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Because there's more to fishin' than just fishin'!
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#225: June 7, 2021
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The 17 aquatic based members of the 2021 Hamilton High School Trout in the Classroom arrived at Hieronymus Park pond in an aerated, temperature controlled cooler. |
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The graduation crowd consisted of Hamilton High School teacher Vanessa Haflich and the land based members of Trout in the Classroom, accompanied by BRTU President Dave Ward, MFWP Biologist Jason Lindstrom and MFWP Fisheries Technician Leslie Nyce. |
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Under the watchful eyes of BRTU Board member Peggy Ratcheson, Jason Lindstrom and Leslie Nyce, one of the 17 prepares to graduate. |
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Another of the 17 trout from Trout in the Classroom seems anxious to explore the wide world of Hieronymus Park pond. |
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Hamilton High School Trout in the Classroom - Graduation at Last!
I can dimly recall that the last semester of high school seemed to drag on and on until graduation day. And so it must have seemed for both the aquatic based and land based members of Vanessa Haflich's 2021 Hamilton High School Trout in the Classroom (TIC). However, all 17 of trout survived until May 24.
Monday, May 24 was the day that the trout were transferred from the classroom aquarium into an aerated and temperature controlled water filled cooler for transport to the pond in Hamilton's Hieronymus Park. There, under the supervision of MFWP Fisheries Biologist Jason Lindstrom and Fisheries Technician Leslie Nyce, all 17 fish were released into the water. BRTU President Dave Ward and Board member Peggy Ratcheson also attended.
This was a very fitting end to BRTU's first year of Trout in the Classroom. The BRTU Education Committee, led by Dave Ward and Greg Chester, worked hard to make this happen. TIC is a logical extension of BRTU's flagship Bitterroot Buggers program, providing continued conservation and environmental education opportunities for Bitterroot students.
As part of the TIC curriculum, the students in Vanessa's class had the opportunity to
- Raise trout from eggs to fry.
- Monitor tank water quality and temperature.
- Engage in stream habitat study.
- Learn to appreciate water resources.
- Foster a conservation ethic.
- Grow to understand ecosystems.
- End each program by releasing the trout in a state-approved location.
Due to some unforeseen aquarium issues, the fish in Jeff Kaiser's class in Corvallis High School program did not fare well. But a lot of useful lessons were learned and there is every reason to expect success next year. Word about BRTU's TIC traveled across the valley and next year Florence and Darby High Schools will join Hamilton and Corvallis. Greg Chester has already secured a mini-grant from Montana Trout Unlimited to help underwrite the program.
You can help BRTU make Trout in the Bitterroot Classrooms an enduring program by making a donation to BRTU.
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Kalamity on the Klamath!
The Klamath River in Oregon is well known for its runs of anadromous salmon. However, this river has had some serious problems, like a die off of 60,000 adult chinook salmon due to low water in 2002.
But another calamity became apparent in May of this year when an estimated 70% of juvenile salmon trapped by the Yurok Tribe's Fisheries Department were dead. The proximal culprit was a fatal infection by a myxosporean parasite named Ceratomyxa shasta, an infectious agent related to the parasite Myxobolus cerebralis that causes whirling disease.
C. shasta infections are a problem when the water gets warm, and the water has been both low and warm on the Klamath. However, the infection is only a part of the calamity. Due to a severe drought and low snowpack this year, there is not enough water in the Klamath to go around this years. And the situation is merely the worst year so far of a trend that has been getting worse for a number of years.
The Yurok Tribe is being seriously impacted and is unlikely to get the water allocated to protect endangered salmon and other fish. The irrigators have been told that by the Federal workers they will get less than 10% of the water they want and they are ready to fight, already harassing government workers. And if the situation weren't bad enough, the prominent gun-toting anti-government actor Ammon Bundy seems to be be getting involved.
You can't help but contrast the dire situation on the Klamath with that described in the previous positive story about Trout in the Classroom. This is proof positive that efforts to educate young people about trout and healthy rivers will be key if we are to protect those resources in a time of climate change.
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At long last and just in time for the 2021 fishing season, the new BRTU caps and drybags have arrived.
BRTU President Dave Ward reports that the new BRTU soft cotton caps are now available in 5 pleasing colors.
As you can see from inspecting our professional models, one size fits all. However, we were unable to perfect a canine version.
Included with each hat is a small Montana TU dry bag. The size is perfect for stashing your lunch and phone in the boat.
The price for a hat and a bag is just $20.
The hats may be viewed and purchased at Chuck Stranahan’ s Fly Shop in the Safeway parking lot in Hamilton. Supplies are limited, so don't wait too long!
You can pay for your cap and drybag with cash, check or credit card. Make checks out to Bitterroot Trout Unlimited.
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This week's picture comes from my retired colleague Bill Gillen who caught this lovely brown trout recently on the Owyhee River in Idaho.
Bill added the following information:
Location: Below are two links for the Owyhee Dam Park and/or the Owyhee River. They include latitude and longitude, plus some information on the area, its history, geography, etc.. The river where we fished was a 65-mile drive due west of Boise, Idaho. The nearest cities of any size are in Idaho.
We fished about 1.5 to 2.0 miles downstream of the dam. Because there had been significant rain in the area two days earlier, the further downstream sections of the river were quite muddy. Our guide considered the muddy section of the river to be unfishable on the 26th.
How we fished:
We did nymph fishing exclusively, using variations of the Zebra Nymph pattern tied on a size 20 hooks. All were tied with black thread and had nickel heads. Our guide had several variations of the pattern – some were tied with very fine silver wire, but some had no wire. Some had peacock herl as the taper between the body and the head, others just used thread to build the taper. All variations seemed effective.
As best as I can recall, our tackle was set up as follows: (1) a strike indicator, (2) about 18-24 inches below the indicator split shot for weight, (3) about 12-15 inches below the split shot a dropper nymph, and about 18 inches below the dropper the terminal nymph. We waded in water which was about 40 inches deep, but the channels where we cast were deeper. The flow of the current was moderate. Although the water was not muddy, it had enough sediment from recent rain that it was not clear either.
The guide had me fish the west side of an island, and my wife was about 25-30 yards further downstream just beyond the end of the island at the confluence of the island’s east-side and west-side streams. We both used 5 weight fly line and either 5X or 6X tippets.
We fished using a nymph dead drift with line mending or stripping as needed. We used a downstream water load cast to roll the line back upstream at the end of each drift. Almost all fish were caught about 12-15 feet from where we stood, usually in the ten o’clock to two o’clock area in front of us.
Our actual fishing time was about 4 hours. During which we caught 12 browns and 3 rainbows all between 16-22 inches. All were released. For both of us it was our best fly fishing day ever.
Other information: Our guide and other local guides say that the Owyhee River is productive April through September.
Please send your photos and stories to me. Your picture might end up as the Picture of the Week!
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There were several correct entries for the most recent BRTU Puzzler, but James Moffat was the first to recognize this very unnatural stream as the Los Angeles River that runs through a concrete lined canal through the City of Angels.
Although steelhead no longer travel up and down the stream, the river holds a good population of coarse fish provide a subsistence fishery for a significant population. And as mentioned in the High Country News story, the plans to restore and revitalize the concrete lined 51 mile stream will threaten the subsistence of that population.
Chuck Stranahan has generously offered a prize to all winners of the BRTU Puzzler. James can claim his prize of hand-tied trout flies by contacting Chuck.
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Monte Dolack BRTU prints
now available at Joe's Studio.
A small number of Publisher's Proofs of the limited edition "Bitterroot River-Lost Horse Bend" by Monte Dolack are now available at Joe's Studio. BRTU commissioned Monte Dolack in 2007 to create this iconic print of the Bitterroot River.
The remaining Publisher's Proofs are $375 and all proceeds support BRTU efforts to protect trout and streams.
Joe's Studio, a regular sponsor of our banquets, is located in Hamilton at 220 Marcus Street (961-4586, joesstudio@aol.com)
The "U" in BRTU
Unlike many groups, BTRU has no paid staff. We are an entirely volunteer organization. We are always looking for new members to get involved in projects or to join our board and assist with maintaining our focus on native fish, clean healthy streams and education. If you would like to help out, please contact BRTU Chapter President Dave Ward. We could sure use your help!
In other words, how about putting a little "U" in BRTU?
If "U" are not already a member, "U" can join TU today by going to the the BRTU website. chapter number is #080. If you have a question about your membership, please call Clayton at 406-543-0054.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BRTU board meetings are now being held virtually on ZOOM. They are open to all BRTU members. Date and time vary, so please contact Chapter President Dave Ward if you would like to log in and learn what is going on.
The BRTU Mission statement is "To conserve, protect, and restore the Bitterroot River and it's watershed," directly in line with the Montana TU mission statement.
For your information, here is a tabulation of our current hard-working BRTU officers and board members.
BOARD OFFICERS
Vice President - OPEN
BOARD MEMBERS
Gavin Marston (student board member)
GENERAL FACTOTUM AND NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER
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