Respectfully....

[jbird]

Anything left of the fisheries will be solely ours in a short time anyway...its time for us to step up.

I wish more of my "buddies" were as passionate as I am.

So what are you doing personally as a young generation, passionate, conservative minded steelheader?

[wjorg]

One thing I don't do is tell guys to go flyfish the fly only water of the Trinity with a 4 weight....

Fling it back my way all you want. This isnt a pissing contest.

I am trying to highlight the issue of encouraging stewardship, not just making the catch.

[jbird]

Pissing contest? Im trying to point out how much more productive a thread like this would be if we discussed HOW to be a better steward and HOW to step up.

Im sure theres lots of people reading this forum wondering "What CAN I do?"

Unfortunately, an effective form of steelhead preservation is intimidation. All a new steelheader has to do is read the steelhead forum for a couple months and he wont go near a steelhead stream.

[wjorg]

Well for instance...

I teach my fellow angler how to recognize, celebrate and protect redds. Show them where and how bead fishing should be employed. Talk about when to not fish for easy to catch fish(i.e spawners/low water). I teach proper fish handling techniques...

I suppose there is a nice way to discuss controversial stuff like that but not here, and I guess not by us. People get all agro and the threads just seem to disappear....

[shawn kempkes]

I am not going to name names here but. this was posted on a flyshops reports page and is what I see happening way to much.Too many people are so worried about body counts.

After spending the last few weeks exclusively blind fishing runs, pockets and pools for deeply holding “steelies,” it is becoming more and more possible to find fish staging in the shallower water. As the spawning season gets underway, most fish will be found in these accessible areas. Spawning beds, known commonly as redds, are depressions in the gravel which are dug out by the hen in order to create a holding area for her thousands of eggs. In the process of excavating these concavities, river silt is brushed off the stones as it is swiped and moved by the hen’s tail. As a result, the often circular or oval shaped redds have a much lighter hue to them, becoming quite noticeable when viewed through polarized lenses. Steelhead will generally hold tight to their redds and when an angler finds these spawning beds, they will often find groups of fish rather than just one or two. While sight fishing the redds the greatest care should be taken as it is vital not to physically disturb the redd and thus destroy the hard work of the hen and many bucks who have fertilized the eggs. Generally speaking, when a fish is hooked in close proximity to a redd, it will return to that spawning bed within a short time (often immediately after being released) to continue nature’s process. Since most of the steelhead in this run are hatchery fish and reared for recreational harvest opportunities, it is not uncommon to find fishermen targeting these shallow water areas to increase their hook up rates.

As the fish move onto their spawning beds, they will become territorial, chasing and attacking any intruder that comes within striking distance of their nests. Using streamers, string leeches, egg sucking leeches and sculpin patterns is an effective strategy to irritate and elicit a strike from a steelhead. The best colors to use include purple, black, cream, pink, blue, orange and white. Fished from slightly upstream, these large colorful patterns should be dead drifted to the nose of the fish and at the level of the fish; many “chromers” will decline to move to hit your fly even if it is in their immediate area. Dropping egg patterns off of leeches or large mayfly or stonefly patterns is also effective as is a single bead egg or multiple egg configuration fished with splitshot. The depth of the fly in relation to the fish is of great importance and should be altered with every fishing location based on the depth of water and the speed of the current. Finding the combination which leads that fly to the nose of the waiting fish is the key to a successful day of hooking “metalheads”.

[Don Powell]

This thread is hopeful and yet, critical...and that is o.k.! because what is being done is NOT enough...

I sincerely hope a reader knows how we can channel our energy to "make a difference". I have been around a long time, seen much in the way of decline (didn't experience the "heyday of California" salmon and steelhead) but I sure saw Alaska (the last Frontier) go to sh-t over a period of 15 years when every flyshop in America started booking trips between 1979 and 1995! Bill is right, flyfishers are decent stewards, but, there are hoards of opportunists ready to seize the opportunity to make money booking these well-intentioned sportsmen to places that can only sustain so much pressure. I am not pointing fingers at anyone really, it is just all too sad to have witnessed the decline in quality, that to my mind, because of mankind's greed, is inevitable.

I only hope someone far more intelligent than me is capable of suggesting a workable plan in which we all can invest our energies! (I'll be the first in line at the polls if someone can prove me wrong but I am relatively certain it is none of our currently available candidates for any public office...)

[Darian]

OK,.... Let's try to keep this thread on track.

Don,.... I certainly have empathy for your feelings in this but think that as individuals, developing a plan to solve this stuff is too overwhelming and probably not effective. IMHO, individuals make a difference when they get involved in groups (e.g. Fishing clubs, conservation organizations) either as an employee or volunteerism.

Just as in voting, numbers make the difference in terms of resources to bring to bear on any issue/problem. The greater the numbers, the greater the influence on whatever the cause or level of government or opinion we're attempting to sway. IMHO, politicians understand this much better than we do. We should be observing their successes and methods and emulate them for successes of our own. Until we get off the defensive (e.g. name calling in the news/litigation, etc.) we will continue to see degradation of all things important to us.

Planning is in the arena of organizations who have resources (money, time and expertise) to develop, implement and carry plans out. For example, numbers were what made the choice to propose legislation (e.g. AB 1253, AB 2336) unpalatable to politicians or development projects (especially governmental). The planning to provide notice/oppose was carried out (primarily) thru CSBA/CSPA. (sorry if I left any group names out).... Absent numbers, everything will remain status quo.

Trying to cover all of this stuff without offending people that earn their livings from commercial fishing, development or politics, etc., is really tough on a BB and we need to admit that things can't be returned to the way they were even 20 years ago. Time to look forward and deal with what we can influence for the future.

[STEELIES/26c3]

I'm a young old man or an old young man

I was at the Capitol Building (again...) encouraging our state assembly men and women to reconsider their amended bill to increase flows out of the delta and in to the pockets of Resnick...

I wish I had seen you and many others there.

Charlie Gonzales was in attendance.

Peace
Fish
M

[Dustin Revel]

I'm a young old man or an old young man

I was at the Capitol Building (again...) encouraging our state assembly men and women to reconsider their amended bill to increase flows out of the delta and in to the pockets of Resnick...

I wish I had seen you and many others there.

Charlie Gonzales was in attendance.

Peace
Fish
M

Thanks Guys! If I didn't live 5 hours away I would have definately been there.

[Frank Alessio]

How about solving the Water Problem or at least a Smart Start.... Build Desalination plants in Southern California??????