FishwithJD

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Morons & Water don’t mix: Is it time for a boating license?

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The now famous Bayliner crash in the Cowlitz: Notice the crunched front end...and you should see the props!


How is it that we make kids wait until they’re nearly adults to get a drivers license but we let any moron who can afford a boat drive one? Just doesn’t make sense…especially when you add water to the equation.

A few days back, I had to tow some guy and his two kids (probably around 4 years old) back to the ramp after he launched a 12-foot leaky aluminum boat into the river, which was raging 3 times higher than normal, then set off downriver with nothing more than a 35-pound thrust electric trolling motor. Shockingly, he was having a rough time getting back to the ramp when we came by! That kind of stuff makes me crazy (and don’t get me started about the 5 dead steelhead yearlings on the bottom of the boat!).

Then you had the genius who launched his Bayliner Trophy with twin Mercs into Washington State’s Cowlitz River (jet boats only, please!). Apparently, they went around the corner at famous Blue Creek, almost instantly ripped the props off and crashed into the wall down there since they had no power at that point. Fortunately, nobody was hurt (see the whole story at Gamefishin.com), but it’s stuff like this that really makes me think that there should be some sort of boating license required…and to get it, you have to pass an exam. I know, I know…that wouldn’t keep the idiots off the water, but it couldn’t hurt!

Tom McClintock: Advocate of Salmon Destruction

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There'd be no salmon if McClintock gets his way


Just on the heels of the positive news that California’s salmon fisheries seem to be on the rebound, comes this: U.S. Congressman Tom McClintock (R), of California’s 4th District, has apparently declared war on salmon.

On April 5th and 11th McClintock held hearings in Washington, DC and Fresno vowing to destroy the government protections for salmon so that more Delta water can be pumped to junior water rights holders in the San Joaquin Valley. In orchestrating his water plan he said, “The facts we gather from this hearing will be instrumental as we begin the process to rescind government policies at the root of the San Joaquin Valley’s misery.”

McClintock proposes to remove the National Marine Fisheries Service salmon protections that restrict Delta water exports.

It’s time to fight back. Every fisherman in McClintock’s district (from Citrus Heights to the Nevada and Oregon borders) should be outraged and should write him a letter. To see a suggested letter you can send to McClintock go to: Water4Fish

The Greatest Fishing Trip of All Time!

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I‘ve read several books about Lewis & Clark over the years, including a version of their Journals that was as thick as a Manhattan phone book. Not only was their journey one of history’s most epic road trips, but man, oh man, did they see some spectacular fishing! The numbers of salmon and steelhead they encountered on the Columbia-Clearwater-Snake river system were beyond imagination. When I finally get my jet boat time machine built, my first trip is going to be along much of the Lewis & Clark Trail!

Apparently, I am not alone in my fascination with the fishing that the dynamic duo and the Corps. of Discovery encountered…The Federation of Fly Fishers has created a virtual and physical exhibit on this very subject! Check this out: Undaunted Anglers: Fishing with Lewis & Clark

Chum Salmon reintroduced into the Columbia River

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Chum salmon, long considered to be almost extinct on the Oregon side of the lower Columbia River, might again return to its tributaries if a cooperative effort of the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife proves successful.

The first week of April, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) released 106,000 juvenile chum salmon into lower Big Creek in the first phase of project attempting to re-establish the species, which began to disappear from the Oregon side of the river more than 50 years ago. While the reason for their decline is not completely clear, biologists believe that severe habitat degradation, among other factors, played a key role. Click here to read more…

Coho salmon slowly returning to California’s Russian River

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Scientists working on the recovery of endangered coho salmon in northern California appreciate success even if it comes in small doses. Field biologists from the California Department of Fish and Game recently reported that the fall of 2010 produced the largest number of returning coho in tributaries of the Russian River in more than a decade.

Prior to the launch of a recovery program in 2001, the number of returning adult coho salmon averaged less than four per year. These low numbers were the catalyst for the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program, a recovery effort in which offspring from hatchery-reared adults are released into the river system. This past season, biologists estimate that more than 190 adult coho returned to the Russian River system, beginning with early storms in October and peaking in December. Click here to read more…