SEA-Rtla{ by Les,Jobnson L Illusffationsby Dan Berglund
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SEA-RTlA{ By Les,Jobnson L Illusffationsby Dan Berglund FrankAmato Publications P.O. Box 02L12Portland, Oregon 97202 Conten One: Life History of the Sea-RunCutthroat. Two: Fishingthe Salt Chuck. Three: Estuariesand Tide Flats 33 Four: Fresh-WaterSpinning 46 Five: The Fly in FreshWater. 53 Six: Fly Patternsfor Sea-RunCutthroat . Inuoduction .? I t is difficult for me to undentand how a trout homing along the best twe'thou- I sandmiles of the splendidPacific drainage, blessed with strong,sometimes spec- tacular fighting qualities, canbe regardedwith relativeindifference by the angling majority. Evenconsidering the rather dramatic surgeof interest this small but spirited salmonidhas received during the past five or six years,it hasonly recently beenele- vated abovethe station of incidentalgamefish. Nowhereelse in the world would a trout - a true seatrout no less- quick to grab a lure and an aggressiveriser to the dry fly be delegatedto such subordinatestature. This is, unfortunately, the plight of the fiesty and beautiful sea-runcutthroat of the Pacific Coastof North Amorica. The most probableand unforgiveablereason for this blase'attitude toward a wild trout averagingone to three poundsis that there are too many larger,more glamor- ous fish to go after for the sameexpenditure of effort. There are five salmonspecies of tremendousimportance to the PacificCoast sport fishery. The hallowedsteelhead is availableyear-round thanks to extensivepropagation programs in Washington, Oregonand California. Sincethese bruisers can be pursuedreadily at pricesridicu- lously low comparedto anadromousgamefish in other partsof the world, WestCoast Waltoniteshave become a ratherindulged and single-mindedgroup. Angling indoctrination for many of us, from the time we are fledglings,leans to- ward the big fish. My own neophytefishing adventureswere tutored by my grand- father, Ed Knight, while I lived with him and my grandmother,Esther, during the early 1940's. AlthoughGrampa extolled the meritsof all fish and taughtme to en- joy catchingeverything from crappieto trout, I must admit that my first look at a truly big fish left a long-lastingimpression. GrandpaEd had gonefishing to the CispusRiver, a tributary of the Cowlitz in southwestWashington and brought home a tremendousbrace of steelhead.I'll never forget that moment when he stood near the tailgateof his Model A pickup holding a steelheadin eaphhand. At waist height their wide tails brushedthe ground. I was flabbergasted! The followingJune, Grandpa and I wereon the SkagitRiver near the town of Mt. Vernon, Washingtonfishing for chinook salmon. He was midway through a predawn yarn aboutthe monumentalsalmon of the Skaeitwhen a jolting strike took the tip of his stout, split canerod right into the water. Grunting with satisfaction,he slammed homethe hook and the battle wasjoined. For nearlyan hour I stoodwitness to a hammerand tong battle that terminatedwith forty-sevenpounds of gleamingbright chinooksalmon flopping on the deckof our little skiff. Grandpa'srippling laughter drifted acrossthe dampmorning air. "What do you think of that salmon,'Ike?"I couldn't answer.I wasdumbstruck. The CispusRiver steelhead had been:bigbut the 8 - chinookwas monstrous. It wasmore than my youngimagination could copewith. During the yearsfollowing the germinationof my anglingcareer I havebeen fortu- nateenough to castoverjust about everyspecies of fish alongthe PacificCoast in lakesand streamsfrom California to British Columbia. I am hesitantto estimatehow many steelheadand salmonI've hooked through the seasonsbut the number would be pretty impressive.There is no doubt in my mind that havinga reel-smeamingsal- mon or steelheadon the endof your line hasto rank asone of angling'smore elevated thrills. Comparinga sea-runcutthroat to a steelheador salmonis utterly impossible. The tremendsussize difference alone renders such a comparisonmeaningless. The value of a gamefishcan never be talliedin poundsand inchesalone. Sucha statementwill not meanmuch to the chest-beatingmeat fisherman,which is fine sincethis book is not intended to encouragepeople wishing only to add sea-runscalps to their belts. The personwho will properly evaluatetheworth of the sea-runcutthroat is one who hasoutgrown the "big is good" criteria so long related to the Pacific Coastsport fishery. Sucha personwill utlimately cultivate the most rewardinggive-and-take re- btionship with the sea-runcutthroat. The sea-runor coastalcutthroat (Sa|moClarki Clarki) is one of many subspeciesor racesof this trout found throughout the westernstates.' It rangesfrom the streams of northern Californiato PrinceWilliam Soundin Alaska. It is alsoabundant around the streamsol the QueenCharlotte Islands, Vancouver Island and the British Colum- bia mainland. Dependingupon locale,the sea-runcutthroat may go by such namesas native,harvest'trout, salter, sea-run, harvester, or simply cutt. Unlike many other specieshaving both landlockedand anadromousstrains, the sea- run doesnot attain the samelarge size as his fresh-waterkin. The record cutthroat takenin freshwater was an enormous4l-pounder derrickedfrom foramid Lake, Nevadain 1925. The foramid Lake cutthroat, native to the Lahontan drainageof California and Nevada,was so plentiful that a profitable commercialfishery wasest- blishedduring the early decadesof this century. While a sport fistrery still existsin hramid l,ake, supportedtotally by a hatchery progam, it is highly unlikely that the rccordof 4l poundswill everbe broken. Decimationfrom unrestrictedcommercial pressur€and laterby extensivewater diversionand damswas so efficientthat the originalsubspecies of giantswas officially declaredextinct in 1938. A largesea-run cutthroat, differing from his colossalcousin of the Lahontan water- $ted,rarely exceedsfive poundsin weight. The averagemature fish runs closerto a pound-and-a-half.There havebeen a few cutts recordedin the 15-to l?-pound classbut the probability of hooking such a brute falls into the samefantasy category aslanding a l0Gpound chinookor a 6Gpoundsteelhead. One sad similarity between the sea-runand his Nevadarelation is that he doesnot tolerate deterioration of his habitateven in minor degrees.Many smallstreams up. and down the PacificCoast which once harboredstrong populationsof sea-runcuttlroats are now nearly barren of the speciesdue to streamdamage caused by logging,land developmentand water pollution. In other regionsof the world wheretnre seatrout exist, they areoften held in higheresteem than eventhe exaltedAtlantic salmon. Throughoutthe British Isles and Europe the sea-runbrown trout is regardedby devout fly castersto be every bit asgood a taker of featheredofferings as the salmon. In the easternUnited Statesand Canada'smaritime provinces diligent efforts arebeing rnade to establishstrong runs from the few native,sea-run brook trout now existing. It is hearteningto seethat the sea-runcutthroat is finally beginningto commandsimilar attention from both con- cernedanglers and a few dedicatedbiologists. Although the cutthroat is not likely to attain the importanceof other anadromoussalmonids of the PacificCoast, with his legion of charnpionsgrowing, his future is certainly getting brighter. There can be no be better time for the sea-run'spoll position to improve, espe- cially in the faceof the enormoustolls beingtaken of salmonand steelheadstocks by the high seasand terminal commercialfisheries. The addedpressure of the Indian rnt fishery that hasgrown startlingly sincethe notorious Boldt Decisionin Washing- ton is further hackinginto both nativeand hatcherystocks of salmonand steelhead with no reasonablealtemative in sight. The sport angler'ssalmon and steelhead prospectshave never been darker. Sea-runcutthroat could be a singlelight shining from the gloom. The cutthroat doesnot venturefar afield from parent streamsand hasno trouble slippingthrough gill netsset for largerfislr" So, until meshsizes are reducedto take trout and estuariesare declaredfair game,the cutthroat is currently safefrom commercialpressure. This fact aloneshould spark anglers frorn California to Alaskato carry the sea-run'scolors. It is my hope that the ensuingchapters of this book will help you learn to know the sea-nrncutthroat trout. Keep in mind that in searchingout antts you are stalk- ing a fish that hassurvived with liftle assistancefrom man. The cutthroat is a wild fish and its habitat is pristine. Whetheryou seekthe cutthroat in the waning chill of early springor in the red-golddabbled days of autumn, you'll find thii plucky little seatrout ruggedand eager. Oncea husky specimenhas put your tackle to the test, you'll wonder wherethe sea-runcutthroat hasbeen all your life. l0 -- ChapterOne Life History of the Sea-RunCutthroat trugglingfiee of the gravelin late spring the cutthroat fry, just a little over an inch long,immediately finds that the preferredareas of the streamhave been stakedout by youngcoho salmon. Both speciesseek pools of moderateflow but the cohois sociallydominant due to earlieremergence and largerbody size. This con- frontation is resolvedwhen the cutthroat seekscover and food in the lessdesirable riffles. Feedingvoraciously during the summermonths on a diet of caddis,stonefly and mayfly nymphs,the young sea-runwill rapidly put on lengthand girth. Autumn will find the cutthroat cruisingin searchof a spot to settleinto before the start of the stream-raisingrains. By early winter all yearlingswill havemoved into deep,still ed- dieswhich offer a protectivebuffer from the poundingcurrents. They will remain snugin