Blocked By Concrete...

Mountains of concrete block their way.   No passage, no quarter, firm isolation.

The wild redband rainbows of Eastern Washington are steelhead of the landlocked variety.  I can feel it in every ounce of their power when we tussle for time to time.

So I dream about what could have been with adequate fish passage.   I have a feeling it could have been amazing.

Nothing's perfect.  It's a dream of a problem that has no good solution.  We've done a great job at screwing up perfection but who knows what the next 50 years brings.

It could be great.

Elusive Trout's Redband T-Shirt

Spokane based illustrator Deanna Camp and Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited have partnered up in creating a sweet new shirt to help raise money for the native fish of the Spokane River, the Redband Rainbows.

 These fish are scrappers, living in a river that while beautiful, has distinct challenges of pollution, storm water runoff, poaching, and many other limiting factors.  The proceeds from these shirts, posters and prints will do directly into habitat restoration and protection.

Here's are a few ways for you to pick up a shirt or print and lend a hand in helping these native redband rainbows

Retail Locations--Silver Bow Fly Shop, Sweds Fly Shop and Atticus in downtown Spokane

Online--Elusive Trout and Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited

Alaskan Rainbows in the Spokane?

The picture really doesnt do this fish justice.  It's the top end of what you'll see on the home river.....deep thick shoulders, huge head and jaw and the telltale red stripe of native trout to the Spokane.

More than anything on this particular fish, was the pronounced and detailed amount of spots that went from nose to tail.

Looks a lot like the leopard rainbows out of Alaska.  But no, it's not.  This guy lives 5 minutes from my house.

Sharing the Spot...

Knowledge gained on the river is a special thing.  Want to make it more rewarding?

Share it.

My home river is a funky flow.  Funky in the sense that it doesn't give up it's secrets easily.  Wading feels like walking on bowling balls coated in snot, fish don't readily rise to a dry and lastly, as summer progresses, you have to fish some crazy spots because the fish are in search of food and highly oxygenated water.

Over the years I've put the boot work in to find the spots and ledges that hold fish, and I hold those spots dear and usually, pretty tight to the vest.   Recently, I've realized that those secrets are best shared, at least in a small capacity.

The past month or so I've been joined by a couple of great friends as the sun rises on the weekends to steal a few hours of fishing before family obligations return us back to the home front.   Watching the gigantic smiles on their faces as the rainbows took time after time out of those hard to find runs and pools has made my fishing experience that much more enjoyable.

You can get burned if your not careful who you bring.  Against my better judgement, a few years ago I took a guy who begged me to show him this spot with the understanding that he wouldn't bring the rest of the world.

Turns out he did, numerous times

But hell, that's the chance you take.

I am now more careful on who I bring.    On the flip side, now they have been exposing me to water that I was not aware of, and techniques I didn't know about. 

You get back what you give....

Who wants to go fishing? 

Dont Stare Into The Glowing Orb...

Because it makes it tough to locate your fly in the flow. 

There's your fly fishing tip of the day.....

Just keep on checking back in for these type of fishing revelations.  You can thank me later.

July 12th Spokane River Redband Event...

Damn out of town summer weddings, I think I have to miss this one but I STRONGLY suggest you should attend.

The Federation of Fly Fisher's conclave in Spokane starts on the 12th, and this event will get things rolling nicely.

Be there, click HERE to learn more.

The Tale of the Tagged Trout...

Last Sunday to beat the winter blues, we hit the Spokane River  for a couple hours. 

What we got was one hell of a fish tale.

In the last run of the day, the indicator slammed down and I was fast connected with a fish.  Typical winter rainbow fight in cold water and to hand came a beautiful redband rainbow native to the Spoke.

Just behind the dorsal fin, this fish had a little jewelry

Since 2007 in different sections throughout the river, different factions of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Avista Utilities and The Bonneville Power Administration have conducted population assessments on Spokane River Trout.

On this particular trout, I rubbed off the grime off the tag, found the number 1023 and called the Spokane office of the WDFW. 

A few days later,  Chuck Lee the fishery biologist from the Department of Fish and Wildlife informed me a little more on this fish's life as well as their system of population surveys.

This particular pescado was previously found by Chuck within 300 yards of where I found him.  At the time, it was 14 inches and approximately a pound and a half.   Since that day, my guess is that the fish was somewhere between 15 or 16 inches and close to 2 pounds.  

Some of the other findings that I found very interesting was that the majority of fish in this section of the river are found continually within 500 meters range of when they were last surveyed. 

In recent years, there are rays of hope for the river.  Escapement from different sections of the river seem to be minimal.  There seems to be a nice level of different age classes and at least in the lower river, good levels of spawning recruitment.

Browns are comprising a very, very small portion of the population in the lower river.

The Upper River from Idaho through the Spokane Valley behaves completely different from the Lower River West of downtown.    The middle river through downtown is it's own system as it is bound by different damns and impoundments.  There are threats to the trout population throughout.  From dewatering of spawning gravel to the legacy of hard metal mining poloution to non native fish introduction like Smallmouth bass, the trout are a tough bunch and we need to know more how to help them.

That's what Chuck and his team are dedicated to.
 
Hopefully the 10 year period of population assessment on the entire river will give us a better picture on the native Redbands in the Spokane.   Given more opportunities to thrive through understanding, better flows, stream-side restoration and cleanup, these fish should have a fighting chance.

Foreground...Background, Spokane River

Foreground--A beautiful nymph run that I pulled a few beautiful, wild redband rainbows out of.

Backgound--no, that isnt a nuclear plant.  Just the place where Spokane's "Sheet" is reclaimed.  We locals call it the poo plant.

Urban fishery huh?  Yep

In The Shadow of Commerce....

Live amazing examples of wildness. 

And sometimes, they eat our flies.