Life Changes

It is amazing how the days have gone by. This weekend my brother Joe was in town due to my niece playing in a softball tournament in Salem, Oregon. She is almost a teenager now and I remember like it was yesterday him telling me the news. We were driving through West Glacier while on a fishing excursion when he told me. Though a parent myself now, back then I could only imagine what was going through his mind. Thinking about it, I am grateful that he was able to spend time away with me to think and talk about what was going on.

Life is a weird thing, it is amazing how many times I can think back about both the good and bad things that have occurred and how fishing or just getting out on the water helped to get me through it. There were even those times when significant life changes occurred on days that I was fishing.  I do not know if it was my brother who taught me to use fishing as a coping mechanism or just coincidence, but what I do know is he was the one who got me interested in fly fishing in general. Sure we both came from The River Runs Through It era of fly fishing, but it was he who took me out on the Yuba River in California while in college and showed me how to swing flies for shad. Hell, I even hooked one and from then on this sickness I now call a way of life has manifested into who I am.

With time and life, things have changed significantly. My brother who was taught how to cast at the Golden Gate fishing club seldom gets the chance to spend anytime on the water and seldom touches his fly rods except when he visits. Now a husband and father of two, he spends most of his time with his family and the different activities involved with his kids like coaching softball. He does this while traveling across the country and world several times a year for work.

This cannot help but make me think about how much I will change in order to be a better parent. Will I become some kind of soccer dad? Or will I become the parent of a Junior US Fly Fishing Team member? Only time will tell, but I like me odds. A few hours ago my daughter talked me into waking up early to go fishing. This brings me to why the hell am I typing this because we plan on getting up in four hours.

Hmm, I am thinking the Echo Gecko and my new Echo 3 are gonna see some skater time in the morning.

Alaska Gold on Frontline

Watch Alaska Gold Preview on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

The Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska is home to the last great wild sockeye salmon fishery in the world. It’s also home to enormous mineral deposits—copper, gold, molybdenum—estimated to be worth over $300 billion. Now, two foreign mining companies are proposing to extract this mineral wealth by digging one of North America’s largest open-pit mines, the “Pebble Mine,” at the headwaters of Bristol Bay. FRONTLINE travels to Alaska to probe the fault lines of a growing battle between those who depend on this extraordinary fishery for a living, the mining companies who are pushing for Pebble, and the political framework that will ultimately decide the outcome.


Watch it July 24th on Frontline. 

Fish Pass Condit Dam

Well for the first time in centuries, anadramous fish are passing where Condit Dam once stood on the White Salmon River in Washington. It is believed that these fish are of hatchery origin, but regardless, it is a milestone. Although it is not believed that Spring Chinook have crossed above this section of river, there is hope for Fall Chinook that should return in good numbers this year. I for one and looking forward to the future of this river. Read more courtesy of The Daily News and The Columbian.

Shark Bait

This one is everywhere, but I had to post it.

Help TU Protect Bristol Bay, Alaska

The future of Bristol Bay, its 40 million sockeye salmon, 14,000 fishing jobs, abundant wildlife and a Native way of life is now in the hands of President Obama and the EPA. Its up to you to convince them to stop the Pebble mine. After a year and a half, the EPA's draft Watershed Assessment is out and the evidence is overwhelming. Pebble mine is a threat to Bristol Bay's fish, jobs and fish and wildlife habitat. Now its up to you. If built, Pebble Mine would produce up to 10 billion tons of toxic waste requiring treatment and storage forever. The mine threatens Bristol Bay's $600 million commercial and sport fishery and 14,000 fishing jobs. Please tell President Obama and the EPA that you support EPA's science review and there is not doubt that Bristol Bay must be protected immediately. (Courtesy of Trout Unlimited)

Write you letter here.

Gillnet Ban on the Columbia

A Summer from a few years past that got tangled in a gillnet. 

Though this has nothing to do with tribal netting in the Columbia, enough signatures have been gathered in Oregon to propose a November ballot. This is great news! This old school indiscriminate form of fishing has been killing the same native fish we are spending millions of dollars each year to protect. It is nice to see people getting together to solve this issue.

It is my belief that gillnets in the Lower Columbia and overharvest decades ago has led to the loss of genetic stability that produced the once 20 pound winter steelhead that swam into Southwest Washington streams. Spring netting coincided the same time as when these legendary steelhead returned to their native streams. Though there are other obvious reasons for the demise of these legendary fish, this is one factor that obviously affected those fish. Though they disregard today's bycatch as marginal, back when the runs were more healthy, I am sure the impact was much more significant.

Read more via Oregon Live.

My Daughter and Taking Her Steelheading

No matter who you are, life brings changes and like most when you have children it is not always easy to go fishing. Being able to work in a profession that allows me to have four days off a week has always been a blessing, but recently as well as over the last two years, things have really changed in my life.

Today life has been more about my daughter and though you all think of course when you have kids, its a little different for her. Recently and due to a long painful process, my daughter Lillian has returned to my home. Being someone who thought I would never get married or have kids and believed would become some kinda fish bum with a day job had his life changed 6 years ago when Lil entered my life. Though I never thought it would happen, it indeed has changed my life for the better.

Through the years I have taken Lil fishing, but never took her steelhead fishing. It just too hard and something you do not do with young children who have short attention spans. But recently with a new raft in the garage, a daughter who is out of school and keeps talking about wanting to catch a big steelhead not to mention perfect  weather conditions, I had to try it.

So this morning a good buddy of mine brought his daughter out with us and the four of us floated a short stretch of river. Needless to say we were not the only people on the river, but got some good water to swing. Instead of fishing, Lillian was content playing on the boat and on the banks. I was not sure how she would do and when I stepped into the first run, I found myself swinging to the sounds of giggling girls on the banks. After literally a few casts and paying more attention to the little ladies in the boat, my line stops and without setting the hook, feel two head shakes and then off. Not a big deal since I was more concerned with Lil then the fishing.

A few hours later the gals were still enjoying themselves and making a couple casts into another run found a player. I got a good grab, good set and a feisty chrome rocket was melting the Hardy. Though I did not land this one either, Lil got to see the fish wreck me, running, thrashing and jumping everywhere. The girls were  excited to see it all happen and a few minutes later I hook and land a large pikeminnow. Nothing special and anticlimactic for you and I, but the gals just loved it and were extremely excited to see it and hold it. It did not matter what species it was and the smiles on their face were priceless.  Lil also made a big deal about letting it go and I was happy to hear her say those words.

By noon we were having lunch in town and found the trip a great success. There are still bugs to work out like trying to teach a young girl how to pee in the ourdoors. Not an easy task for a dude, but I have confidence she will have it down by the end of the year.

Lillian and I on Father's Day, not a steelhead but her first fish on her new pink rod. I am so excited to see her excited to get out the door and cast a rod and enjoy the outdoors. I failed in teaching her mother the importance of fishing and how I sought to do it from the standpoint of why I do it, and not just the process and the fish. I hope Lillian learns this, or at least learns about her father along the way.