'Swing North' .....new video on Nor Cal winter Steelheading

[Ryan e]

There's an old saying...."Silence is Golden." I think that applies here to all parties on this subject including the creators of this movie and it will benefit these threatened/endangered Steelhead in the end. Cal Trout still baffles the hell out of me after all these years. Seek out more grass roots organizations folks that focus more on the fish restoration and not the publicity or the angling.

Silence is golden , but you feel the need too toss a rock at Cal Trout .So Ned what angler are you saying is not grass roots ? Mr Patagonia who has obviously done more than any one person I can think of on this planet . Or is it Mr Weir who has significantly helped with restoration projects and saving rivers from being eliminated do to the bay areas thirst for more water . Or is it ?

[left field]

You're missing the point.

No one is denying that these fellows do good work, but to fish that river when a) they know the population is so low that every single fish matters; and b) there is an acknowledged mortality rate associated with catch-and-release - is a little mind-boggling to me.

The dirty little not-so-secret about catch-and-release is that fish die despite our best efforts. It bothers the hell out of me when I keep a fish in the water, take my time to revive it and watch it swim away only to find it belly up an hour later down river. More often than not it is a fish I could have legally kept which would have been a better ending than dinner for crayfish. But I accept that result as I know there's a healthy self-sustaining population of trout in the rivers I fish.

You want to help a recovering river - stay out of it.
You want to really help a recovering river - encourage others to stay out of it.
You want to market your efforts come up with a "rivers I don't fish" campaign that raises awareness and puts pressure on other anglers to let the fishery recover.

What I wouldn't do is create the same old ff video that shows guys who should be stewards of that river having a great time tieing into big steelhead. My guess is that this will encourage others to fish the river.

[Ryan e]

So Left Field ,

You publicly discus fishing the Russian river on this forum . Please tell all of us how that is different ?
Sounds like we are back to pot and the kettle . Or is it the Do as I say not as I do mentality of many folks ?
I will say I haven't seen the film and sounds like you and Ned maybe have,so you must have some inside info on what it truly is about .

[Siskiyoublues]

The dirty little not-so-secret about catch-and-release is that fish die despite our best efforts. It bothers the hell out of me when I keep a fish in the water, take my time to revive it and watch it swim away only to find it belly up an hour later down river. More often than not it is a fish I could have legally kept which would have been a better ending than dinner for crayfish. But I accept that result as I know there's a healthy self-sustaining population of trout in the rivers I fish.

How often does this happen to you??

[left field]

When I searched for planted fish on a trib last year? Is that what you're referring to? Oy vey.

I have no dog in this fight and have not seen the full video. I was just surprised by their description and that number - which may or may not be accurate. I don't really care who they are or what they've done. If there are truly less than 1,000 returning sh in that river, stay out of it.

[left field]

How often does this happen to you??

Once this season. Maybe twice.

The certain one was on a river with a lot of floating algae. Once I hooked up the algae snagged on the line at the hook and a 14" brown suddenly weighed 5 lbs. I got him into the net and just cut the tippet and removed the hook from his end instead of trying to unravel it from the mess. Spent some time reviving him until he could swim off, but found him later.

So it goes.

[JasonB]

The dirty little not-so-secret about catch-and-release is that fish die despite our best efforts. It bothers the hell out of me when I keep a fish in the water, take my time to revive it and watch it swim away only to find it belly up an hour later down river. More often than not it is a fish I could have legally kept which would have been a better ending than dinner for crayfish. But I accept that result as I know there's a healthy self-sustaining population of trout in the rivers I fish.

I too am a bit surprised to read that. It's worded in such a way that implies it's happened at least a few times to you? I'm thinking of all the fish I've caught and released and I have never experienced 1 mortality, including trout that would be a lot of fish. Perhaps a few have died despite my efforts that I am not aware of, and perhaps a few may have been weakened in some way... still a VERY low percentile. I do think that "catch and release" can have some higher mortality rates depending on how one plays and handles the fish, but somehow I get the feeling that those guys in the video in question are extremely savvy in minimizing their impacts on those few fish they connect with.

The only reason I even care to address this concern is that I do think that there is some good that comes from spreading awareness of just how special these streams and their fish are. If we care to protect and promote healthy recoveries in these fisheries we will need ALL the help we can get. These guys didn't exactly out some super secret stream either; I hardly could call the Eel, or it's tribs "secret" fisheries in any way shape or form. Judging by the steady flow of boats that I usually encounter there, I'd say it's "on the map" already.
just my 2cents,
JB

[Ben J]

I'm guessing that number 1,000 fish is a count from the Van Arsdale Dam at some point. Trust me, anyone who fishes the eel drainage knows there are many more than 1,000 fish that enter that system. Van Arsdale is at the top of the Main Stem; the amount of spawning habitat and streams within the entire watershed of the Eel River is huge. Not a personal slight, but maybe you made some comments before fully informing yourself? As pointed out above, everyone is in on the secret that is the Eel. I wouldn't call out people swinging flies when people still pound this river with roe.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I did not think that 1000 fish is was a realistic number of steelhead that enter the Eel River drainage.

Some of these river are recoving a bit but still need lots of help.

**I think we need to start designating a few wild Nor Cal rivers, with no dams and no hatcheries, as "wild only, catch-n-release, artificial only, single barbless hook. This is a way to get a few river to support only wild steelhead and wild salmon.

[Rick J]

left field - you can legitimately say that every water body on the north coast is "recovering" or perhaps declining so is your recommendation to just stop fishing for steelhead if there are wild fish in the system?