Rivers of a Lost Coast

• Posted on 01/30 at 09:35 AM

42 inches of rumor

Sitting in a stool hovering over a keyboard that teeters on a book shelf, I can gladly say we’re in the last days of moving our offices. Last week a man named Simon started helping us out with some handy work. He saw the posters and immediately started probing. Simon is a steelheader.

Over the past few days Simon, a valley fishermen of both the fly and lure, has shared the latest news about the American and Feather Rivers. Unlike many of the coastal streams, the Valley steelheading is holding its own this season. A good amount of large fish have been taken from the American River this year. The above photo is a steelhead Simon landed in the American River Basin this past week.

Arriving early yesterday he asked, “Did you hear? Got to the river really early, before daybreak. Guy upstream asks me if I’ve been on the river much. Told him yea, most mornings. Asks if I’ve seen any big fish landed. Say yea, quite a few. Any real big ones? No, nothing abnormally huge. Oh OK, he says. Why? Guy comes back and tells me there’s a rumor a 42 incher was foul-hooked here two days ago. Says the guy landed it and everything. Had nasty monofilament on, rope. Anyways the fish was apparently measured at 42 inches. He didn’t know the girth.”

The California State record is 27 lbs. 4 oz. A fair-caught 42 inch steelhead with a girth of 23 inches would conceivably break the state record. Earlier this year an enormous King Salmon (80+ pounds) was found dead by the CDFG in the battle creek watershed.

Posted by Justin on 01/30 at 09:35 AM in Ramblings • (3) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 01/29 at 09:53 AM

The Fly Fishing Film Tour

An extended trailer for Rivers of a Lost Coast will join the great films of FeltSoul, Rollcast and Confluence on the 2009 Fly Fishing Film Tour. Tom Bie of Drake Magazine and members of the Web Eye Group recently became owners and operators of the Fly Fishing Film Tour and are putting together an impressive line-up of films. 

Posted by Justin on 01/29 at 09:53 AM in Film News • (2) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 01/28 at 01:48 PM

The water runs low…

The term ‘water conservation’ has changed its meaning over time.  It used to mean we utilized every drop possible.  Anything that reached the ocean was water wasted.  Now, we are being educated on how to use less and about going “green”.  Here in California, we are quite aware of water issues that seem to continually plague our state.  Some years are better than others, but this year we are going to face some unique challenges.  According to a recent article in the Mercury News, we are far below our averages and needs for the coming year, even with our recent storms.  Farmers are selling their water to counties in need and crops might not receive the needed irrigation for the coming year.

Taking into consideration our dismal salmon returns the previous year, could it possibly be worse this year?  The Bureau of Reclamation has recently stated we don’t have enough water in storage to supply the cold water flows necessary to keep salmon alive in the Sacramento River.  “This is the kind of time everybody has been dreading for a long time”, said Peter Moyle, fisheries scientist at UC Davis.  “This is when you really get conflicts where people have to make the hard choices — water for fish or water for other things.”

Is it going to be us or them, or are there other options?  Maybe now is the time to examine how we are using water, how much we are using, and if there are things we can change.  It shouldn’t have to be us or them, it just doesn’t sit right.  Looking at how we have handled things in the past, things don’t look very optimistic for the fish.  I really hope we don’t lose our salmon and steelhead runs because if we do, what’s next?

Link the the Mercury News Article.

Posted by roalcadmin on 01/28 at 01:48 PM in Conservation • (1) Comments • Permalink

• Posted on 01/26 at 06:59 AM

2009 salmon season . . . probably not.

Information from the “Water 4 Fish: Targeting California’s Water Management” newsletter provides another bleak outlook for the 2009 salmon season.

“More 2009 salmon season bad news. Most of the fall run salmon return data is now available and the news is not good.  It appears there can be no salmon fishing season in 2009.  In 2007, 90,000 fall run fish returned to the Central Valley system to spawn.  The fishing season was closed because a minimum of 121,000 returns are needed for the species to survive long term. In 2008, the returns are estimated to be only 60,000 fish, a 23% drop from 2007 and the 2008 fishing season was completely closed.  The disaster deepens.  Stakeholder groups are asking for another year of trucking hatchery fish around the delta to avoid the low water and delta problems.  DFG, NMFS, and The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will truck again in 2009 but the levels are yet to be established.”

Another lost season will force more people away from the sport and industry. As anglers and related industry personnel continue to walk away we run the risk of losing a significant portion of the voice needed to protect our fisheries. Continued closures, although needed to protect the resource can make it difficult to maintain a strong voice. We invite you to share your thoughts.

Posted by Justin on 01/26 at 06:59 AM in Conservation • (22) Comments • Permalink