Rivers of a Lost Coast

• Posted on 02/25 at 09:17 AM

Bill Schaadt the artist

In the Angler’s Coast Russell Chatham called it Bill Schaadt country, the area from Mirrabelle to Duncan Mills where Bill’s artistry was displayed in the hand-painted signs and carvings of the Russian River vacation resorts. Although famous for his flowing sign designs, among fishermen the smaller pen-and-ink and pencil sketches of fish and flies were often the most sought after.

All-in-all Bill was a fabulous artist, with a wide range of skills. This early sketch was collected by Hal Janssen in the mess Bill left after he passed away. It is indicative of Bill’s most consistent subject, fishing of course.

Schaadt Sketch

Posted by Justin on 02/25 at 09:17 AM in (9) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 02/24 at 08:31 AM

On the eve of the initial report

With the devastating news of a disastrous return of Fall Run Chinook salmon to the Sacramento River system weighing heavily on their decision, the Pacific Fishery Management Council will release their initial forecast for the upcoming salmon season tomorrow Wednesday the 23rd. Although the Sacramento River is the center point of the salmon discussion, regional fisheries managers will be meeting in the Bay area instead of their usual meeting grounds in Sacramento. All involved believe the Council is likely to recommend a repeat of last year’s closed ocean and limited in-rivers seasons for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing. A second year of declines could take the legs out of an already severely limping commercial fishing industry.

Posted by Justin on 02/24 at 08:31 AM in Conservation • (1) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 02/23 at 10:03 AM

legendary knot legendary angler

Back in December, Nelson Rossig celebrated his 100th birthday with many of his closest friends. In searching through old files, we found these clips of Nelson on the banks of the Eel River during the summer of 2006. In this minute and a half clip Nelson shows us how to tie the turle, his go-to knot. Although the knot’s been outdone by many more modern knots, it’s tough to argue with a guy who’s caught thousands of king salmon and steelhead on the turle, with leaders much more brittle than fluoro-carbon.

Although the instructional value of the footage, isn’t much (footage doesn’t really show you how to tie the knot), it’s enjoyable if for no other reason than it gives us hope that maybe at 98 we’ll be walking the banks of our favorite River like Nelson.

Vimeo the server we’ve been using is undergoing some server problems this morning. We’ll have the video up as soon as possible.

Posted by Justin on 02/23 at 10:03 AM in Ramblings • (1) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 02/20 at 09:06 AM

Sixty-Six Thousand, Six-Hundred and Twenty-Four

For a river that carries nearly 1/3 of all the runoff for California streams, The Sacramento River had a shockingly low return of Chinook salmon this past season. The official numbers total 66,624, quite a bit lower than last year’s disastrous year. An article in the Sacramento Bee highlights the dire situation.

Sacramento Bee article

Posted by Justin on 02/20 at 09:06 AM in Conservation • (2) Comments • Permalink