These Are Hallowed Waters

The Drama of Winter

These are hallowed waters. Rivers carved by the relentless power of glaciers. Born of the rawness of continental uplift, earthquakes, vulcanism, and the force of water, gravity and erosion. Where mountains tower over like Greek Titans, guarding the river that serves as their artery, their connection to the vast productivity of the North Pacific feeding grounds.

Over the last tenthousand years, as glaciers receeded, valleys formed and rivers became stable in their sinuous channels, salmon and other species have colonized, adapted and filled every niche of these watersheds. The deep bodied, prehistoric looking summer chinooks, abundant pinks, lacustrine and riverine sockeye, hooknosed coho and ferocious, striped chum salmon all call these hallowed waters home. Returning annually or in some cases biannually to seed their next generation in the waters of their fore bearers and deposit their offspring and bodies back into the lifeblood of the river.

A fine specimen from an unsurpassed race of fish

Steelhead, however are the species which draw the most committed following of fly anglers to the banks of these mighty rivers. From the bright and cheerful steelhead who call the canyon waters home to the deep, silvery fish of February and March. Steelhead, which have for more than 80 years defined the tradition of angling for anadromous fish in these waters. This is a special race of steelhead. Large, bright, and aggressive the steelhead of the large rivers of Puget Sound are unsurpassed among the many races of winter steelhead. On rivers named for the long forgotten Native bands, pioneering anglers have in many ways defined steelhead fishing in our state on these hallowed waters. The likes of Ralph Wahl, Roderick Haig Brown, Wes Drain, Enos Bradner and many more were some of the first to fly fish for steelhead on these legendary streams.

Today however the rivers of the greater Puget Sound area, the cradles that gave birth to many of our modern steelhead traditions have fallen on hard times. Urbanization, development, forestry, agriculture, hatcheries, and harvest have all withered once mighty runs of steelhead to only a few thousand per year. As recently as the 1950s as many as 30,000 wild winter steelhead returned annually to the Skagit system, last year only 2500. This year the Skagit closed February 16th to protect our few remaining wild fish, while the other rivers of the Puget Sound area closed February 18th. These Rivers, with their magnificent wild steelhead, unsurpassed beauty and raw, hydrologic might have come to a cross roads. As anglers who devote our lives to understanding and enjoying these systems we must stand up for our beloved wild steelhead. The status quo has and will continue to fail in Puget Sound and swift action is needed to restore the once mighty steelhead to their proper place. It is time to prioritize that which has nourished our sporting traditions, and our souls as anglers: wild steelhead, wild country, home waters and wild fish. These are hallowed grounds.

Early Morning Haze at a Favorite Run

The Slow Death of Steelheading

WDFW is trying to kill steelheading in Washington. Its death by a million cuts, every few years we loose a little more fishing opportunity, until one day....wham. The door slams shut and we realize we have a month long season to fish over a few tightlipped, shit kicking, 6 lb chambers creek fish every year. What is this world coming to!? For the 2010 rule change cycle the department decided that closing the rivers on Feb 28th (a month earlier than almost every river in Oregon) wasn't enough, they've now proposed bumping back the close of steelhead fishing to Feb 15th shortening our already short window of time to fish for winter fish in Puget Sound by two weeks.

Granted, things have gone to shit around the sound. Thirty years ago, the Puget Sound rivers were literally the premier destination in the Lower 48 for catching gigantic, chrome bright wild steelhead. 50-100 fish seasons were not uncommon on the Sky in the 70s and 80s when they instituted the C&R season, after all the jims went home the few fly fishermen had it to themselves. The year I was born, the Big River saw more than 11,000 wild fish return, this past season, 2500. So how does WDFW respond? Not by taking any action to restore populations of wild fish, not with any foresight or creative solutions. Instead its the age old, reactionary, close the river to all fishing and let the poachers have it bullshit. Steelhead culture is literally dying in Puget Sound. guys work their asses off the entire season around here for 3 fish and celebrate like its their birthday after every one. How many of us are willing to do that? Its either that or drive out to the Coast and crowd in on the last few remaining scraps of our once glorious runs of wild steelhead. Thats not how its supposed to be!

And now this, straight outta Seattles one and only daily news rag,

"Because preseason forecasts for returns to the Skagit River Basin are down this year, additional fishing closures to protect wild steelhead also are likely this spring," said Bob Leland, a state Fish and Wildlife steelhead program manager.

That may include the catch-and-release fisheries in the Skagit and Sauk.

Cold March Evening on the Big Tributary

...I know she was a hold out but shes one hell of a river. Shoot I'll come right out and say it, I love her. and now they're gonna take it away. They're spooked cause they dont know a damn thing about how many fish are coming back. Last year they predicted 7000 and got back 2500 who didn't see that coming? Once its gone, it never comes back. Just look at the Sky. Closed up shop for C&R in 2003 and hasn't opened since. At the beginning they said, "oh we'll open it up as soon as the escapements come back up." Well the status quo went right on, and where are we now? Record low escapements two years running and not a damn thing changes in how we manage those rivers. Hatchery fish in, nets at the mouth, jims pound reiter and everyones happy right? puke

We're managing the legendary S Rivers as hatchery rivers, and its not working. Every year WDFW dumps millions of salmon and steelhead smolts into them for dismal returns, meanwhile the rivers close Feb 28th once the hatchery return wraps up and they shrug their shoulders as though they haven't the foggiest why ocean survival is so low.

So they close the rivers when the wild fish are around, and frankly who gives a shite about fishing for chambers creek fish? Instead of robust runs of wild fish starting at christmas and lasting through April, we get a 4 week window in December to target hatchery fish. They blow right through all the fly fishable water on the lower river and sit right in the terminal areas where Jim and his 200 best friends stand shoulder to shoulder hucking borax cured nutsacks at them until they give up on their worthless lives and bite. Thats what we're managing for....and its not even working well. Annually ocean survival on Puget Sound hatchery steelhead is in the neighborhood 1%. That means for 400,000 fish out, we get 4000 fish back. Thats fishing welfare goddamit and I want answers.

Like why we allowed harvest until 2001 when stocks in the area were in the middle of an apparently irreversible nosedive? Two years later the Sky was closed in March, probably forever. Its as though WDFWs mentality is either harvest, or no fishing. Look at Oregon. Harvest is allowed on two or three rivers but the rest of the state stays open for C&R because people like catching and releasing wild steelhead dammit. Now the same thing is happening on the Peninsula. We continue to allow harvest on the few remaining "healthy" populations, despite the fact that the Hoh has missed its escapement goal more times in the last decade than not and most runs are shadows of their historic abundance. I'll bet 100 dollars there wasn't a SINGLE river on the westside that made its escapement goal for wild winter steelhead in 2008. If it did, the escapement goal is too low. Thats how bad things have gotten.

Its time for things to seriously change if we want a chance at ever fishing for wild steelhead again. How many of us spend hours daily day dreaming about the next useless spey rod, or overpriced Hardy reel we'll buy when our wild fish are literally disappearing from under us? Guess what fellas, when there aren't any fish left all that shit is irrelevant.

Without the wild fish there is no steelhead culture, hatchery fish just cant do it. That scene at reiter or the cascade or fortson isn't steelheading, its meat harvesting and I want nothing to do with it. Never will frankly. I dont go to the river to smell some dudes dip spit and stand in line to stand on my designated rock. I know and respect plenty of gear fishermen and frankly none of them fish in terminal areas....ever.

So this is what its come down to, time to take our rivers back. Sport fishermen have long been happy to sacrifice for the cause of wild recovery, now WDFW show me the wild recovery. Until you walk the walk I call bullshit. We can't engineer our way out of this one, no hatchery will bring them back. Wild is the Future, and dont forget it.

Pure Chrome Brilliance Boy. That aint no Chambers Creeker

Purple and Red GP

I started fishing this pattern with some regularity in 2007 and found that it has alot fish catching mojo. Anything with natural golden pheasant just glows in the water and the picked out dubbing body really breathes. Recently I discovered Angel Hair, a fine synthetic flash material that comes from the world of saltwater flies. When added sparingly to the tail it provides even more shimmer to an already nasty fly. This fly brought me one of my hottest fish. On the lower reaches of a legendary steelhead river just outside pugetroplois the fish took in the top of the run and was screaming line before I knew I'd hooked it. It cartwheeled once, and then the line went slack, figuring the fish was running towards me I dropped the rodtip and started reeling frantically. Just I got tension back the line came tight in midair the fish jumped just upstream of me on the otherside of the massive river. In about 3 seconds the fish had run 80 yards downstream, cartwheeled, sprinted back up river and across and flipped out of the water again. The fish was only about 8 pounds but all chrome, piss and vinegar. Its too bad runs have tanked so bad in our region, that river has produced more screaming hot fish for me than any other.