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Voices from the River: Lessons from the Tinker Creek fish kill
By Mark Taylor First came the stench. A putrid, heavy, disgusting aroma. Dead fish on a hot summer day. There is nothing quite like it. On rivers with heavy salmon runs it’s expected, coming after the fish complete their one-time spawning run, in death providing nutrients to ecosystems that will support their soon-to-hatch fry. But…
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Voices from the river: Fishing the improbable
The Nacimiento River at peak winter flow, central California. By Sam Davidson A recent telephone call with the Steelhead Whisperer got me fired up. His brother had been car-camping around the central coast, and had seen people fishing in one of the streams that swerve out of the Santa Lucia range and through the oak…
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Voices from the River: Fishing dogs
By Chris Hunt The low grumble in Phoebe’s throat grew into a steady growl, and her floppy ears perked up. She stared across the Little Greys River Canyon in the fading twilight, clearly interested in something across the river. “Hush,” I said instinctively, nursing a gin and tonic and staring into the flames that were…
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Voices from the River: Success and sorrow on Willow Creek
By Eric Booton I felt a slight hesitation as the group collectively chose to avert our former plans in order to float Willow Creek. I had the thought but I didn’t dare say it out loud. Was this going to be another fishless story from Willow Creek? I can’t recall how many times, but it…
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Voices from the River: Sometimes a little fish means more than a big one
The head of a tiger trout. Paul Burnett/Trout Unlimited. By Brett Prettyman This is the tale of two fish. The take was similar. The tug was not. One easily provided more thrill than the other, but it was not the fish you would expect. I recently had the chance to visit the family ranch of…
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Voices from the River: Confessions of a fly fisherman
As a child we fished. My brothers and our friends did a lot of things together but primarily we fished. Each one of us allocated our allowance money to purchase what we needed for our next suburban adventure. A tackle box. A new reel and rod. A better selection of Rooster Tails. Not much else…
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Voices from the River: River sunfish of summer
By Mark Taylor The local river is a trout river. Sort of. From October through May the state dumps thousands of hatchery-reared rainbows and brookies into it. By summer those fish are long gone, caught and creeled by locals who are both dedicated and skilled. Then the river is back to what nature intended, which…
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