For my very last Fishin` column for RV Life I am going to address a concerning issue about the future of fishing. But first I would like to point out that it has been my pleasure to share my past stories, tips and general concerns with the readers of RV Life for the past two decades.
Last Thoughts: Stay Alert about the Future of Fishing
The author after a catch in August 2016.
Writing this column for RV Life began when I was working as a writer for the Budweiser Fishing Team when Diesel Knudson the long-time (and former owner) of RV Life Magazine, dropped by our booth at an outdoor show.
They had done a survey and realized fishing is a popular pastime among RVers. As the offer was interesting, I told him I’d try it for a couple of months. Some 20 years later, I’ve enjoyed some great times with the RV Life editors and readers. I am most thankful for all of the support.
Over the years, readers have responded with plenty of feedback and suggestions. Quite often, they have asked questions and shared stories that added a great deal to my efforts. If I was lucky, I would mention a favorite spot. I was always happy to have caught their interest.
After all this time, one might ask “How’s the fishing?” Unfortunately, like most seasoned fishermen, I have to report that it’s not as good as it used to be. While some places are doing pretty well, the Northwest is having a few issues and there is a concern about the the future of fishing
First of all, fishing access isn’t what it used to be. The timberlands surrounding a lot of our rivers are often not welcoming anglers. Many were owned regionally but have been bought by foreign corporations with little interest in promoting good will. Further, as those fishing opportunities dry up, others get over crowded. Even some public access roads in public ownership are closing.
Secondly, the communication boom has also hurt fishing. Instead of the big charters we used to hire on the coast, the increase of smaller, faster boats are chasing all over the waters. Guides share information with their partners via cell phones and fish get targeted and harvested at a much faster rate.
Also, it`s common for fishing bloggers to report about a successful fishing hole online. Then, a few days later there would be a couple of dozen cars crowd the access road. It seems like we are finding ourselves in a drag race rather than a quality fishing experience.
Overcome the Lack of Quality Fishing Experiences
Seen here is a school of Sockeye spawning. Photo by Theinterior Wikipedia
Pollution and global change play a role in the future of fishing as well. Dead zones in oceans provide scant nutrition for the bait fish that feed salmon and steelhead. Clams are taking in too much domoic acid to consume safely. Plus, warm weather has changed the temperature of the rivers where salmon travel to for spawning. As a result, if the water gets warmer than 70 degrees, salmon die. For instance, in 2015, a record Columbia River sockeye run had huge upriver casualties as waters got way too warm.
Further, our silver salmon are on the endangered list. Sturgeon limits have gone down from three fish a day to no fish at all. In fact, I sold all my large boats as there wasn’t enough fishing around the Columbia to keep them in good use.
Does that mean that all the good fishing is behind us? Or, is the future of fishing in peril? Not at all. But the next generation needs to demand better management than we exhibited. They need to make efforts to get more stream side into public use. It would be nice if we gave the environment a little more support, too.
Tight lines and thank you.
Bob Ellsberg
I don’t think the answer is to have better “stream side” access as you suggest. The biggest contributor to diminishing fish populations (perhaps next to environmental degradation) is simply, that too many people kill and consume fish at an unsustainable rate. Here in Colorado you are hard pressed to find a stream, river, or lake that isn’t stocked with fish by the Dept. of Wildlife. This is insanity, and all because they just want to sell more and more fishing licenses. Fishermen cause the problem, and then the DoW professes to remedy by simply growing more fish in “farms” and stocking them everywhere. If you really want to help fish thrive, QUIT KILLING THEM!!!
Sure, Tom, let’s all become vegans. Same with deer populations. Don’t thin the herd with hunting, just let the population over-run urban areas with starving, disease-ridden deer. Humans didn’t get where they are in terms of brain size by eating tofu. Ok, maybe this was a tad snarky. Sorry for the micro-aggression. Proceed to the nearest safe space.
I’ll offer another point of view from my Colorado perspective.
Without the DoW (now CPW) stocking, there would hardly be any fishing at at all in this state. The reasons are many. Winter kill in the high country, whirling disease, irrigation drawdown of reservoirs, periodic droughts, excessively warm summers, and the fact that only Cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish and suckers are about the only native fish to the state. Early stocking in the 1800’s brought in non-native species like brook trout, browns, mackinaw, rainbow, etc. Later stocking brought in wiper hybrids, kokanee, disease resistant rainbow hybrids, golden trout, tiger trout, etc, etc.
Even Mr. Swede has a valid point in a few instances. The few lakes and streams where fish reproduce successfully are prone to becoming over crowded. Without fishermen to take the brook trout bonus (10 small fish) we would be overrun with stunted brookies. Same problem in a couple of lakes with the mackinaw. Of course these are few and far between. There are a few lakes that I personally know have a balance between natural reproduction and natural and manmade losses, but I can count them on one hand.
I for one depend on Colorado DoW to keep me happy with big reservoir kokanee, high mountain cutts, big river rainbows and warm water wipers. Sure, they all may be non-natural put-and-take but they make for some good fishing.
Thanks for the years of articles and insight, Bob. I haven’t been here for some time because my older computers had such a time with the website that I gave up trying to access it, and stopped getting emails from the magazine. I’m sure I missed a lot of great input from you in the interim.
The basic issue in the Northwest, as everywhere else, is the population boom. I don’t know how Europe and other older civilized regions of the world handled it and “survived” so far, but sooner or later we’ll just overwhelm our resources, like bacteria on a petrie dish. Among the first things to suffer are our recreational interests, right after transportation and housing. The open country that used to surround us is no more. The places we used to enjoy, at least to some degree because we could get away from the crowds, are no more. And many foreign to our home just don’t respect it like we do.
The cost of fishing licenses has become ridiculous. Maybe some of that is due to PERS, who knows, but to old native Oregonians it’s become disgusting. Less than 2 years after I finally earned my Pioneer License designation, they even had the audacity to begin charging for that too. And shellfish take needs a license these days. There’s just too many of us to support the resources, so they have to augment the heck out of things with hatcheries. Put and take fishing is a mentality they should work harder to discourage, not spend more to inflate.
I can’t help but teach my grandchildren and great grandchildren catch and release flyfishing. But at the same time I have to wonder how on earth they’ll ever really be able to enjoy it the way you and I have in our earliest years.
Get everyone more interested in the Sport of Fishing. Sell a NATIONAL FISHING LICENCE Online and that would get more Rv ers with children & grand children interested in the sport.