the notion of ever killing a wild trout is unthinkable.
Certain rivers become your home that you always long to return to like a world traveler coming home from a long journey.
To feel all these emotions you must be willing to make your journey into fly fishing more of a pilgrimage. You are a traveler into the joys of trout.
Does this make sense? I hope so because it makes perfect sense to me. When I can no longer get to the river I will spend the rest of my days thinking about my fly fishing adventures. The fish I hooked and the fish I lost. I'll remember all the wonders of the rivers I fished and the wonders of the things I experienced.
You can go there too my friend. You have to be willing to take it all in like a child would at a toy store. Remember that you have been given a wonderful gift.
This pursuit of fly fishing should never, ever be a stressful thing but a thing where you are constantly renewed and thankful.
It's hard not to over think the pursuit of trout on a fly and yes it can be a difficult pursuit at times. Difficult but even after a rough day of wind knots,broken tippets and lost fish you can still come away with the satisfaction of walking in the steps of people like Roderick Haig-Brown, Lee
Wulff ,A.H.E. Woods and Mike Kennedy. As great as these fly fishermen of the past were they still had a beginning point point, just like the rest of us. They achieved fly fishing perfection in the truest sense. The perfection is something that has alluded me but that doesn't take anything away from the pursuit.
So if you are willing to let this angling pursuit take you to all the wonder that it holds you will never regret it. Enjoy the journey friends!

Hatchery Steelhead Versus Wild Steelhead

We have to change current management practices or our grand kids will not be able to fish for steelhead.Anyone who has caught a fresh wild steelhead knows the difference!

I should make clear that, when I talk about steelhead, I am talking about wild, naturally spawned and reared Oncorhynchus mykiss, not their distant hatchery outlaws. Wild steelhead are the genuine article; hatchery fish are not. The scientific literature is resplendent with the reasons why. Anglers know, or at least should know, from personal observation and experience that hatchery steelhead:

• Are not native, not wild, and do not behave as wild fish.

• Are much less responsive to a lure or fly.

• Enter the rivers over an extremely compressed period. Wild steelhead exhibit wide diversity in run and spawn timing and thus provide year-round angling opportunity with at least some wild steelhead entering rivers on virtually every tide.

• Migrate rapidly to their release location.

• Are known to be harmful to native populations.

Perhaps the most basic question concerns the future of the fish themselves. Without robust wild populations, we will not have a sport. Ask any experienced steelheader whether his fishing is better now than in the past. Invariably, he will note that his angling and angling options are, at best, faint echoes of what was available just a few decades ago. If this downward trend continues for even a short period beyond the present, then the prospects for steelhead and steelhead angling are-to put it mildly-less than hopeful.

What happens if, instead of joining with another wild fish that has passed through the same environmental lenses, this survivor meets and spawns with a hatchery steelhead? We should expect that their progeny would survive at a lower level because they lack the fitness of progeny from wild-wild pairings. Thirty years of field research by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife scientists focused exactly on this issue confirmed our expectation. The study compared the reproductive success of different pairing possibilities between wild and hatchery Kalama River steelhead:

• Native Kalama summer runs (both parents are native Kalama fish);

• Mixed parentage (hatchery male-native female or native male-hatchery female);

• Hatchery-only parentage (both parents hatchery-origin fish).

The findings? Only native-native pairings produced returning adult steelhead. The contributions of all other pairings to the returning adult populations, in the techno-speak of the study, could not be statistically distinguished from “zero.” In other words, the hatchery-hatchery, hatchery-wild, and wild-hatchery progeny were so ill-adapted-so unfit for the environmental challenges they faced over their lifetime-that none of them survived to adulthood. As predicted by Darwin, differences count in life.

The results of this careful, long-term scientific study make clear two essential facts. First, hatchery fish are not the same as nor are they an acceptable substitute for wild fish. Second, permitting hatchery fish to interact with wild fish has the effect of dramatically decreasing the productivity of the wild fish.

Pacific steelhead and salmon on the West coast are in crisis-not because we do not understand the causes for their declines. Instead, we know perfectly well what needs to be done but have instead insisted on following management practices that we know are harmful: excessive harvest, inadequate escapements, hatchery introductions, land use practices that are both unsustainable and detrimental to steelhead, and so on. We have further compounded the crisis by focusing our money and efforts on the stocks that are at the highest risk while largely ignoring other stocks less at risk, all the while continuing to apply management regimes known to be harmful. We also have examples of what will work if we have the courage to trust in the resilience of the fish themselves while providing for their basic requirements.

In short, the problem is not the fish. We and the manner in which we manage steelhead are the problem. Unless and until we change the basic management paradigms, we can be certain that the species will be functionally extinct in what is now their already greatly diminished range.

The above excerpt is from Dec Hogans new book "A Passion for Steelhead"

I have often heard from the ignorant masses "There is no true wild fish anymore" BS! That is wishful thinking by those who care nothing about this diminishing resource. The Bush administration would have us believe that there is no difference and what that amounts to is an attempt to water down the ESA so corporations can log and diminish wild fish habitat.

The ODFW is touting their "Wild Broodstock Program" It all sounds so good on paper but when it comes right down to it these progeny of wild fish are still hatchery fish.  Don't fool yourself into thinking anything else! They are still hatched and reared in a hatchery environment and imprinted with the same hatchery traits as those worthless out of basin mutants that have been dumped into the rivers for years.

I can honestly say after years of learning through trial and error that I would not lose one minutes sleep if all salmon and steelhead hatcheries in the state of Oregon closed down. This is a monster we created by building dams and plundering our pristine rivers for profit. We have gotten addicted to hatchery steelhead and like any addiction we cannot kick the habit! We feel like we are entitled or something and no matter what, we need to "bonk" a few satisfy our egos. Until we make catch and release a way of life, ingrained into our psyche it will never change. I could do without fishing the coastal rivers for a couple of years for the sake of wild steelhead....could you? I'm not just patting myself on the back here either! My education on this was a long time coming but I made it and if I convince just one other angler to make catch and release a part of his/her angling life then it will have been worth it.

The photo above is a wild Wilson River winter steelhead I caught in 2005. This fish was perfect in every way and there is no hatchery fish that can compare! Anyone of you that have caught a lot of both hatchery and wild steelhead know where I am coming from on this.

The Little Joys of Fly Fishing

In this piscatorial pursuit of ours it is pretty well known what the pleasures are. Things like hooking a big trout on a dry fly or that cast that has taken years to perfect. Then there are things like a stream so clear or hooking a wild fish and then watching it swim away, a trout so beautiful that your emotions take your breath away.

These pleasures are a big part of the angling style we love but how about all those little things that bring us all joy as well.
I was thinking about these things today and while still fresh in my feeble mind I thought that I'd better write some of mine down. Some of these little pleasures might seem a bit silly but to me it's just part and parcel to why I fish this way.
Do you get a little flush of excitement when you see the courier stopping his truck in front of your house to deliver your new fly rod? It's the culmination of all the anticipation of waiting for that new rod that you are sure will catapult your angling experience into the stratosphere. Same thing with a new reel and the ultimate small joy is when they are both delivered on the same day.
I also like the pleasure of filling a new fly box with flies. Arranging them according to type and size....what fun it is to do this when you can't be on the river.
I enjoy immensely the small maintenance tasks I do on my bamboo fly rods. By maintenance I mean applying a new coat of bri-wax on the cane in anticipation of the season to come.  Anyone who has worked with bri-wax knows that it takes a bit of elbow grease but that  is  okay because I know it's a labor of love.
I particularly enjoy winding new backing and line on a reel. I used to secure the fly line to the backing with a nail knot and would work to tie the perfect knot to attach my line to. Alas the fly line manufacturers have gone to a loop to loop connection and so there is no need for a nail knot and I kind of miss it.
It's just the simple things isn't it? I suppose other recreational endeavors have these small joys as well but our joys are in anticipation of bigger things yet to come out on the stream.
Taking small pleasures in anything is what life is all about isn't it? I have never been able to understand the angler who "fishes angry" If you get so upset out on the river why do you fish? You would be surprised at the amount of people who fish that way. If some angry angler is ruining your day of fishing then just leave the area. There are other spots and other days to fish.
Once time, a few years ago, I was fly fishing the Sandy River with a friend. He hooked this big bright winter steelhead on a fly and got to fight it for a brief time. It jumped and ran and then came off. He was so upset that he threw his fly rod down in disgust at losing that fish. A big wild winter steelhead is a tough fish to take with a fly and anyone who has pursued them knows this. Just to hook one is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. Landing a fish like that is the ultimate of course, but just hooking one is gigantic! I mentioned to him as he grieved at this lost steelhead, about how fortunate it was that he even got the chance to hook it. Some people go years and maybe even decades for that kind of opportunity. I think it got through to him because on the trip home he couldn't stop talking about the size and strength of that fish and his brief encounter with it.
I can honestly say that I have had very few bad days fly fishing. The small and large pleasures are plentiful and there is at least one every trip. Sometimes they are so small that you almost miss them but they are there. Go to the river with an attitude like that and you will always be a successful angler.

The Cost of Trout Fishing

NEW LONDON, Conn. — WITH the long winter now behind us (I hope), I’m about to head out to the nearby Salmon River here in Connecticut to see what a season’s worth of ice has done to the place. Now that fishing season has arrived, the river no doubt will be crowded with newly stocked fish and wader-clad fishermen who share my passion for this sleek and beautiful creature. But my rod will be collecting dust at home. I reluctantly gave up fishing 10 years ago after I saw what a century of stocking nonnative fish was doing to the landscape I love.

Twenty-eight million Americans will buy freshwater fishing licenses this year. Eight million of them will be trout and salmon anglers. Native wild trout have mostly disappeared in the face of this immense fishing pressure. They have been replaced by nonnative hatchery fish and their river-born “wild” trout offspring. Nationwide, state and federal fisheries agencies dump some 130 million trout in lakes, rivers and streams each year. Although this stocking lures people outside, the hatcheries that produce these trout create environmental problems.

Trout aquaculture is heavily reliant on pellet feed. The federal and state hatchery production of some 28 million pounds of trout per year requires roughly 34 million pounds of feed. These pellets are derived from herring, menhaden and anchovies harvested from oceans in quantities that the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say are unsustainable. We are devastating populations of marine species simply to support a freshwater hobby.

If that’s not bad enough, hatcheries are major polluters. Each year, much of the roughly six million pounds of fish excrement, uneaten food and dead and decaying fish that I estimate are produced by these hatcheries leach nutrients into wastewater that is often then dumped untreated into the closest stream or river. This wastewater can also contain medicines and antibiotics used to limit diseases in crowded pens, and disinfectants that sterilize holding tanks. Ultimately, these hatcheries may be contributing to the proliferation of “dead zones” — biological wastelands created by excess nutrients — that are choking estuaries and coastal ecosystems downstream.

For more than a century, government stocking efforts and more recent well-intentioned but illegal introductions of fish by anglers have wreaked havoc on native trout and other fish species. Seven species of native trout are considered threatened and others have become extinct because of interbreeding and competition from nonnative trout and other game fish introduced into freshwater streams. Despite these problems, most trout stocked this year will be nonnative to the streams and rivers where they will be released.

Many of the fishermen who will revisit their favorite stream this spring are happy to release their quarry after hooking and reeling them in. Although catch-and-release might seem, logically, to help maintain high numbers of catchable fish, the science does not validate this practice. Survival rates of hatchery fish in the wild are very low, especially after hooking damage and exhaustion associated with repeated catch-and-release encounters.

Continue reading the main story

Continue reading the main story

Studies suggest that 75 to 80 percent of hatchery trout are gone soon after stocking. The fact that many states still routinely stock streams regulated as catch-and-release-only waters is a strong indication that catch-and-release does not ensure fish survival. Hatcheries are breeding fish that are poorly adapted to life in the wild. Even worse, these fish can pass on their undesirable traits to wild populations of native fish.

Although stocking trout is harmful, eating them is far better than eating native wild trout. When these native fish die, their genetic uniqueness dies, too. (Brook and lake trout are the only trout native to the entire Northeast, for instance; nonnatives like brown, rainbow and golden trout are also released into Northeast streams.) Unfortunately, many states set uniformly high catch limits that draw no distinction between native versus nonnative trout. Therefore, anglers need to hold themselves to a higher standard than the rules that govern their actions.

In the end, perhaps the most ethical approach for anglers would be to catch and consume nonnative wild and hatchery-produced game fish. Huge resources go into the production of farm-raised fish, after all, and at serious environmental costs. Conversely, it is more important than ever to protect wild populations of native fish with catch-and-release practices. Many states provide trout identification materials in their angler regulations. Establishing stricter limits and mandatory releases of native species whenever they are healthy enough to survive being hooked could help preserve the genetic integrity of aquatic environments.

If we continue to ignore the impact of hatchery fish on aquatic ecosystems, we will soon regret what has been lost.

 

 

Douglas M. Thompson, a professor of geology at Connecticut College, is the author of “The Quest for the Golden Trout: Environmental Loss and America’s Iconic Fish.”

Keep 'Em Wet

Fish Out Of Water


Check out the above link before you hoist your next wild salmon, steelhead or trout out of the water to stroke your ego with a picture.
I've done myself in the past but no more! It's more important to insure that fish swims away and survives!  Keep that fish's head in the water for your picture.
We, as sports anglers, are going to have to retrain ourselves.
Now I understand some of your egos are going to take a big hit but how about setting your selfishness aside for the sake of the fish.
One self-proclaimed PNW fishing expert said this on Facebook after someone called him out for holding a beautiful, wild steelhead out of the water in a boat.
" I've CnR'd  (caught and released) fish with proper gentle handling for 40 years. It was hooked just inside the jaw line, not deep. It will definitely live to spawn!"
So where did you get your biology degree? This same person also bragged about using bait to catch that beautiful wild steelhead.
Almost everyone in the Pacific Northwest agrees that using bait when a large number of wild fish are present is unethical and dangerous to the fish because of the hazard of deep hooking.
Folks we are going to have to change the way we do things if we hope to see wild fish everywhere survive and flourish. It doesn't take a science degree to see that. All it takes is some common sense and the realization that the world does not revolve around us.
My education in becoming a wild fish advocate came through learning from others a hell of a lot smarter than myself. It also came from paying attention and learning that there are bigger things in life than looking like some kind of fishing god on Facebook.

Here is a link that addresses this topic

Dying for a Picture

No Country For Old Men

If you are familiar with the epic Coen Brothers movie starring Tommy Lee Jones you will understand what I am trying to say.

Jones' character Sheriff Ed Tom Bell said this at the beginning of the movie.

"I don't know what to make of that. I sure don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure"

The evolution of modern Pacific Northwest sports fishing is something I don't fully understand anymore. Oh I get that modern tackle and techniques have progressed and made anglers more successful than in the past but it's the attitudes that puzzle me.

When I first got into the angling game here in Oregon way back in 1973 there were a hell of a lot of people on the rivers....banks full of people. The use of drift boats had not yet taken hold like it has today and so most of us were "bank maggots"  We all made room though and for the most part respected the other guy and his fishing.

The term "courtesy" has become an archaic notion anymore. Boaters running their gear through the actual water you are fishing is commonplace with professional guides being among the worst offenders. Being low holed by another bank fisherman is apparently no big deal anymore either. Bait containers and discarded fishing line litter the shoreline of our once pristine rivers. Why do you think this behavior has become so common place?

Why does every damn fish caught and landed have to be held up for a hero shot? Doesn't matter how dark the fish is either. That is the stuff I did when I was first starting out fishing. Catch a dark salmon or steelhead these days and that night you can bet that the spawned old boot will show up, either on Facebook or some mega fishing web site.

Have we as a culture become so oblivious to others that boorish behavior is just winked at?

I blame the internet for much of this. Anglers so intent in being better and catching more and bigger fish have driven us to the point that recreational angling is no longer recreational...it's a blood sport.

Pointing firearms at some fisherman you feel has offended you or gotten into your "space" is not that unusual anymore. Do we really have the need to have to enjoy the outdoors armed? In my opinion yes absolutely we do. Whether it's an aggressive and intoxicated fishing guide coming up the bank after you because you had the audacity to call out their bad behavior. How about the tweeker breaking into you vehicle? One feels the need to protect themselves.

I have long ago abandoned fishing spots I once enjoyed because they have become uncomfortable to fish and even dangerous. Anyone ever hear of the guard rail hole in Pacific City? How about the boat ramp in the same area?Is it really worth it to fish these spots anymore?

This is where we find ourselves when there are mega-huge internet fishing sites that have unabashedly brought thousands to our Pacific Northwest rivers to try to catch a dwindling supply of fish...all for a buck. 

I will never allow the thugs, bullies and wannabe fishing superstars drive me away from the outdoor recreation I love but I will fish with eyes in the back of my head and always looking over my shoulder. Sheriff Ed Tom was right " It's hard to even take it's measure"

I'm Right About Wild Fish and Why You Should Listen To Me

That title sounds pretty arrogant doesn't it? Sorry but it's the truth and sometimes the truth is hard to swallow. Here is why I can, with all modesty, say that I'm right about wild and native fish.

Now listen closely all you hatchery huggers and I will make it real simple for even you to understand.

I follow the science! Got that? I don't make shit up to suit my own selfish needs, I adhere to what the vast majority of fish and wildlife biologists say about the harmful effect of hatchery salmonids on wild spawning salmon, steelhead and trout. I took the time to actually read what the experts say and I came to the conclusion that those who are smarter than me about fisheries science are right.

Oh I could make up stuff all day long to justify my belief that hatcheries have no adverse effect on wild fish. It would be easy to do to make myself feel better about killing wild fish and supporting hatchery programs that are harmful to wild fish. I could say stupid shit like "There are no true wild fish left" or "Efforts to restore wild populations have failed so let's plant billions of hatchery fish in the rivers". It would be real easy to do that. I could be the FOX News of the Pacific Northwest angling internet and pull random fabrications out of the air to present as facts so the gullible and greedy will buy into it.Isn't that the same stuff Donald Trump is doing? I could conjure up mass hysteria like what happened against Native Fish Society last year. The facts don't lie and no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you are owed fish to harvest the harsh reality of science is there.

I recently read of a north Oregon coast fishing guide proudly bragging about how many wild fish he put into the steelhead broodstock program. Do you think that if he actually took the time to calculate the amount of wild steelhead he and ODFW did not allow to naturally spawn in the river he would be so jubilant? Probably wouldn't make any difference because he and many others have convinced themselves what a good deed he did "For The Fish".

Just another reason why he and others should listen to me because I know what is best and they don't. I listen to those who have studied this subject and I believe them. Science is not infallible. What science does that makes it a better system is that it asks why things are the way they are and seeks the truth. As Al Gore would call it "An Inconvenient Truth" to some but the truth nonetheless.

So you have two choices here dear readers. You can listen to those who make things up about how hatchery fish have no adverse effect on wild spawning fish and try to present them as facts or you can listen to me! I know this much though and it's just this simple.....I am right.

The Harvest Mentality Revisited

"Let's raise the daily bag limit from two wild cutthroat trout to three fish daily"   

"I like to kill a few wild trout a year"

 "Fill the rivers with billions of hatchery steelhead"

 "Native Fish Society and Trout Unlimited are conspiring to get hatcheries closed"

The above quotes are all from the internet. People wanting to kill fish, any fish wild or hatchery.

The need for people to kill their catch has spawned (no pun intended) websites and fishing groups dedicated solely to harvest!

I'll dispense with all the rhetoric about just how harmful hatchery salmon, steelhead and trout to native salmonid spawners. It's all out there and all you have to do is a little research and I have even provided links in other posts to that end.

I am going to try to examine the harvest mentality.

The need to kill your catch is probably an instinct brought forth from our hunter/gatherer past. The need to provide food for the survival of our families was necessary in the pre-Costco days. The state fish and wildlife agencies have, for over a hundred years, artificially populated out rivers with fish to harvest. These fish are present in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest to harvest and they should be harvested.

All of the sudden the well is running dry and with the Endangered Species Act the state cannot dump millions of hatchery smolt into our river in order to sate a growing population of anglers.

But what about all the fish I am entitled to? I need those countless jars of cured eggs so I can catch more fish to get more eggs to get more fish...you get the idea.

Even when there are increased bag limits and increased hatchery releases it never seems to be enough!

The market for salmon roe alone is a booming business along with the latest and greatest egg cures. Cure recipes are closely guarded secrets and are not cheap. The need for more fresh eggs drive the desire to harvest.

 Then there is the annual fights over spring Chinook allocations which are epic in that the primary user groups can never seem to get enough of these most valuable Chinook salmon.

The chest thumping fishing narcissists self publish books on "how to catch more salmon and steelhead" while the angling public wants more and more. Hey how about self publishing a book about the virtues of catch and release of wild fish or how best to protect our wild, cold water fisheries?

The department of fish and wildlife's mantra of angling opportunities to get the public to buy fishing licenses while offering an inferior product while they marginalize wild fish populations by allowing a limited harvest on native salmonids that they deem recovered enough to kill a few.

I could spend hours writing about all I have seen and experienced concerning the tapeworm that infects fishermen to hunger for more fish, to have more fish planted for them to harvest and to hell with any conservation efforts.

 One has to come to the conclusion that the harvest mentality is very real and getting worse. Native fish advocacy groups are generally vilified and slandered for their efforts by those desiring to harvest more fish! Some even make up lies about groups like Trout Unlimited and Native Fish Society.

Once again I want to stress that the harvest of hatchery origin salmonids is a good thing. Those fish are expensive to rear and they are raised for harvest. A fisherman should be required to harvest every hatchery salmon or steelhead he encounters no matter the condition. Get them out of the river so they cannot comingle with wild fish. However the effect of over production of hatchery fish is one cause of dwindling native fish population. The actual overall effect is something that is hotly debated among anglers and wild fish groups.

Remember this though. The world is not our oyster and I may actually see the extinction of some fish species in my lifetime.

More Equals Less?

The Real Cost of Hatchery Steelhead

 

 

If you are a friend of wild steelhead please take the time to click on the above link in red.

 

Home Waters by Erik Helm

 

 

Click on this link   Home Waters

 

 

Erik Helm is a gifted writer and while I dabble in writing a bit myself I cannot write the wonderful prose that Erik does. To put into words the emotion and wonder that is fly fishing is truly a gift.

Be sure to visit Erik's Blog  The Classical Angler

The Dangers of Steelhead Broodstock Programs

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

I've been mulling this entry over for a few days now, wanting to express how I really feel about the exploitation of wild steelhead through the broodstock programs.I had fully intended to do one of my emotional rants because it goes without saying I despise this program.I cringe every time I read where someone supports the broodstock program based on false information or because greedy professional guides on ifish.net says it's a good way to restore depleted wild populations. I've even alienated a few friends and phony so called conservation organizations like the Association  of  Northwest Steelheaders because of my opposition to broodstock programs.

I don't care! The wild steelhead are too important to worry about sparing feeling and making enemies. So that is all old news and why be redundant ranting about something I've ranted about many times on this blog. I've decided that I will let the experts tell you all about the harm this program does and the misinformation that is being put out there by ODFW, Northwest Steelheaders and those professional guides.

Here is what Kathryn Kostow, formerly of ODFW, says about broodstock programs

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

Bill McMillan of Wild Fish Conservancy had this to say about this broodstock program

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

Bill Bakke of Native Fish Society has been an advocate for our cold water fisheries for over 40 years. He has written many times about broodstock programs and their impact of wild salmon and steelhead.

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

There are others that have written about these broodstock programs and I would encourage you to investigate further by going to Bill Bakke's blog .

Remember one thing though as you do. You will not get a truthful analysis of broodstock programs from people still working for ODFW. They are not allowed to tell you the true facts because it may jeopardize their jobs with the agency. Remember also that professional guides, the people that the broodstock program benefits the most, are going to paint a rosy picture of wild steelhead populations and that they are just borrowing the wild eggs and milt. Again do not believe it! These guides make money on this exploitation of wild steelhead and that too is a fact.

So you can take the word of experts in their fields of study or some loud mouth wannabe on an internet fishing forum.

Make no mistakes friends. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is fully invested in this program and native fish be damned. When some HRC (Hatchery Research Center) talking head says he just hates hatchery programs he isn't telling you the whole truth. He may hate the old out of basin plants of the past but you can bet your ass he in in love with wild broodstock programs.

Also you could ask some locals from the Tillamook area what they think of the broodstock boondoggle and almost to a person they dislike it intensely.

That speaks volumes to me.

Please join us on Facebook  in the The Love Of Wild Fish group if you believe in the importance of wild and native salmon, steelhead and trout along with other native species in our region.

I Wonder

I love the smell of the forest after a fall rain don't you?

There is a cleanness and purity in the way the woods smell after a rainfall.

Autumn is my favorite time of year and I look forward to it every year. It is a season of change and movement. The great Pacific Flyway is full of eager waterfowl making their way to their winter feeding grounds. The mighty Chinook salmon and the sleek Coho salmon are making their ultimate and only trip back to the waters of their birth. The fall leaves are an explosion of color.

I especially like the turning leaves. On some of the maples it looks like the tree is on fire with the brightness of the red leaves that will soon drop.
 

I often can be found along my favorite cutthroat trout stream at this time of year before the Halloween closing. The urgency of a cutthroat taking a fly is magnified this time of year as is my own urgency to squeeze in one last trip before putting my rods away.

I have no interest in taking one of these wonderful little ambush/predators home for dinner. Killing wild fish holds no interest for me whatsoever these days.

I am in the fall of my life and it shows as I amble and sometimes stumble my way along the riverbank looking for a likely spot to cast my fly. I wonder how many more falls I have left. Did I spend this fall foolishly or was this fall well spent?

I think a lot about my cutthroat trout mentor Pete, who passed away last year. I wonder what he thought as he fished for his beloved trout in the fall. I wonder......

Fishing in the winter does not hold the attraction for me it once did and it's mostly because the desire to catch a steelhead no longer makes me forget about the cold and rain and lack of sleep. Every once in awhile it's fun to rise in the wee hours of morning when the only people on the road are like minded anglers such as myself. Those times are becoming less and less attractive though and I would just as soon sleep.

In my angling life I have taken many things for granted and now that my time on the river is at a premium do I regret it all? Not hardly! I have had a wonderful life on the river. I've seen many wonderful things and even a very few not so wonderful things. It all been good and the fish I encountered have been worth it. Lot of memories to keep me warm when the winter of my life is upon me. Fish hooked and fish lost, friends long since gone and the memories....oh the memories

I wonder if I will be a part of someone's pleasant memories of their time on the river....I wonder.

It's Only Words

Paul Schullery wrote, in his book Royal Coachman, The Lore and Legends of Fly Fishing the following....

Fly fishing is this great little adventure we have in a thousand little episodes. Fly fishing is our chance to embrace the unmanufactured, to earn something honestly, and to give ourselves over entirely and passionately to a pursuit that is in some mystifying way both irrelevant and important. Fly fishing drives us nuts and keeps us sane. And, like any other addiction...any other so-called pastime that can take you soul away - given the chance, fly fishing becomes something very much like a way of life.

Do those words stir you? They did me the first time I read them and in fact I felt compelled to share that quote with my wife. Famous fly fishing authors like Norman Maclean, Roderick Haig Brown, David James Duncan and others saw or felt something in this endeavor called fly fishing that inspired them, made them write about what they feel out on the river. I seriously doubt that much inspiration can be had when baiting up a 5/0 hook with a tennis ball size glob of salmon eggs don't you?
Fly fishing is sometimes likened to golf but I like what Paul O'Neill once wrote

I am not against golf, since I cannot but suspect it keeps armies of the unworthy from discovering trout

Pretty well sums it up for me. So is it really any small wonder why Arnold Gingrich titled his classic fly fishing book "The Joys of Trout"
I really wish that I were a better writer and could perhaps paint with a more scenic prosaic style as to what it is that I'm talking about here. Alas I'm limited to what you see here, punctuation and syntax errors thrown in with the deal. I admire those that can express themselves so well and am inspired by it while, at the same time I'm intimidated by it as well.
So I thought I would share a light and thoughtful repose before going into another one of my conservation scolding.....cheers

My Brother's Keeper

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

My brother Steven was always everything I wanted to be in life. He was charming, handsome, popular with girls and good in sports...I idolized him.

Steve served his country with distinction in Vietnam and was decorated for his actions for heroism under fire. He came back in 1970 and in my eyes was almost god like. It's typical for a younger brother to feel this way and Steven was my hero.

Our mother was not a good mother. She seemed to resent us and never missed a chance to tell us what burdens we were. Mom hounded Steve all through high school and did not let up after his return from Vietnam so he made himself scarce around our home in Southern California and I longed to be around him.
When our father died in 1973 things really didn't change much with mom and when Steve moved away she concentrated her scorn on me.

From his return from war in 1970 until last year I rarely saw Steve. Sometimes we would go years without seeing each other. When mom passed away in 2003 Steve came up to Oregon for her funeral. It was good to see him and spend time with him. He was still my hero and I figured he always would be. I told him that I was always proud of him and was glad to be his kid brother.

In 2007 Steve's world crashed down on him. He lost the job that he had held for almost 15 years and then in early 2008 contracted severe pneumonia that lead to surgery and developed into a lung infection. Steve called and asked if I would come down to South Lake Tahoe and help him with his recovery. I was on the first plane out.

He was helpless and I did what any brother would do and helped him gain strength. I cried as I left to come home as he still seemed so helpless. Thing looked up for Steve later that year as he got a new job doing what he did best.

Unfortunately, it lasted only 9 months and once again Steve was unemployed with no prospects. I knew that my brother was always fond of alcohol and, in fact, I was pretty sure he was an alcoholic but never knew to what extent his alcoholism gripped him. Occasionally, he would call me in a very intoxicated state but at other times he would be quite sober. We talked about his moving to Oregon to start life over because the Lake Tahoe winters were so severe.

Finally, in 2010, Steve's options ran out and the decision was made that I would fly down to help him move up here and live in my home. He would rent a moving van and I would drive it back since Steve had lost his license due to a DUI conviction. I later learned he had accumulated three DUI convictions.

The day came and off to Reno I flew to "save" my brother. He assured me everything would be packed up and ready to go when I got there.

When I arrived, I discovered he hadn't packed anything. When I got out of the cab at his apartment it was apparent he had been on a drinking binge and was still very drunk. I was livid and entertained the idea of getting right back into the cab and coming home. He was a drunken wreck. It was all I could do to keep my temper while I packed Steve's belongings for the move to Oregon. The thing was, my big brother, my hero, turned out to be a pathetic and disgusting drunk.

I hoped things would change once I got him into a new environment. We had agreed that if he were to move into my house that he could not drink there. My wife made that very clear and I was in complete agreement. If Steve was going to drink he would have to do it elsewhere. As time progressed, he would go on monthly monumental drinking binges and towards the end of his stay in our home he began sneaking booze into the house, holing up in his room for days at a time, not even coming out of his room to shower.

In the nine months Steve lived with us he drifted deeper into depression fueled by alcoholic binges involving cheap vodka and even cheaper wine. It was one thing to deal with Steve about his drinking but to make things even worse, he stole from me.

Unfortunately I had to do the one thing I would have never believed I would have to do with my brother and that was to ask him to leavemy home. I had had enough with his broken promise about not drinking in our home and the disrespect he showed me. It troubles me deeply that it all came to this but I had to think of my wife and daughter and my own health. I didn’t know what was next for my brother but I knew I could not just stand by and allow him to drink himself to death in my home.

He had to relive all the things he experienced during his tour of Vietnam in order to get veterans benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder and that was tough on him but he used it as further justification for returning to the alcoholism that ruled his life. Steve was no longer my ideal. He was just a sorry drunk that would not and could not control his drinking.

I learned a very hard lesson in all of this: I should never put anyone too high on a pedestal because when they fall, as they often will, the one who gets hurt most is me.

I still love my brother, he is blood and blood means something. I want him to go to rehab but he refuses to do so and I am at an end as far as helping him unless he does. I offered to attend AA meetings with him and support him in any way I could but he still resists. Did I do the right thing? I am struggling with feelings of doubt and betrayal and of course second guessing myself but I did not know what else to do.

Sadly, I feel like I have lost him forever and will never get him back.

Update: I originally wrote this in 2011 and I have not seen him in almost 10 years. I'm not even sure where he lives anymore

Help the Salmonberry River

Action Alert From Native Fish Society - Salmonberry

 

 

The Salmonberry river along with it's canyon and the surrounding area is one of those wonderful places in Oregon. Very remote and very beautiful. It has been said by fish biologists that the strain of wild Salmonberry winter steelhead is among the purest in the Pacific Northwest.

Please take time to read the information provided by Native Fish Society and sign the petition.