The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

Our friend and Caddis Fly Blog contributor Jay Nicholas has posted a chapter he wrote for the Salmon 2100 Project, back in 2006. Although this may be considered old news to folks who have read the the book, published by the American Fisheries Society, I bet that many people have not been formally introduced to these ideas. So, in the spirit of engaging constructive discussions regarding conservation of wild salmon, steelhead, and trout, here is a link to Jay’s Post.

Jay’s chapter from The Future of Wild Pacific Salmon.

Jay has over three decades experience as a fisheries scientist (working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and the Wild Salmon Center) and specializing principally with all things hinting of life history, ecology, and management of salmon, trout, and steelhead here in Oregon.

This article touches on many concepts:

__  building organized support for wild salmon,

__ keeping a place for salmon in one’s daily routine,

__ creating opportunities for non-anglers to interact with wild salmon,

__ achieving unified support for wild fish,

__ engaging children to the cause of wild fish,

__ supporting the Tribes,

__ considering a future when people do not fish for salmon and steelhead,

__  improving funding and efficiencies of hatchery production, and simultaneously easing-up on the hatchery-fish accelerator pedal,

__ changing the federal ESA,

__ practicing triage in salmon conservation,

__managing species that are predators on salmon,

__consolidating land ownerships, and habitat restoration.

That list is long, and while many of the suggestions are not novel, I frankly was surprised and intrigued the way the recommendations were delivered and some of the essential ideas.

Three opinions are quite clear in this article:

First – anyone who really cares about the future of wild Pacific Salmon should not assume that government, or science, or scientific salmon experts and managers should be entrusted with the business of securing the future of wild fish.

Second – there is no secret solution that only experts can reveal that will save wild salmon in our future. People have it within their reach to save abundant wild salmon – if they want to.

Third – many of the various organized salmon conservation groups engage far too much time snitting at each other, jockeying for political dominance, and fund raising — to the detriment of the cause of conserving wild fish.

If you find any of the topics I’ve mentioned here intriguing, give the article a browse; I think you will find some thought-provoking ideas.

As I write this, we still have some relatively strong runs of wild silvers, kings, and winter steelhead here on the Oregon coast — not their historical numbers, but still pretty decent — considering what we have done to the habitat, how hard we have fished them, and our legacy of hatchery practices.   Your engagement in wild salmon conservation can only help the cause of these fish.

And remember please, wild McKenzie trout are taxonomically grouped with the Pacific Salmon so even if your interest is focused on rainbow and cutthroat close to Eugene, this conservation conversation is part of the equation we need to understand.

The Future of Wild Pacific Salmon was published (and is sold) by the American Fisheries Society in 2006: Robert (Bob) Lackey is the Principal Editor.

CD

We hope everyone is gassed up and ready to pack the house at ODFW’s public hearing meeting tomorrow morning in Salem. In addition to the changes on the McKenzie, ODFW will also be accepting public comments on a proposed rule change to reclassify soft molder plastic lures and rubber worms. Proposed rule 6P would move plastics and molded rubber, currently defined as “bait,” into the “lure” category. OFFB does not support this rule change and urges conservation minded voters to submit public comments to keep soft plastics and molded rubber classified as “bait.”

A 2009 study conducted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife found that ingestion of artificial soft plastic lures had a negative impact on brook trout growth. OFFB encourages all who attend tomorrow’s meeting to speak up against this change in definitions, as part of ODFW’s responsibility to enact measures that protect and support our wild McKenzie redsides.

-KS

Earlier today, the Oregon Board of Forestry moved to approve the creation of a new category of state lands. Although the change doesn’t set aside any new conservation tracts in Oregon’s 820,000 acres of state forests, the vote marks an important step towards greater protections for critical fish and wildlife habitat. The Board’s vote directs the Department of Forestry to establish by administrative rule a new land management category for lands with “high conservation focus.” Moving forward, the Department will develop language for the draft rule and take public comment on where and to what extent newly designated lands will be protected. OregonFlyFishingBlog will keep you updated on where and when public comments may be accepted.

Read More about the move by viewing this link: Conservation Areas

Reminder: Dick Fraser of Cedar Lodge will be at the shop tonight from 5-7pm.

Back in April, we brought you news of a proposed logging operation on the Upper Mac near McKenzie Bridge. While the battle over that project continues in court, you can come learn more about the organizations working to protect the McKenzie River Thursday night July 26th at COZMIC PIZZA (199 W. 8th Street in Eugene). Folks from Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and the Western Environmental Law Center will all be in attendance and should be available to talk shop about the Goose Island project as well as the other efforts they’re involved with. 30% of proceeds from food sales will go to Cascadia Wildlands, so come enjoy some pizza, grab some beers, enjoy some live music from the Alder Street All Stars, and learn more about what’s going on in your own backyard. Entertainment starts at 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.

-KS

The Caddis Fly Shop is a sponsor of the 5-year trout population study on the McKenzie River, that is now in its third season. The initial study was funded by a the FlyFishers Club of Oregon. This year the shop donated $500 for continuing the study, and donated prizes for participants.

The McKenzie Fly Fishers, Trout Unlimited and other volunteers have been participating in the tagging of rainbow and cutthroat trout, as well as in recapturing the tagged fish. The recaptures are a critical step in generating the data to make population estimates.

This season of the study has about 3 weeks left to go and we need your help with recaptures. It’s not hard. All you have to do is go fishing! In the study section that is, from Hayden Bridge to Bellinger landing.

Then watch out for any fish you catch that have a little blue tag attached just below the dorsal fin, with the letters “ODFW”, and a four-digit number on the opposite side. It’s that 4-digit number that we need. The tag might be a bit crusted over with algae growth, so you may have to scrape that off to read it.

Then just write down the number, and the approximate location where you caught it, before releasing it. Even a ballpark location is OK (e.g., halfway down the float, or 1/4 mile below the power lines, etc.); but to make that easier and more precise, I’m attaching a map that shows the river mile markers (19 at Bellinger, through 24 at Hendricks) that you can print out and take with you. That way you can estimate your fish was caught at, say, river mile 19.8 or 20.2, etc.

When you get home, simply email Dave Thomas with that information.

At this point, every tagged fish recaptured will make a big impact on the statistical analysis, helping us to make meaningful conclusions about how the wild trout are faring since hatchery planting ended in that stretch in 2009.