Here is a creek by the bay.

In the creek there are steelhead trout, frogs, newts, and birds.

Here is a dam on the creek.

Where the creek once was, now there is water.

Here comes a truck with largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, crappie, bluegill, sturgeon, shad, carp, and trout.

Here come fishermen with spotted bass, and goldfish.

Now there is a lake with many species of fish.

Here come new birds like ospreys, cormorants, and bald eagles.

There go frogs and birds.

Here come bullfrogs and new birds.

Here come people with good intentions.

Now there are rules to prevent fishing for part of the year so that migratory birds can live in the lake without people around.

Now trout cannot be stocked in the lake to help the frogs.

No one is sure how many frogs or migratory birds used to live in the creek.

Now there is a mussel from Europe that might do bad things, even to the people with good intentions.

Now there is fear.

Now the people who brought the fish from other places and the people who fish for those fish are out of favor.

Today it's January 17, 2010.

There are no boats and no people at the lake.

There are many fewer trout.

No one knows how many frogs live in the lake.

No one knows how many migratory birds live at the lake whose ancestors lived the creek.

No one knows if and when the mussels will come to the lake.

No one knows what will happen if they do.

This is the story of San Pablo Dam reservoir, the best largemouth bass lake in Northern California (formerly)

All things come and go man. Just be thankful that you got to enjoy the lake while it catered to your values.

Ryan Thoni


If people concentrated on the important things in life there would be a shortage of fishing poles.
~Doug Larson

Too bad that my ancestors will not be able to enjoy the lake as I once knew it.

MT

Don't lament. We are not enjoying the world the same ways our ancestors enjoyed it, but we are still enjoying it. The world is a dynamic place. For all I know, my successors down the line might be herpetologists?

Just offering another perspective.

Ryan Thoni


If people concentrated on the important things in life there would be a shortage of fishing poles.
~Doug Larson

ps - your 'ancestors' (if you were native american) definitely didnt enjoy the lake as you did :)

Ryan Thoni


If people concentrated on the important things in life there would be a shortage of fishing poles.
~Doug Larson

Sure, it was all artificial to begin with. So I shouldn't be too sad. But given that it's all artificial, why all these efforts to protect the artificial-ness?

There's actually quite a bit of effort in getting rid of the artificial. I think iron gate damn is getting pulled out on the Klamath to restore the river.

But what you said if its all artificial why all these efforts to protect the artificial-ness?

well im not sure what you really mean. But I think that you cant just go on and justify doing anything you want solely on the basis that "its already messed up". I mean, I feel like you sorta gotta go with the 'when life gives you lemons' slogan here. Do the best you can to protect and restore as much of the natural ecosystem as you can - with what we have left. I feel that is is our responsibility to do so.

And be thankful people were so environmentally ignorant as to introduce one of the most successful apex predators into virtually all of California's watersheds. I know I am :)

You still got chabot anyways :)

Ryan Thoni


If people concentrated on the important things in life there would be a shortage of fishing poles.
~Doug Larson

I'm listening. And I'm really not some person who sits around hating native species or loving dams. There are dams in this state that should be taken down, like you point out. Matilija dam is one (silted in and pointless). Years ago I fished for real native trout way up that creek. What a cool place. I'm all for places like that. Places like that should be catch and release only, barbless hooks and should be very much protected since they are still pretty close to their natural state (minus the dam blocking the steelhead).

Some things I view as givens though:

1. There will be dams on most rivers in CA
2. There are a lot of introduced fish in the man-made lakes in this state
3. Getting rid of those species would be a bunch of work with little benefit.
4. Dams do (and have done) the vast majority of damage to native fish, bird, and amphibian populations in this state when compared with non-natives.

If we take those things as givens it makes efforts like the Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit to stop trout stocking seem misguided. Stocked rainbow trout aren't the problem. Dams are the problem. If you want to dig deeper, the number of human beings in this state is the problem. A line of causation looks like this:

There are less red legged frogs in San Pablo Creek --Why?--> There is a Dam on the creek --Why?--> EBMUD wanted to store water --Why?--> People need water for drinking and irrigation --Why?--> There are a lot of people living around the Bay Area

People like the Stanford law students who filed the lawsuit for the Center for Biological Diversity probably feel warm and fuzzy inside, thinking that they have done something wonderful for the frogs. My opinion is that they are putting a band aid on an amputated leg. You can put band aids on amputated legs but it doesn't help. In fact it might make it worse, which I also happen to think is the case here. A bunch of bass, catfish, ospreys, and cormorants that don't have planted trout to eat any more are going to be hungrily looking for things to eat - like frogs and tadpoles.

By losing focus on the big picture and real root causes for declines in native species, bad decisions are made that do worse than just limiting recreational opportunities. I'm mad about the loss of recreational opportunities! But I'm also mad about the lack of holistic thinking on the part of the people who've made these decisions about stocked trout, quagga mussels, and migratory birds. IMO, they are doing things for the sake of doing things, not for intelligent reasons.

I hope some day the quagga fear mongers and the rainbow trout-a-phobes will be lumped in to same bin of misguided thinkers as the people who killed cats during the Great Plague and the people who killed the wolves in Yellowstone.

What I'm getting at with all of this is simply that if we have dams and bass and trout and launch ramps and picnic tables, we may as well enjoy them. We could poison the lakes, close them down to people and conduct bird watching tours (looking at birds that would never have lived there if the lake wasn't there) or let people jog around a distant perimeter. But even if we do all that, what will the benefit be? A few warm fuzzy law student hearts?

Let's keep the conversation going. I respect your opinion Ryan because you've been educated as a biologist and you've spent enough time outdoors to know what you are talking about. These kind of issues will be the big issues affecting fishing in this state for many years to come so let's discuss.

First of all I believe California is the worst state in the union when it comes to having a Fish and Game department that actually upholds their public trust responsibilities and actually *manage* fish and wildlife for abundance, and SERVE the sportsman. Look at the salmon and steelhead, look at the striped bass (the population is at all time lows despite the great surf season last summer), look anywhere. It's all sucking.

The bay and delta striper fishery just over the last 5 years has gotten dramatically worse and worse each year. Lots of newbies crow about how great their fishing day was (I caught 50 dinks, weeeeeeeee! And then I got a 20#er!! weeeeeeee!!) and dismiss the claims of a "crash" but they have no clue, they don't know what good fishing was available even last year, or the year before, or 5 years ago.

I have helped to raise over $100,000 over the last 7-8 years with the striped bass fly fishing community to help bay/delta conservation and striped bass issues, and it SICKENS me that most of the money has gone towards helping to maintain the status quo, defend against lawsuits, and generally fritter away our money as the sand slips between our fingers. We are doing very little positive things to advance the fishery, we're just trying to hold back and maintain what we already have (not much). Mainly defending direct attacks from the water mongers!!

We are in a state where corrupt, greedy, and well funded private interest controls not only what happens with the environment, but also leverages the wet behind the ears, fresh from Berkeley (Go Bears!) or Arcata environmentalists for their own personal gains - at a level comparable to the political manipulation Karl Rove has pulled off in his career of fixing elections.

The plight of the endangered delta smelt is a perfect example and the most recent money drain on our bay/delta/striper conservation fundraising efforts - a small fish that is struggling survive in a habitat that has been drastically changed by the CA water conveyance system, some fingers are pointed, then the water districts SUE the state over striped bass policy, claiming the smelt are victims of non-native "predator species"... what a joke!! But an expensive joke... so we raise money to help the stripers, and all we do is help the state defend lawsuits against water districts to keep stripers listed as a game fish!!

Largemouth will be the next target!!

Salmon, steelhead, smelt, stripers, etc... all existed for many decades at their all time highs, yet as water exports increased, and numbers of fished decreased in a perfect correlation to water exports (check it out www.calsport.org) ... and the few anglers that have their eyes open cried out, the water mongers go on the ATTACK!! And since 99.9% of anglers seem to do nothing, know nothing, and are generally apathetic to political concerns that directly affect them, the water mongers win. And even if they lose, they bleed the coffers of the angling conservation groups to make the next battle easier!

You green bass lovers better get organized and start building a big war chest, because there may soon be precedent for eradicating "predator species" for the benefit of the native specie of the day - the PhD candidate will have his dissertation, his colleagues will warm as they ponder their benevolence, and the water mongers will have cleared yet another mine for their advance to get ALL of the water. When there is nothing worthwhile to fish for, there won't be anyone to fight them!!

There is currently (that means, RIGHT NOW) a UC Davis study on predator species in the delta, and they are mainly looking at largemouth bass based on my first hand observations, in the delta, with their electroshock boat!!! Who is funding this? Who authorized this??? Any guesses what the data will be used for? Do you think DFG will use it to manage the largemouth population for angling opportunities and abundance??? hahahaahahaa

I confronted them on the water one day, made a wise crack about "Hope you don't use this data to eradicate predator species!", the response "Oh it would be tough to eradicate largemouth".... Hmmm....who said anything about largemouth!!??

We lost the war many many years ago, we're fighting over scraps, it's "Beyond Thunderdome" at this point. The "environmentalists" don't even know what it is they are trying to protect, they just know they need to stay busy!!

The whole native species vs. non-native species thing is a joke anyway, especially in California...maybe we need to eradicate non-native people??? It's really a biological argument the Fuhrer might make. Yeah there are invasive species, yeah things can get worse fast if you put tigers or lions in a public park, but let's get real... Largemouth and Stripers have been here in California longer than most of our families, and were thriving alongside salmon and steelhead. And smelt!

Pick up a British, French or Italian local fishing magazine... it'll show you the future of California. Fishing maggots under the rod tip for 3" minnows, magnficent carp profiles by name in directories, and expensive put and take private water for the nicest truck trout you've ever seen.

I've only released about 3% of my rant in this text box, but you have to stop somewhere. And still, I fish. What is wrong with me!!???

Marcus

Doing the best I can to restrain myself.

Ryan Thoni


If people concentrated on the important things in life there would be a shortage of fishing poles.
~Doug Larson

Amen.

This summer was "great" at the beach for stripers just because the previous 10 years have been spectacularly bad. I've been out there every summer for the last 15 years, but at the rate things are going I doubt it will be worth it for much longer.

And thanks for posting that link. I just donated.

Right in front of Matilija Dam has some REALLY big bass in there too....That creek is pretty cool, use to hike it when I was in High school. Thought they torn that dam down a while ago though...?

To fish is to live!

That would be cool if the dam were gone. I could be behind the times.