February 20, 2000

We've had several inches of rain this weekend. Driving up the coast, I could see that most of the streams were running high and brown. One of them looked green enough to be fishable, and as I crossed the bridge I saw 3 fishermen waist-deep in the stream, fishing for steelhead.

I continued on to the next rivermouth, where I spoke briefly with an angler who was just packing up his gear. He had gotten skunked, probably because the water was just too murky. Interestingly, he told me that some nice fish had been taken there last year, some of them as large as 10 pounds or more. I had no idea that any of the local watersheds held such mature steelhead.

After casting awhile into the turbid stream, I continued on to my last stop, where the fishing is closed until April. I just wanted to see the falls, which were thundering with the high water and creating a storm of mist at their base. The water, while high, was pretty and green, because it flows from a wooded watershed with no agriculture. I imagined the little native rainbows in there, migrating uptream and spawning in the clean gravel bars.

February 9, 2000

I was on the creek again today at the crack of dawn, and the trout were hungry. Today, they all looked like non-anadromous rainbows, with no sign of having ever left the creek. I wonder if they are moving downstream from the headwaters with the winter rains and adjusting to the saltwater in the tidal area where I fished today.

I landed about a dozen, on a debarbed Panther Martin spinner, and released them all unharmed. Absolutely stunning little fish, with white tips on the ventral fins and a salmon-colored tip on the dorsal fin. The big one got away, of course--he might have measured a full 13"! :)

February 5, 2000

Today I found some hungry steelhead in a small local creek that runs into the estuary near my home...but it took me over an hour to find them! I overslept a bit and arrived about an hour after sunrise, and fished the riffles and runs downstream through the marsh down to the salt water--not a sign of a fish. Saw several flocks of ducks, mostly mallards and buffleheads, and a beautiful pair of cinnamon teal that flew right past me down the creek. A harrier circled low around me and settled on a driftwood snag not far away, as a big white egret watched from the distance.

Time was running out as the sun rose higher and the shadows retreated from the water. I hiked back upstream to where I had started and fished back up to the road. I cast into a deep, dark hole right beside the road and bingo! I was disappointed to reel in a squawfish of about 14 inches. I cast again and caught another. Another cast and I felt something different on the line, frantic and throbbing. It was a beautiful 12" rainbow. I got a hit on almost every cast for about 20 minutes, and landed about half of the fish I hooked. Most were little rainbows, a few were small steelhead and squawfish. My final count was about 6 trout landed and released, and six or eight more lost (dang barbless hooks!). That's my idea of a perfect Saturday morning.

June 11, 1998

My friend Brandy took me out and shared with me the most beautiful native trout stream I have ever fished. Because of the numerous waterfalls blocking upstream passage, the rainbow trout are landlocked and cannot migrate to and from the ocean as steelhead do. They are small--the biggest ones I caught were only about 10" long--but amazingly beautiful. One can see the genetic commonalities with the famous golden trout in these exquisite coastal rainbows: large purple parr marks, washes of gold and orange on the body, and white tips on the pink fins.

There is a waterfall that must be over 100' high near the parking area. The trail to the falls leads though huge, mossy boulders and leafy ferns. As we hiked along the brook, I saw a trout lying in the current, suspended in a beam of dappled sunlight, the water so clear the fish appeared to be suspended in air. I can still see that fish, as if it happened just now. I'm glad I continued past and left him alone--for in my mind, he is lying there still.

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