A Master at Work

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

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

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

Dr. Lenox Dick 1916-2008

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

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

Guess What? Hatchery Steelhead Do Spawn!

Flyfishing for hatchery steelhead on Oregon's Umpqua River


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


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

                    Do you wear this badge RJ?

The Angry Angler

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

Ain't it Glorious?

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

John Fogarty knew the feeling

and so did Kirk Gibson

Are Wild Fish Just a Commodity?

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

Save the Coastal Cutthroat Trout

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

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

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us!

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

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

Pimping the Resource - Revisited

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

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

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

Super Tuesday for Coho Salmon

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

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

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

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

Can Spring be Far Behind?

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

Tell Us Something We Didn't Already Know

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


The Following article is courtesy of the Sacramento Bee

Fall Chinook Salmon on Verge of Collapse in California

by Matt Weiser

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just Another Dead Wild Steelhead

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

Stop the Insanity!!!

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

The Home I've Never Seen

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

Oh Scotland, My Heart

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

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

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

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

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

Neil Young - Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

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

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

What's Wrong With This Picture?

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

2008...What Lays Ahead?

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

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

The Responsibility of Being a Fishing Celebrity

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

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

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

Are You Buying Into the CCA Spiel?

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

Priceless

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

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

Ode to a Simpler Time

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

The Co$t of Hatchery Fi$h in Oregon

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

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

Time to Put Up or Shut Up!

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

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

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

ODFW Website

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