FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lawsuit Settlement Big Advance For Wild Steelhead Recovery
Wild Fish Conservancy and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
(WDFW) have settled the lawsuit filed by the Conservancy March 31,
2014.
Apr 25, 2014
WILD FISH CONSERVANCY
PO Box 402 Duvall, WA 98019 • Tel 425-788-1167 • Fax 425-788-9634
info@wildfishconservancy.org
Contact: Kurt Beardslee, Wild Fish Conservancy, 425-788-1167
Brian Knutsen, Smith and Lowney, PLLC, 971-373-8692
Friday April 25, 2014
Lawsuit Settlement Big Advance For Wild Steelhead Recovery
Wild Fish Conservancy and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
(WDFW) have settled the lawsuit filed by the Conservancy March 31, 2014
seeking Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance for WDFW’s “Chambers
Creek” hatchery winter steelhead programs. Since the first listing of
Puget Sound salmon under the ESA in 1999, almost all of WDFW’s hatchery
programs in the region have continued to produce and release hatchery
salmonids without the evaluation and legal permission required under the
ESA. Under the settlement, WDFW will cease planting Chambers Creek
hatchery steelhead in all Puget Sound rivers but one, until NOAA
approves each specific hatchery program. The settlement also
establishes a twelve-year moratorium of such hatchery plants in the
Skagit River system, Puget Sound’s largest tributary and most important
wild steelhead river.
“This agreement is a giant win for Puget Sound's wild steelhead and their recovery,” said Kurt Beardslee, executive director of Wild Fish Conservancy.
Contrary to popular belief, the Chambers Creek hatchery programs, like
many hatchery programs, do not aid wild fish recovery. Recent scientific
evidence indicates that this hatchery-origin steelhead adversely
affects wild steelhead
by causing negative genetic, ecological, and demographic effects. In
2010, scientists from the regional science center of the NOAA Fisheries
Service concluded “Chambers Creek steelhead have no role in the recovery
of native Puget Sound steelhead.” WDFW is required to develop
“hatchery genetic management plans” for each hatchery which must then be
reviewed and approved by NOAA to ensure that the proposed programs do
not significantly impede the recovery of ESA-listed salmon and
steelhead. The vast majority of WDFW salmon and steelhead hatcheries
have been operating without this approval for more then ten years.
Taxpayers are supporting and funding many important efforts across the
region to restore wild salmon and steelhead, but tax dollars are also
supporting some state hatchery programs that are working at cross
purposes and impeding recovery. WDFW’s data show that the cost to
produce a single harvested Skagit River Chambers Creek hatchery
steelhead ranged from $160 to $940 in the years from 2001-2012. "Our
hope is that the funds supporting these programs will be redirected to
more effective, long-term, and sustainable solutions like habitat
restoration and preservation," says Beardslee.
In 1969, the steelhead was declared Washington’s official “state fish.”
Despite that recognition, wild Puget Sound steelhead populations have
steadily declined. Since being listed as threatened under the ESA in
2007, the five-year average of Puget Sound wild steelhead
abundance is about 25% of what it was in 2004, and less than 3% of what
it was in 1900. NOAA recently rated twelve of twenty Puget Sound
populations as having a “high” risk of extinction.
“There are four major causes for the decline of salmon and steelhead,”
Beardslee continued. “Loss of habitat is the largest problem facing
salmon and steelhead recovery. The public has invested hundreds of
millions of dollars in habitat restoration and preservation and we need
to continue this important work. But science clearly points to dams,
hatcheries, and over-harvest as three additional problems that need to
be fixed. Applying science-based hatchery practices is something we can
do right now that will have immediate and long-term positive benefits.
Fisheries all over the world have collapsed because politics, not
science, guided their management. Science remains the best and most
reliable compass to guide recovery and to meet our solemn stewardship
responsibility to future generations.”
The combination of the Puget Sound and Skagit moratoriums is the largest
and most significant effort of its kind on the West Coast. The
moratorium will help protect Puget Sound's wild steelhead
populations from the negative impacts of the Chambers Creek hatchery
programs and will also provide the opportunity to establish the Skagit
River system as the largest wild steelhead
research project of its kind. The information gained from such a
project will help guide and inform future salmon and steelhead recovery
efforts.
“This magnificent fish is an icon of our Northwest culture and
lifestyle,” Beardslee concluded. “Wild steelhead fed indigenous people
for thousands of years and now it is also the sportsman's most prized
fish. Today's agreement will help recover wild steelhead so they can again support sustainable fisheries in the future."
The unpermitted Chambers Creek steelhead hatchery programs in Puget
Sound were the sole subject of the suit, filed in the US District Court
for western Washington in Seattle. The group is represented by Smith
and Lowney, PLLC, of Seattle.
http://wildfishconservancy.org/about...m_medium=email
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Wild Reverence
View the Wild Reverence trailer and check into movie showings in your area at the site below:
http://olympiafilmsociety.org/wild-reverence-local-film-w-q-a-environmental-film-festival-2014/
Bill McMillan reported to me via email today that the first showing of Wild Reverence in Olympia this past Saturday was attended by a large audience of 500-600 people, including several folks from the pro-hatchery crowd. According to Bill: "The movie touched the emotions of virtually all present with enthused bravos and clapping at the end. In the Q&A after the movie it was apparent that the audience had largely come to identify with the cause for wild steelhead and its relationship to the future for all of us in the Northwest. Quite remarkably, one of those from the (pro-hatchery) group stood up and indicated he had come in a pro-hatchery advocate, but that the movie had resulted in his change in opinion. For a person to stand up and say that in front of 500-600 people was quite remarkable." Apparently there were several other pro-hatchery folks who afterward also indicated that the movie had changed their view on hatchery steelhead, their harmful effects, and the need to better protect wild steelhead.
I encourage all of us to watch the movie when a showing comes near you or the movie can be purchased in DVD form for viewing at home:
http://www.northforkstudios.net/
Thanks to Shane Anderson in completing this monumental work in the name of protecting wild steelhead. Congratulations Shane, Wild Reverence is making a great impact!
Friday, April 11, 2014
Low Water Surface Steelhead
I keep a fishing journal and a good thing about keeping a journal is being able to reflect back on special days on the river, whether or not fish were caught. With the slow winter steelhead season I've been having, I got to reminiscing about a day I spent on a summer river during low water conditions in mid-summer, 2010.
August 1, 2010:
My alarm went off at 3am, left my house by 3:30am (I am a fanatic afterall). I arrive at the first stretch I wanted try by about 5:30am, I proceed to drive up looking for the landmarks described by a friend. I noted other landmarks to give myself a frame of reference on the new location I was fishing this day. I locate the river access I was looking for so I figured I'd just start my day there. I am elated that it is an overcast morning. I fish all the likely looking pockets and head ins at that area with nothing but some small trout to show for my efforts, so I figured since I was in new to me territory, I'd just continue to explore. I continued upstream and found another pulloff that looked promising. I walked down the trail to see what was in store below.
August 1, 2010:
My alarm went off at 3am, left my house by 3:30am (I am a fanatic afterall). I arrive at the first stretch I wanted try by about 5:30am, I proceed to drive up looking for the landmarks described by a friend. I noted other landmarks to give myself a frame of reference on the new location I was fishing this day. I locate the river access I was looking for so I figured I'd just start my day there. I am elated that it is an overcast morning. I fish all the likely looking pockets and head ins at that area with nothing but some small trout to show for my efforts, so I figured since I was in new to me territory, I'd just continue to explore. I continued upstream and found another pulloff that looked promising. I walked down the trail to see what was in store below.
I dragged two rods down there
with me, my light spey rod (12'6', 6/7 wt) and my old Sage RPL 9' 4wt. This
is pretty small water so I opted to use my 9' 4wt. I also chose to use
this rod because I did not pack my 9' 7wt and my 9.5' 8wt when I moved
over from HI and because I read about Frank Amato using 4wt single hand
rods for Deschutes steelhead in the early 90's. I hooked and landed my
only other steelhead on this rod in 1996 at another location further downstream on this same river on a
riffle hitched steelhead caddis and I landed that fish with no problems.
During low summer flows in this river, much of the water that steelhead may be holding in are small pockets. When I explored this water back in the mid 90's, I realized that the condtions on this river in late summer is similar to what Bill McMillan described in the chapters of Dry Line Steelhead when he was fishing SW Washington rivers. I remember reading about how Bill describes simply hanging a surface fly, such as a riffle hitched steelhead caddis with just the leader and a few feet of fly line out the rod tip in white water pockets. These pockets can be present in the middle of rapids where large rocks provide a soft cushion, at the heads of small pools, and the seams alongside and behind large boulders that break the flow. It's a whole different game than using a swinging presentation and is almost like Tenkra fishing for steelhead.
So, back to that day of fishing.. As I work my way back down stream and fish every likely looking pocket, I am enjoying the light weight and efficiency of the little trout rod for fishing pocket water. When I am about two pockets away from where the trail comes down, I am fishing this little bucket that runs along the far bank. I have some trout coming up for the #6 steelhead caddis as is typical with this kind of fishing. As I reach the very bottom of this piece of water just before it spills over to the next pocket, this steelhead comes up and attacks the caddis with a sudden explosive rise! It is instantly hooked and I briefly see it turn around and mayhem breaks out... It goes out of the little pool, stairsteps down though the next couple sets of pockets, and then it goes between these two very large boulders. All I can do is hold my rod as high as possible as my fly line and backing are down and around the corner somewhere. When I get my wits about me, I start reeling and simultaneously flounder down through slippery rocks, trying to catch up with the fish. Surprisingly, the hook didn't pull out and the leader held. Thankfully, the fish stopped in the pool out from where the trail comes down. I put the wood to the steelhead with the little trout rod, using side pressure, and after several back and forth runs up and down the pool, I had it on the bank. It was a hatchery female, 31" long. Luckily I had decided to keep a cooler with ice in my car, so I bled the fish and hung on a tree until it was time to slog it back up the hill.
So, back to that day of fishing.. As I work my way back down stream and fish every likely looking pocket, I am enjoying the light weight and efficiency of the little trout rod for fishing pocket water. When I am about two pockets away from where the trail comes down, I am fishing this little bucket that runs along the far bank. I have some trout coming up for the #6 steelhead caddis as is typical with this kind of fishing. As I reach the very bottom of this piece of water just before it spills over to the next pocket, this steelhead comes up and attacks the caddis with a sudden explosive rise! It is instantly hooked and I briefly see it turn around and mayhem breaks out... It goes out of the little pool, stairsteps down though the next couple sets of pockets, and then it goes between these two very large boulders. All I can do is hold my rod as high as possible as my fly line and backing are down and around the corner somewhere. When I get my wits about me, I start reeling and simultaneously flounder down through slippery rocks, trying to catch up with the fish. Surprisingly, the hook didn't pull out and the leader held. Thankfully, the fish stopped in the pool out from where the trail comes down. I put the wood to the steelhead with the little trout rod, using side pressure, and after several back and forth runs up and down the pool, I had it on the bank. It was a hatchery female, 31" long. Luckily I had decided to keep a cooler with ice in my car, so I bled the fish and hung on a tree until it was time to slog it back up the hill.
I fished another few spots but these efforts proved uneventful. Lightning would not strike twice that day, but it would have
been a great day even if I had not hooked even the one steelhead. I saw
several groups of deer and I enjoyed relative solitude on a mostly
overcast and pleasant summer day.
When I hooked that fish
that day, it grabbed right in the midst of trout also going after the
caddis. I have wondered if when a steelhead occupies a piece of water,
do they "establish dominance" - where trout would vacate the pool for
fear of being attacked/harrassed by the steelhead? Evidently, the trout
in that pocket weren't bothered that the steelhead I hooked was there
with them.
As for purposely using the
little trout rod for steelhead fishing, Frank Amato was right, if a fish
is fought aggressively, it can be brought in reasonably quickly, as was
the case with my fish that day. Using side pressure, a tight drag, and a
strong tippet (my typical 8lb Maxima Ultra Green) are key, along with
playing the fish aggressively. I had the drag knob on my little
Scientific Anglers 5/6L turned about 3/4s the way around. (Times have changed and I presently only use click/pawl reels today).
This was only the second steelhead I've ever hooked and landed on the hanging surface fly technique that Bill described in Dry Line Steelhead. Seeing a steelhead come up for a surface fly at such close range is a real thrill!
This was only the second steelhead I've ever hooked and landed on the hanging surface fly technique that Bill described in Dry Line Steelhead. Seeing a steelhead come up for a surface fly at such close range is a real thrill!
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Good News for Puget Sound Steelhead thanks to the Wild Fish Conservancy
| April 01, 2014 Contact: Jim Scott, 360-902-2736 |
|
this spring unless legal issues are resolved
OLYMPIA –The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will not release early winter hatchery steelhead into rivers around Puget Sound as planned this spring unless it can resolve issues raised in January by the Wild Fish Conservancy and restated in a lawsuit the group filed this week.
Phil Anderson said WDFW leaders made the “very difficult” decision last week under the threat of litigation by the Conservancy, a non-profit group based in Duvall, Wash. In late January, the group filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the department over its management of early winter (Chambers Creek) steelhead hatchery programs.
On Monday, March 31, as the 60-day period ended, the group filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Seattle against the department and the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, alleging WDFW has violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The group contends WDFW’s planting of Chambers Creek steelhead undermines the recovery of wild Puget Sound steelhead, salmon and bull trout, which are listed as “threatened” under the ESA.
Anderson said the department planned to releases about 900,000 juvenile steelhead this spring into rivers that flow into Puget Sound. Those fish are produced at nine hatcheries and represent about two-thirds of all hatchery steelhead produced by WDFW hatcheries in the Puget Sound region. Steelhead planted this spring would return to the rivers in 2016 and 2017.
He said WDFW is vulnerable to lawsuits over its hatchery steelhead operations because they were not approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) following the ESA listing of Puget Sound steelhead in 2007. WDFW submitted Hatchery Genetic Management Plans to NMFS in 2005 for its steelhead programs, relative to their potential impacts on Puget Sound wild chinook salmon.
However, NMFS’ review of those plans was not completed. WDFW is nearing completion of updates to its steelhead plans to reflect recent hatchery improvements based on the most current science.
“We believe strongly that we are operating safe and responsible hatchery programs that meet exacting, science-based standards,” he said. “But without NMFS certification that our hatchery programs comply with the Endangered Species Act, we remain at risk of litigation. We are working hard to complete that process.”
Jim Scott, who heads the WDFW Fish Program, said the department and the Conservancy were not able to reach an agreement on WDFW’s steelhead hatchery management practices during the 60-day period, but he said discussions will continue in the hope of reaching a settlement by early May so that the 2014 plantings can take place.
“It’s in everyone’s best interest to quickly reach an agreement that will promote the recovery of Puget Sound steelhead and provide for tribal and recreational fisheries,” Scott said. “Going to court would force us to redirect our staff to defend our programs in litigation, rather than focusing on conservation and restoration of Puget Sound steelhead.”
Scott said the department acknowledges that scientific findings indicate certain hatchery practices may pose an impediment to wild fish productivity and recovery. But he noted state managers have worked hard to reform hatchery programs and have taken significant steps to protect ESA-listed wild steelhead. Actions since 2004 include:
- Reducing the number of early winter steelhead released in the Puget Sound watershed by more than 50 percent to minimize interactions between hatchery fish and wild steelhead.
- Reducing the number of release locations from 27 to nine.
- Collecting eggs from early-returning hatchery fish to maintain separation in the spawning times of hatchery and wild fish.
- Using genetic monitoring to guard against hatchery steelhead interacting with wild stocks.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Fishy Friends
This winter season has been a lean one for me thus far. Things seemed to be off to a good start with a very early winter run taken on the dry line and lead eyed Samurai fly caught on November 29, 2013, "Black Friday". I also had another fish hooked and lost that same day. I felt optimistic with these early hookups, but my hopes for any kind of consistency proved to be misguided! I fished my favorite buckets in my favored runs throughout December without so much as a grab. This slow trend continued into January with the sustained cold, dry weather and low water conditions, until I got a little buck in the tailout of a pool in mid January which took a small Winter's Hope.
In the meantime, while I wallowed in my dry line misery, my friend Keith Tymchuck has casually gotten into steelhead consistently from early December onward to the present time, including several multi fish days. Whether high water, low water, freezing weather, mild weather - Keith kept getting fish when no one else could! Keith is a fishy guy anyway and one consistent catcher of steelhead on the swing, but he has been extra mystical this season with his consistent reports of fish pulled out of water and conditions that have been very difficult for the rest of us. To top it off, Keith fishes the shortest hours out of all of us. Keith is a very dedicated to his family so he is typically done fishing by noon, yet he fishes circles around me.
Craig Coover has been my steady fishing companion, especially this season, as his schedule has opened up with his recent retirement this past year. How I envy such freedom and flexibility! In my case, work does provide a distraction from fishing for sure. Craig and I both live in Springfield and thankfully, Craig prefers that we drive to the rivers in his cushy newer model Toyota 4runner. This is a welcome luxury compared to my beat up 1990 Honda Accord.
Craig and I often meet up with Keith on our winter rivers and it is always a great pleasure and blessing to share water with these guys. All three of us have a casual approach to our fishing and have no problems sharing water with each other, with competition never entering the equation.
Craig is also a very fishy guy. He tends to casually catch steelhead on the swing with fierce consistency throughout the year. Craig's winter season got off to a good start with a large buck caught in early December, but then our subsequent trips to the river together typically wound up with both of us coming up empty. However, with the sustained wet weather coming on from early February onward, Craig has resumed his fishy ways with multiple steelhead hooked/landed this past week including a two fish day.
A couple saturdays ago was my first day back on the water since Wendi's heart surgery. It was great to get together with Craig and Keith again. As Craig and I drove over to the river, we anticipated meeting up with Keith at our usual starting spot. I commented to Craig that I bet Keith got into a fish before we got there. Upon finding Keith at the first run, indeed, he reported that he got a mid sized hen in the tailout, a fish that had possibly already spawned. As we shared water over the remaining course of the day, Craig got into two steelhead, one in the same spot where he hooked up a couple days prior and the second came from a new lie he found on the far side of one of our favorite runs. As for me, I fished hard with the dry line and enjoyed the mild conditions, even experimenting with trying to skate up a winter fish, but with no encounters with steel, I was content to enjoy a great day with good friends in a beautiful place.
On this particular day, because, not unusually, I was the fishless guy, Keith and Craig did their best to put me into a fish. They had me going through spots first and Craig even pointed the rock to stand on and where the bucket was in one of his newly discovered fish holding lies. I fished through this short run confidently twice. On my first pass I tried a simplified General Practioner tied on a 5/0 hook, then I made a quick second pass with a sparse dry line intruder. Each time as I approached the bucket that Craig pointed out, I tensed with anticipation as my fly came through the nice soft zone which fished the dry line swing nicely. As I was nearly completed with my second pass, Craig mentioned that he would walk downstream to fish the marginal water at the bottom of the run. I encouraged Craig to hang on and just fish through his bucket when I was done so he could clean up after me since I didn't get a grab.
I took a convenient position on some shoreside rocks to get a slightly elevated vantage point so I could watch Craig fish his water. I was able to note subtleties in Craig's presentation, such as how he made shorter casts which were more square to the current than the casts I was making. I was mesmerized as I watched Craig's line swing into the soft, inside flow. On one of these casts, I was looking right at the junction of Craig's running line and Skagit head and it suddenly came tight and Craig was fast to his second steelhead of the day. I was in a perfect postion to take a couple photos and some video. When the fish came to shore, Craig commented that it looked like the same hen that he landed a couple days before. Even after I made two confident dry line passes through this water, Craig still came through and picked my pocket! Luckily, we're always happy for each others successes, so I didn't hold Craig's thievery against him.
So the moral of this story is if you are a dedicated dry line winter steelheader and you have good friends that are fishy and very competent in fishing Skagits/Tips, you will probably spend a lot of time watching your friends hooking and landing steelhead while you trudge away with your chosen method. Looking loosely at my winter data for the past few years, my fishy, sink tip-equipped friends outfish me at a ratio of at least 3 or 4 steelhead to each one of my dry line caught steelhead. No matter what, one who swings with a dry line in winter will be passing over steelhead that would be susceptible to other methods. The incident described above of Craig picking my pocket is not the first time when my friends fishing a Skagit/sink tip set up has picked up steelhead when coming through behind or after me. However, every method has it's limitations - for instance there are slots that hold steelhead that a Skagit/tip can't effectively fish, but an egg/indicator or float/jig or drift gear would get the fisherman's offering in the zone.
Why would I deliberately stick with a method that catches fewer fish?? Maybe insanity?? When examining my own motivations, I realize that while I love to hook steelhead, I guess I love hooking them using my chosen method even more. Even though I am making a tough game even tougher, I think it is too late to change the inner vision of success that is stuck in my head. Thankfully, my friends know I'm nuts and they accept me for who I am - the crazy Asian fishing the single hand cane rod, dry line, and big irons (sometimes skaters) in winter while seeking the rare steelhead aggressive enough to come off it's lie for a fly presented on the dry line. It can be rough watching or hearing of your buddies getting all the steelhead using saner methods while I go fishless, but I get almost as much enjoyment seeing my friends getting fish, plus I get to take photos and video since Craig and Keith aren't much into photography. In fact, they never send photos of all the steelhead they say they catch when I am not with them - maybe their stories can't be trusted after all - but then I have too much eyewitness testimony to doubt them.
Keith doing what he does:
Craig doing what he does:
In the meantime, while I wallowed in my dry line misery, my friend Keith Tymchuck has casually gotten into steelhead consistently from early December onward to the present time, including several multi fish days. Whether high water, low water, freezing weather, mild weather - Keith kept getting fish when no one else could! Keith is a fishy guy anyway and one consistent catcher of steelhead on the swing, but he has been extra mystical this season with his consistent reports of fish pulled out of water and conditions that have been very difficult for the rest of us. To top it off, Keith fishes the shortest hours out of all of us. Keith is a very dedicated to his family so he is typically done fishing by noon, yet he fishes circles around me.
Craig Coover has been my steady fishing companion, especially this season, as his schedule has opened up with his recent retirement this past year. How I envy such freedom and flexibility! In my case, work does provide a distraction from fishing for sure. Craig and I both live in Springfield and thankfully, Craig prefers that we drive to the rivers in his cushy newer model Toyota 4runner. This is a welcome luxury compared to my beat up 1990 Honda Accord.
Craig and I often meet up with Keith on our winter rivers and it is always a great pleasure and blessing to share water with these guys. All three of us have a casual approach to our fishing and have no problems sharing water with each other, with competition never entering the equation.
Craig is also a very fishy guy. He tends to casually catch steelhead on the swing with fierce consistency throughout the year. Craig's winter season got off to a good start with a large buck caught in early December, but then our subsequent trips to the river together typically wound up with both of us coming up empty. However, with the sustained wet weather coming on from early February onward, Craig has resumed his fishy ways with multiple steelhead hooked/landed this past week including a two fish day.
A couple saturdays ago was my first day back on the water since Wendi's heart surgery. It was great to get together with Craig and Keith again. As Craig and I drove over to the river, we anticipated meeting up with Keith at our usual starting spot. I commented to Craig that I bet Keith got into a fish before we got there. Upon finding Keith at the first run, indeed, he reported that he got a mid sized hen in the tailout, a fish that had possibly already spawned. As we shared water over the remaining course of the day, Craig got into two steelhead, one in the same spot where he hooked up a couple days prior and the second came from a new lie he found on the far side of one of our favorite runs. As for me, I fished hard with the dry line and enjoyed the mild conditions, even experimenting with trying to skate up a winter fish, but with no encounters with steel, I was content to enjoy a great day with good friends in a beautiful place.
On this particular day, because, not unusually, I was the fishless guy, Keith and Craig did their best to put me into a fish. They had me going through spots first and Craig even pointed the rock to stand on and where the bucket was in one of his newly discovered fish holding lies. I fished through this short run confidently twice. On my first pass I tried a simplified General Practioner tied on a 5/0 hook, then I made a quick second pass with a sparse dry line intruder. Each time as I approached the bucket that Craig pointed out, I tensed with anticipation as my fly came through the nice soft zone which fished the dry line swing nicely. As I was nearly completed with my second pass, Craig mentioned that he would walk downstream to fish the marginal water at the bottom of the run. I encouraged Craig to hang on and just fish through his bucket when I was done so he could clean up after me since I didn't get a grab.
I took a convenient position on some shoreside rocks to get a slightly elevated vantage point so I could watch Craig fish his water. I was able to note subtleties in Craig's presentation, such as how he made shorter casts which were more square to the current than the casts I was making. I was mesmerized as I watched Craig's line swing into the soft, inside flow. On one of these casts, I was looking right at the junction of Craig's running line and Skagit head and it suddenly came tight and Craig was fast to his second steelhead of the day. I was in a perfect postion to take a couple photos and some video. When the fish came to shore, Craig commented that it looked like the same hen that he landed a couple days before. Even after I made two confident dry line passes through this water, Craig still came through and picked my pocket! Luckily, we're always happy for each others successes, so I didn't hold Craig's thievery against him.
So the moral of this story is if you are a dedicated dry line winter steelheader and you have good friends that are fishy and very competent in fishing Skagits/Tips, you will probably spend a lot of time watching your friends hooking and landing steelhead while you trudge away with your chosen method. Looking loosely at my winter data for the past few years, my fishy, sink tip-equipped friends outfish me at a ratio of at least 3 or 4 steelhead to each one of my dry line caught steelhead. No matter what, one who swings with a dry line in winter will be passing over steelhead that would be susceptible to other methods. The incident described above of Craig picking my pocket is not the first time when my friends fishing a Skagit/sink tip set up has picked up steelhead when coming through behind or after me. However, every method has it's limitations - for instance there are slots that hold steelhead that a Skagit/tip can't effectively fish, but an egg/indicator or float/jig or drift gear would get the fisherman's offering in the zone.
Why would I deliberately stick with a method that catches fewer fish?? Maybe insanity?? When examining my own motivations, I realize that while I love to hook steelhead, I guess I love hooking them using my chosen method even more. Even though I am making a tough game even tougher, I think it is too late to change the inner vision of success that is stuck in my head. Thankfully, my friends know I'm nuts and they accept me for who I am - the crazy Asian fishing the single hand cane rod, dry line, and big irons (sometimes skaters) in winter while seeking the rare steelhead aggressive enough to come off it's lie for a fly presented on the dry line. It can be rough watching or hearing of your buddies getting all the steelhead using saner methods while I go fishless, but I get almost as much enjoyment seeing my friends getting fish, plus I get to take photos and video since Craig and Keith aren't much into photography. In fact, they never send photos of all the steelhead they say they catch when I am not with them - maybe their stories can't be trusted after all - but then I have too much eyewitness testimony to doubt them.
Keith doing what he does:
Craig doing what he does:
Craig picking my pocket:
Friday, February 28, 2014
Priorities...
My dear wife Wendi just underwent her second heart surgery last week to
have her mitral valve replaced. She previously had heart surgery in
July 2012 at the University of Utah hospital and Dr. Craig Selzman was
able to repair her mitral valve at that time. Unfortunately, the
success of the repair was short lived as Wendi began feeling symptoms of
fatigue and shortness of breath just a few short months after she fully
recovered from surgery and having had a brief period of feeling
energetic and well.
As I write this blog entry Wendi is coming along with her recovery as we are again at the University of Utah Hospital with Wendi's trust remaining with Dr. Selzman. We lay our ultimate trust in God as she regains her strength.
As was the case during Wendi's previous heart surgery, I am reminded of what is important in life - my wife, children, and grandchildren, and my relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm also reminded of what God has called me to be as the protector of my family, husband, father, grandfather, believer, and that the purpose of my life is to reflect the love of Christ to others.
While I'm obviously passionate about chasing steelhead with a fly, I'm also reminded that it's important to maintain balance in life. If I'm not careful, I easily go overboard with obsessing about when I get to go fishing next, what the river levels are, which piece of equipment I need (or don't need) next, how many more flies I need to tie, what to post on my blog, etc.
During my downtime as I stand by while my bride recovers, I have time to reflect on the wonderful network of friends and acquaintances my passion for steelhead has brought about as my good fishing pals lift Wendi and me up in their thoughts and prayers. It's so great when God orchestrates one's passion to bring more meaning to life beyond simply chasing after chrome fish.
With Wendi coming along well in her recovery, I'll be looking forward to a few late season outings to chase after some late running winter steelhead. If conditions allow, I'll be going after these spring run fish with surface flies to see if I can repeat my success from last year of getting a winter steelhead on a skater.
Of course, being at the hospital with Wendi has provided some downtime and the steelhead track in my brain never stops, so I've made constructive use of my downtime to remotely get some of my work done, email friends, post more frequently on forums, and I've even tied some flies in Wendi's hospital room. I've also brought my own coffeemaker to Wendi's hospital room so I don't have to waste money at the hospital Starbucks. This has garnered funny looks from hospital staff and comments like "I've never seen anyone do that before".
So far, I've tied up some Samurais and sparse Intruders for dry line fishing. These flies aren't exactly "traditional" and I've been making liberal use of lead and brass eyes on these flies, but I'll make no excuses, I actually like tying and fishing these flies at times, but I'll cleanse myself by tying a few more Winter's Hopes before I head back to Oregon.
Wishing God's Grace and Peace to you all,
Todd
Some hospital ties:
Dry line Intruders:
As I write this blog entry Wendi is coming along with her recovery as we are again at the University of Utah Hospital with Wendi's trust remaining with Dr. Selzman. We lay our ultimate trust in God as she regains her strength.
As was the case during Wendi's previous heart surgery, I am reminded of what is important in life - my wife, children, and grandchildren, and my relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm also reminded of what God has called me to be as the protector of my family, husband, father, grandfather, believer, and that the purpose of my life is to reflect the love of Christ to others.
While I'm obviously passionate about chasing steelhead with a fly, I'm also reminded that it's important to maintain balance in life. If I'm not careful, I easily go overboard with obsessing about when I get to go fishing next, what the river levels are, which piece of equipment I need (or don't need) next, how many more flies I need to tie, what to post on my blog, etc.
During my downtime as I stand by while my bride recovers, I have time to reflect on the wonderful network of friends and acquaintances my passion for steelhead has brought about as my good fishing pals lift Wendi and me up in their thoughts and prayers. It's so great when God orchestrates one's passion to bring more meaning to life beyond simply chasing after chrome fish.
With Wendi coming along well in her recovery, I'll be looking forward to a few late season outings to chase after some late running winter steelhead. If conditions allow, I'll be going after these spring run fish with surface flies to see if I can repeat my success from last year of getting a winter steelhead on a skater.
Of course, being at the hospital with Wendi has provided some downtime and the steelhead track in my brain never stops, so I've made constructive use of my downtime to remotely get some of my work done, email friends, post more frequently on forums, and I've even tied some flies in Wendi's hospital room. I've also brought my own coffeemaker to Wendi's hospital room so I don't have to waste money at the hospital Starbucks. This has garnered funny looks from hospital staff and comments like "I've never seen anyone do that before".
So far, I've tied up some Samurais and sparse Intruders for dry line fishing. These flies aren't exactly "traditional" and I've been making liberal use of lead and brass eyes on these flies, but I'll make no excuses, I actually like tying and fishing these flies at times, but I'll cleanse myself by tying a few more Winter's Hopes before I head back to Oregon.
Wishing God's Grace and Peace to you all,
Todd
Some hospital ties:
Dry line Intruders:
Friday, January 17, 2014
Hopes....... and Dreams
Keeping the Dry Line dream alive:
Hopes....
and Dreams...
Dry Line winter steelhead encounters have been tough to come by for me this
season so I was pleasantly surprised to encounter the fine specimen
pictured above on a coastal Oregon stream today. After fishing the upper section of the run with a 5/0 Winter's Hope I decided that when I got to fishing the
lower section/tail out of the run that I would change over to a smaller Winter's Hope
tied on the commonly available 2/0 Tiemco 7999, to avoid getting hung up. This little buck
grabbed in water that I thought was getting too shallow to hold a fish,
luckily I was wrong.
This is the first winter steelhead that I've taken on James Reid's 8592 prototype and I was immensely pleased with the smooth authority, lifting power, and sensitively the rod provided while fighting this fish - it felt good. I can't believe that James built such an incredible rod that is absolutely tailor made for my style of winter steelheading. I couldn't have imagined a better design for a single hand cane rod for winter steelheading. It's as if James had been out winter fishing with me the past couple years and created a rod specifically for what I am doing - don't know how he did it, but I'm so glad he did! Fishing the 8592 prototype is pure joy and just keeps getting better.
The JM Reid Website: http://www.jmreidbamboo.com/
I wrote a review of this rod here on my blog a few weeks ago.
Hopes....
and Dreams...
A bright, perfectly formed dry line winter buck (taken on the 8'5" 9wt JM
Reid single hand cane prototype, full floating 9wt Ambush, and 2/0
Winter's Hope) and having the unexpected opportunity to field test the JM Reid 8592 prototype are dreams come true.
This is the first winter steelhead that I've taken on James Reid's 8592 prototype and I was immensely pleased with the smooth authority, lifting power, and sensitively the rod provided while fighting this fish - it felt good. I can't believe that James built such an incredible rod that is absolutely tailor made for my style of winter steelheading. I couldn't have imagined a better design for a single hand cane rod for winter steelheading. It's as if James had been out winter fishing with me the past couple years and created a rod specifically for what I am doing - don't know how he did it, but I'm so glad he did! Fishing the 8592 prototype is pure joy and just keeps getting better.
The JM Reid Website: http://www.jmreidbamboo.com/
I wrote a review of this rod here on my blog a few weeks ago.
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