steelhead and their plight

[sean]

As to not muddy up the report post I will try and put in words why steelhead mean so much and why they deserve all the respect we can give them. A little perspective from a west coast steelheader who has seen first hand what is happening to these fish.

Steelhead are very different from the common rainbow trout and it is found in the amazing life cycle they have. Female steelhead lay eggs in the upper reaches of rivers in tiny feeder streams. The smolts stay in the river up to a year fattening up on insects and other aquatic life before heading to the open ocean. On their ocean journey they travel north up through Alaska's fertile waters to feeding grounds off Japan. They fatten up and after 3-5 years return as 10 to 30 pound fish with one thing on their mind. That is to return to that exact same tiny stream they were born in to start the cycle again. Most will never return to the ocean and die after spawning. Odds are miniscule they ever will get to the ocean in the first place and returning from the ocean the odds are lesser still. They are a story in resilience and strength. Truly amazing beasts.

True native americans they thrived for thousands of years laying eggs in streams from eastern alaska all the way down to rivers in mexico. They lived alongside native americans providing them with food and a were a major part of the religion and ways of life of the people living on the river banks. The natives took only what they needed and steelhead numbers were in the millions all up and down the coast.

Then we showed up with our fish canneries, dams, and utter disregard for anything but ourselves. Quickly the steelhead started to disappear. Much like the atlantic salmon on the east coast we decimated them. So much so that they a barely holding on in the northern reaches of california and nowhere to be found south of sacremento. Those fish are gone and will never come back. It only took about 50 years to erase thousands of years of life.

With how things are going the native, wild steelhead will be gone from the lower 48s before I am dead. Most rivers are now closed with no hope of opening ever again as the steelhead are not recovering. Many steelheaders spend more time trying to save them and their habitat then they do fishing anymore.

To capture one of these fish with their blinding silver sides, metal gray backs, sea lice flecked transparent fins is something you cannot describe. It makes you think of where this fish has been, its struggles, and the thousands of generations before it. You are communing with the gods. Anyone who has done it cannot help but feel something. It is special.

The steelhead in the GL streams are descendants of these great ocean going fish from the west coast. The great lakes are now their ocean and they return dutifully to the stream they were let go as hatchlings due to the strong urge to spawn. Most hatchery fish are ill equipped to successfully spawn so they are continually kept going by hatcheries on the river. In some ways a sad state of affairs for such a noble fish. We have screwed them up so much they can no longer survive on their own without the help of the people that put them in this predicament.

These fish deserve our respect and why I cringe at some of the things I see happen on places like the salmon river. You cannot go to that place without seeing multiple fish with flies, brown trout egg sacs, etc hanging off their backs, tails, etc. Fish crowd the upper reaches of the river as that is where they were let go and they are there to attempt to spawn. They crowd by the hundreds in slots no more than 25 feet wide and 50 feet long. Anglers stand right on them and drift splitshot with a fly through them time and time again until they either snag one, line em, or get lucky and slide one in the mouth. The fish explodes and makes a run and due to the fact guys are using too small of tippet they break off just as often as they are landed. Pretty common to hear guys go 5 for 10 etc and I would say catch rates of 50% with these methods are average if not on the high side. The other 50% become part of the group of fish swimming around with all kinds of gear hanging off them.

Now this is not a GL problem. This same type of angling method takes place in the west as well at the hatchery fish in barrel type places. I am sorry but it is just not my idea of sporting. Just like the guys down in the chesapeake taking cow stripers off their redds. Is adding to your catch count worth it? What is wrong with taking willing fish further down the river in wide runs where they are spread out and you actually have to read the water and present your fly correctly for them to chase down your offering and take. Numbers are not there but you are fishing, not trying to drift it down their mouths.

Steelhead are some of the most storied gamefish to have ever swum. Thousands of pages have been written on them and steelhead fever has ruined many a man. The methods, lore ,and flies that rival a steelhead's beauty have been concocted to lure this remarkable fish. It is not about just the mere catching of these fish, it is about the privilege of wading the same waters they swim and maybe, just maybe, getting to hold one and look it in the eye and think about where it has been.

So do what you want and I leave folks alone on the water. I understand it is a personal choice and I do not expect everyone to hold these fish in the esteem that I do, but I also will try and persuade you to my way of thinking every chance I get

-sean

[merch]

That's it! I'm never fishing for steelhead!

You're obviously very passionate about this one sean. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I think I have a better understanding of what all the fuss has been about now.

[sean]

and this is what you end up with. This was my last fish caught in washington about 2 hours before I boarded a plane to move back east. Not large by any means but a brilliant fish caught 4000 feet up in the mountains and still dime bright. Perfect.

[The Fisherman]

That's a terrific looking fish. :-)

What fly did you get her on?

[Frank Swarner]

Wonderful post Sean......I really love the beginning of Dec Hogan's book, the part that Tom Pero wrote really puts me "in the fins" of a steelhead. It captures their journey, hurdles, predators and puts things into perspective for West Coast Steelhead......as well as their distant East Coast Steelhead cousins.

[Andrew Stoehr]

If you enjoyed Sean's post, I strongly urge you to read works by Russell Chatham, particularly "The Angler's Coast" (originally written in about 1976, but reissued in 1990 or so, with the addition of some wonderful photographs).

He talks about some of the golden days of west coast (mostly Northern California) steelhead and salmon (and striper) fishing. In some of Chatham's later writing, he talks about the utterly depressing destruction of these west coast rivers, and consequently, the fish. ("Dark Waters" from about 1988, comes to mind, plus some writing he did for some periodicals.)

Just in the last week or so, a DVD has been released of a documentary about this very subject, including stories from and about some of the great California steelheaders (like Bill Schaadt). The documentary is called "RIvers of a Lost Coast". Google it, and in particular, try to find the 'extended trailer' on vimeo.com. The trailer is great - I haven't gotten my copy of the DVD yet in the mail.

I think everybody would enjoy Chatham's books and "Rivers of a Lost Coast", even if you've never fished for west coast fish. They're just great stories about great fishermen.

But a cautionary tale that echoes exactly what Sean said, as well.

[Jon Atherton]

That's a good piece Sean, and explains what was going through your thoughts earlier. Email and the web has an nasty habit of betraying our true meaning, I find.

I know this story too well. You're probably already aware, but the once rich sea-trout fishery of the west of Scotland has been decimated in recent years by insensitive positioning of salmon farm cages in the estuaries through which the returning sea-trout (salmo trutta) run on their home migration. The salmon are reared at such high densities that they quickly develop disease and are easy targets for high numbers of sea lice. The farmers combat this by pouring endless toxic chemicals into the cages, and this has simply wiped the life out of many of our prime river estuaries. Into the bargain, the farmed salmon often escape (mostly through seal attacks). The potential for inter-breading with the wild stock, and the resulting dilution of the natural gene pool, will have horrendous consequences for our wild fish, not to mention the long term effects on the outlying rural communities of the West, who are left to rue the loss of sustainable angling related income. We are part of the ecological web after all.

I used to catch small sea trout on Mepps spinners when I was a wee lad. I don't expect my son and daughter to have the same opportunity.

I appreciate your care for wild steelhead.

Jon