Disappering Striped bass...No wonder...

[Mike McKenzie]

Alright, it's been 12 hours since I went to check out Prospect Island. Now I gotta ask. WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL YOU STRIPER FISHERMEN? I'm not even one of you, I'm a hack. I've got a pram and an electric trolling motor. The biggest Striper I've caught was maybe 5 pounds. That one fish has shown me the potential of what's out there. HELLO! Do you even care? I haven't even started to tap into what the delta has to offer. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? Are the majority of Striper fishermen totally apathetic to the fishery as a whole? I gotta say, as I drove around down there this morning I really expected to run into at least a couple of other concerned fishermen. Nope, not one. Yeah, I'm pissed. At you. And you. Where the hell are you guys? Look, I'm not an activist of any sort, I don't like or even approve of most of the stupid enviromental activist crap that we all hear about. But c'mon, this is fishing 101. Dead fish=no fish to catch or release. Sooner or later you have to take a stand, our fishery depends on it. While this battle seems lost, there will be others. C'mon people, stand up and be counted. Ed

Ed,

Great rant!! I love Ya' like a Brother... You are echoing sentiments I've expressed a million times over the years.

Unfortunately us fisher folks are pretty poor at gettin' ourselves organized..Soooo I'm gonna' try a different way here. I think that the Allied Fishing Groups need to spend a few bucks and hire some professional folks to get us ginned up for a big rally on the capitol steps..I've already talked to a few in leadership positions that agree that it takes more than a few of us that really care to get something like this done. Pro's know how to organize, how to deal with the media to get a bigger bang for the buck and above all if we ever do get to the havin' a ralley stage, educating us on how to speak to the press by staying focused and without sounding like babbling idiots in front of the cameras..Its hard to do, I've been there!!

Mike

[Ed Wahl]

Man, I was pretty upset. Went out today with David Lee and took a chill pill. Acutally I took about half a dozen chill pills, with lines on their sides

[OceanSunfish]

Mike has hit the 'nail' on the head. There is an all out assault on the striped bass.

It would not have been that difficult to salvage a lot of fish if you think about it. In fact, it would've been quite simple. For example:

A crane with a big scoop or bucket could've been placed on the levee nearest to the deeper pools left after some pumping took place. Volunteers on the island would load fish into the bucket and the crane swings the bucket over to the Miner Slough side. Viola!

Pumping starts with a few screens then shuts off when the biomass accumulates to where the fish are placed into the crane/bucket by volunteers, etc.

The BuRec's idea of sealing off the island at the bottom of the tide to assist fish escapement is a bunch of BS. The tide rises and falls every day so the fish are used to the pattern. What would make them leave the island? By sealing off the island at low tide only means there is LESS water to pump out!

There is an assault taking place right under our noses. Time to create a real coalition of all striped bass fisherman and agree on a single agenda and start playing the 'game' seriously.

[STEELIES/26c3]

Lots of good issues/concerns here.

Yes, striped bass are an introduced species... but are also a naturalized species. In the first 121 of 128.5 years, since their assisted migration to the west coast, they have coexisted with native bait and game fish. Numbers of smelt, salmonids, etc... were not degraded so they were never blacklisted as a species.

And of course, DFG even attempted (half-heartedly) in the 1980's to manage and enhance the fishery. And in an even lesser manner, carried on the tradition by creating the delta-enhancement stamp in the mid 1990's...

I myself raised questions (back in the day) about CA. DFG's mixed messages and motives regarding protection of native salmon and steelhead stocks and enhancement of the exotic and predatory striped bass within the same delta system...

I worked for DFG in Lewiston and at Nimbus and with them in So Cal over the years. My relationship with the department has always been one of love/hate.

These days, I realize that we are not going to get back to the proverbial 'Garden of Eden' nor to the unspoiled Bitterroot Mountains of Montana (A River Runs Through 'Em...). Until the reservoirs and dams crumble below Nimbus and Folsom Lakes... The American River is going to be a mitigated/managed fishery... and we need to do the best we can with what we have left. Stripers are here to stay. To eradicate them would be impossible (physically, monetarily, and legally speaking, it will NEVER happen).

Yes, the water barons are making a ploy to use the striped bass as a scapegoat to pigeonhole DFG and push their agenda for increased water flows to the public via bond legislation co-drafted by 'The Governator'.

It is very dirty politics. It is not only an assault on DFG by quasi-government agencies (which have WAY too much power...) but it also pits agencies (who used to have common interests and goals) against one another. Namely, CA Dept. of Fish and Game and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and to a lesser degree; NOAA and NMFS.

DFG is being criticized (and sued) for falling short in its efforts to protect the delta smelt. In fact, they stand accused of willingly and wantonly undermining Federal Endangered Species Act legislation by managing striped bass as a fishery, despite that striped bass predation likely causes a 4-6% decline in salmonid smolt populations.

WATER DIVERSIONS administered by DWR, and BOR are indeed the MAJOR CULPRIT.

The correlations between increased water export and subsequent decline in numbers of; salmon, steelhead, striped bass, delta and longfin smelt, sturgeon, and other delta pelagic fish are very strong correlations and the declines in numbers of many fish species are staggering.

Now, these agencies are rallying behind Schwarzenegger to drain even more water from the delta to keep up with rising water demands.

Where do we draw the line?

I should note that my above observations are quite simplified and that this is a very complex issue. There are lots of factors, lots of agencies involved and lots of social and economical interests at stake.

No one can deny however, that the delta is seriously imperiled and can not sustain healthy fisheries if it is drained according to the agencies who wish to spend 9 billion taxpayer dollars to remove even more water from the already failing ecosystem...

The bureaucrats and water barons pushing for the bond measure on our 2008 ballot, call themselves, "The Coalition For a Sustainable Delta". Perhaps a better name for this deceptive, and gluttonous ad-hoc committee would be: "Coalition for a DRAINABLE Delta".

Don't forget to vote NO if the bond passes.

Mark

[HC]

I am with mike... We need to be together on this, and Ed, your rant was great stuff. We need to stay mad about this for a while. If we keep giving, soon there will be no stripers left to fight for. Oceansunfish is right as well, things could have done to save these fish. Think about this there could be winter run San Joaquin steelhead trapped and killed there too. Are not these fish valued? How much is the fine for wasting game fish? Endangered species and so on. It may be a rhetorical question at this point but the Feds need to pay for what they destroy. They sure would enforce it on us. Harley

[Darian]

Hmmmm,.... Mike, I'm still in the business of attempting to hold elected officials accountable for their actions/inactions.... To all posters here, don't discount the value of getting out the vote.

Since congress was responsible for failing to fund the acquisition/conversion of Prospect Island into a wildlife preserve after directing BuRec to do so. BuRec appears to be acting in accord with their federal mandate to reclaim flooded lands for other uses. They're, apparently caught in the middle and will be damned if they do there jobs or if the don't do their jobs. Congressional ldr's/rep's should be held accountable for the fiasco. Anyone seen Doris Matsui, Nancy Pelosi or Dianne Feinstein around Prospect Island....??? Isn't Darrel Steinberg running for an elected federal office, shortly??? The point is that Politicians only respond to two things; money/power. Collective power can only be demonstrated thru the vote or thru lobbying efforts. If you're ever want a long term solution to this kind of problem, don't let up on actions, demonstrations, letter writing and DON'T FORGET TO VOTE.

I agree that we should use some money for an exercise of that power. Perhaps we should consider hiring a lobbyist or buying our own politician to advocate our cause....

[OceanSunfish]

I took a drive to Ryer Island today to see the scope of the fish kill myself.

It's worse than I imagined. The area is large and vast. Even if I imagined the areas where birds were sitting or flying over as the only areas that had fish, dead or barely alive, it's a huge area! We're not talking about just few thousand here folks, we're talking about a big number. I cannot imagine this incident slipping under the table unaccounted for.

I spoke to Bob McDaris today and he and others are willing to put up $500 each as that is what it will cost to hire a pilot and helicopter to air lift fish out from the acres of knee deep water quite a ways away from the levee. He believes there are still fish alive further inside, but he also knows that time is running out. If he gets permission tomorrow to enter the property by foot, then he'll reassess the situation to see if an airlift operation is needed.

[Ed Wahl]

I snatched this from the SacBee.com site. Looks like as good a rallying point as any............"McDaris said anyone who wants to help can call him at Cliff's Marina, (916) 665-1611, or by cell phone, (916) 769-8047". Money left over from a rescue attempt, he said, will be donated to a fishing charity... Ed

[Big Dave]

Some random thoughts...

1) Too bad these werent Humpback Whales. Over a million spent last year to get those two whales turned around and head back to the Ocean.

2) The impact is not just the thousands of fish lost here , but the spawning that has been lost too. How many more thousands of future fish were just lost.

3) We're all lazy and worthless. ( with few exceptions ...like Ed ) If someone posted a report of 20-30 pounders leaping in their boat , you can bet the Striper Nation would be out in full force.

4) Drop all charges against those caught poaching. Give them their boats and gear back too. ( NO , I'm not really serious ) What the poachers have done is so much less a crime then what BuRec has done.

5) Those we put our trust in. Those who receive our donations. Those who we look to for leadership in times like this....where are you ? If this is it. If this is our response , then all is lost. We will be rolled over on time and time again after this. ( "Big Dave" doesnt have the name or ability to organize a rapid response. ) Others do and you have failed. I will be political and "nice'" and not mention those who are obviously MIA's.

6) Wouldnt it be nice if ALL anglers supported ALL angling issues in the State. But you fish with gear , or you belong to THAT Bulletin Board , oh you're one of those flyfishing guys. That works against us so much that its actually pathetic. Its all OUR water and all OUR fish. One strong united voice should be all over this as with the access rights up north , the Klamath fish kill etc etc...

7) "It was unavoidable"...uh huh , yeah. Couldnt shock the Stripers and move them. Couldnt lower the water and let anglers come in and move them for you. Couldnt reverse the pumps when they realized that "OOOOPS , theres Fish in there". No , but they had the manpower to have people stand guard against potential rescue and hand out trespassing citations. ( or did they not want people to find something else in the water....like ESA species )

8) This isnt an accident. There were too many chances to correct the wrong , but they moved forward. Its criminal.

9) Not one penny more of my money is going to any fishing organization until I see demonstrated passion and responsibility. ( part of the group of MIA's Im referring too )

10 ) Lucky you , I'm done !!!

[Mike McKenzie]

Big Dave,

Because I know you, I know your hearts in the right place. With that said, There is a hell'uv'a lot more to this than tryin' to save a bunch of mostly dead fish which I admit is a laudable enterprise, unfortunately I ain't quite able physically yet to be any help with that effort.
I do take an extreme exception to your following remark and I quote

"5) Those we put our trust in. Those who receive our donations. Those who we look to for leadership in times like this....where are you ? If this is it. If this is our response , then all is lost. We will be rolled over on time and time again after this. ( "Big Dave" doesnt have the name or ability to organize a rapid response. ) Others do and you have failed. I will be political and "nice'" and not mention those who are obviously MIA's."

Where we are is busy as hell building and "offense" for this "offensive" BuRec action. The proper reaction both legal and public takes a little time to organize and it is not something that wants to be plastered all over the internet at this point in time..believe me when I say the wheels are turning and burning! The biggest difficultly at the moment is the fact that it's almost impossible to get anything done on a long holiday week-end..Critical folks are not around etc.

Then there is this and again I quote..

"6) Wouldnt it be nice if ALL anglers supported ALL angling issues in the State. But you fish with gear , or you belong to THAT Bulletin Board , oh you're one of those flyfishing guys. That works against us so much that its actually pathetic. Its all OUR water and all OUR fish. One strong united voice should be all over this as with the access rights up north , the Klamath fish kill etc etc..."

While some of the above may be partially true..those days are rapidly coming to an end. This is What the "Allied Fishing Groups" is all about..Common fight for common ground.

I've just now finally finished writing and mailing, e-mailing and faxing letters to the BuRec. the Governor, the Resources Agency Secretary, the President of the F&G Commission, The State Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Recreation, my local State Senator and Assembly man and I don't know who all else..Plus I still have my federal representatives to copy on all this (it'll be done tonite!). How many letters have you written to your "elected" representatives??? Any??
Hard at work!!
Mike