The Atlantic Salmon Journal

I consider myself a steelhead fisherman and in general I have a hard time getting excited about other quarry. That said, what steelhead angler doesn't fantasize about fishing for atlantic salmon? Atlantic salmon are the aristocratic cousins of steelhead and our sport owes many of its ritualized traditions to the long held practices of fishing for atlantics. Equally chrome, and slightly larger on average, atlantic salmon share the steelhead's aggressiveness towards and swung fly and under the right conditions are known to take skated flies.

A few weeks back I was busy wasting time on the internet perusing photos of chrome atlantics from eastern canada, and russia. Wiping the drool away from the corner of my mouth I stumbled across a link to the Atlantic Salmon Federation, a group based in Eastern Canada dedicated to the preservation of Atlantic Salmon Fisheries. Intrigued I read more, turns out for the price of an annual membership (25 bucks I think) they will send you their beautiful quarterly publication the Atlantic Salmon Journal, needless to say I signed up. I'm not really one to subscribe to fishing magazines, mostly because I find the stories are typically repetitive and poorly written but I like to support the conservation of beautiful anadromous fish even if I may never be blue blooded enough to actually fish for them. Sort of a principle thing I guess.

The magazine didn't disappoint, full of beautiful photography and art it strikes the right tone in balancing angling with conservation and avoids the normal, how to, where to drivel we're all so accustomed to. Anyways, check out their website and if you want to get a sweet quarterly magazine and support a fantastic cause.

http://www.asf.ca/journal.php

Reading Bruce Brown

For Christmas this year my mom bought me a copy of Moutain in the Clouds by Bruce Brown. She'd read an interview with the author in the Seattle Times and thought I would be interested. While I'd long known the book existed I'd never managed to get a hold of a copy but I'm glad I did. The book, first published in 1982 walks readers through the history of salmon declines in the Pacific Northwest. Full of historical fact and natural history the book tells the story of wild salmon in Washington State through vivid accounts of historic and contemporary attitudes towards the natural world and in specific wild salmon. Brown writes with a unique style that seamlessly weaves a keen understanding of natural history and Native American culture with political and economic realities that have long motivated the destruction of wild salmon and their habitats. What he delivers is a truly tragic account of the shortsightedness of our forebearers in the region as well as some important context and history for those who would quickly blame the Boldt decision and its reinstitution of Native American fishing rights for declining salmon in our waters. The book is damning of fish management in Washington and it is sad to see that many of the paradigms which lead to the decline of wild fish persist today hampering their recovery. Despite the sometimes bleak facts surrounding salmon the book manages to strike a chord of hope, identifying progress which had been made to halt the destruction of wild salmon habitats and areas in Washington where wild salmon still remained relatively robust. At the time of its writing the book offered a revolutionary view about salmon , criticizing the idea that hatcheries could sustain salmon populations and the people and ecosystems that depend on them. Today many of the facts remain as true as ever and Moutain in the Clouds and the ideas it embodies provide a foundation for the conservation and recovery of wild fish throughout our region. Fish lovers shouldn't be without a copy.

A Quote From Tom McGuane

"We have reached the time in the life of the planet, and humanity's demand upon it, when every fisherman will have to be a riverkeeper, a steward of marine shallows, a watchman on the high seas. We are beyond having to put back what we have taken out. We must put back more than we take out." The Longest Silence - Tom Mcguane

T's weekend gem. Each fish is a blessing from the river

Ran across this quote on the Native Fish Society Blog. It succinctly and beautifully summarizes my feelings about angling, conservation and the development of our ethics in sport. Anglers cannot and should not be measured merely by the numbers of fish they catch but rather their holistic understanding of the rivers and fish they worship, their devotion to the protection of their beloved quarry and the impact of that advocacy. We should not and cannot accept anything less of ourselves.