I have been chasing Chinook salmon in the Central Valley rivers since early June…catching them for scientific research in some cases, catching them for fun, food & profit in others.
Either way, it’s been a long season and I’m finally calling it quits for 2012. I’m happy to report that the Chinook numbers in the rivers seemed solid, though the final counts have yet to come in.
Hopefully, we will get plenty of rain this winter and that ocean conditions will remain healthy. If so, we should see more good fishing in the years to come!
Eel River salmon run best since the 1950’s!
Halfpounder steelies hanging with wild Chinook in the 12th Street Pool on the lower Eel (PHOTO: Eel River Recovery Project/Willits News)
Wild Chinook salmon runs on Northern California’s Eel River have been making a great comeback and this fall’s run looks to be the largest one since the 1950’s!
Before the first significant rains of the season, over 10,000 are estimated to have entered the Main Eel and, since fresh fish enter the system all the way into January, biologists figure the final number could hit the 20,000 to 30,000 mark!
Read the entire story at the Willits News
California Hatchery Killing Salmon??
In an attempt to increase fall and spring Chinook salmon runs to California’s Feather River, hatchery personnel have been killing thousands of salmon this year. What gives?
It’s a move that biologists deem necessary — cull fish to help get a distinct separation between the fall and spring runs — but as you may guess, anglers aren’t too fired up about the whole deal.
Get the whole story at the Sacramento Bee
Long Live the King!
I was just messing around with a new photo editing app on my phone last night up here in salmon camp and thought this turned out kinda cool.
As I like to say after a king breaks off or spits the hook: “May he live long and have many babies…” Looks like this guy may have done just that!
Lawsuit filed to Stop California Salmon Fishing!
This is incomprehensible: The very same group that has had a profound effect on the decline of California’s salmon population is now suing to get the recently opened recreational season fishing closed!!
I’m sure it won’t surprise you to hear that a group of Central Valley irrigation districts that supply water to farms and cities is behind this one. The San Joaquin River Group Authority filed the suit on Thursday in federal district court in Fresno (hmm…Fresno…a perfect place to get your case heard by sympathetic ears!). It argues that the National Marine Fisheries Service and its related agencies violated their duty to protect the threatened Sacramento River fall run of Chinook salmon by allowing a full commercial season.
My blood’s boiling on this one…it’s like the guy who ran over your dog is now suing you…only worse! What an amazing slap in the face!
Read the whole story here in the LA Times