mtshasta.com – jack trout's weblog

*****IN CHILE NOW TAKING LOTS OF PICTURES WILL HAVE A NEW STORY THIS SATURDAY JANUARY 28TH, STAY TUNED SIZZLERS! TOURED WINE REGIONS, BEACHES, PISCOS FACTORIES, HEADING BY TRAIN TONIGHT TO THE SOUTH TO START THE FLY FISHING*****

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Have you tried this great beer yet? Go on by the Weed Brewery and try a sample from the tap! I don’t think I could lift a beer nor drink one right now, this flu bug has been a doozy this year! I’m finally back to coffee after the holidays which found me chil-algae laying on the couch with all the rivers blown out and me blowing a few chucks myself here lately. I have had so much time on my hands I taught my new cat, Katie, how to fetch. I worked on getting the site changed for the new year, and lots of things regarding the upcoming season in Chile, of course. You might have noticed I added some Google ads and a tip jar. I got a notice from the place that had been hosting me for free, and they told me it would now be $300 per year to keep this site up and running. So this is what I came up with to offset the cost of continuing my stories. I receive no other income from the site other than loyal fly fishing customers and Sizzlers like you that write in and say, “keep thinking like a fish, looking like a bug” Trout! It’s because of you, the stories live on and the Sizzlers dream karma brother karma! Are ya with me?! We are going to see some awesome stuff in 2006!!! Next week starts a journey in Chile like no other year, we are exploring bra & braettes, I mean Shatner style, “BOLDLY WHERE NO MAN’S GONE”. New fly fishing rivers you haven’t seen before! Cruising beaches in La Serena, Vina Del Mar. Chile’s fine wines and restaurants and of course, the best scenery. The Andes make my heart tremble and mouth water. I’m starting to get over my flu thinking about all the fun my customers, guides, friends and yours truly are going to have this season down in Chile. Doesn’t life get better every year you really live it! jt

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I took this picture in the last 10 days, the snow was so beautiful when the sun finally showed herself one day. So many storms upon storms, I know the fish are so happy after so many previous years of light winters low rivers, these storms are welcomed. I will miss Mt Shasta for the time I am gone, and hope that the area will continue to recieve a heavy dosing of snowfall and rains in which they will replenish the streams, rivers, and hydro-electric plants, that should report ALL C.F.S flows of every river on the internet before their relicensing permit is approved in 2011.

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alt="Click for Mount Shasta, California Forecast" height=60 width=468>

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Back in November around Thanksgiving, Jack Taylor and Brach Rick, went out with guides, Jim Roberts and Mike Hibbard, on the Trinity River. Brach hooked into a nice buck that took him for a ride. We are anticipating that the Trinity River will be back and running sometime near the end of January. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted.

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Trinity Bruiser!!!! This fish should come with a handycap parking sign! I would be happy the rest of my life with a cinnamon girl…

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alt="Click for Weaverville, California Forecast" height=150 width=256>

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Dude! You came down from Washington, are ya stoked!!!!!!!!!! California, we’re so happenin
on the fly fishing scene.

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Jack Taylor, did this also on my raft trip this past year. Caught some unusually beautiful fish!! I guess it just follows jovial characters. Cause if I’m not mistaken, it seems to me, the happiest folks catch the happiest fish!

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Did a guide trip this past week on the Hat Creek Section of Baum Lake. (you like that!) I think it’s time to rename this place. It’s not a lake, it’s a spring creek? It’s on Hat Creek and if I’m not mistaken there is a current throughout the fishery. I am taking a poll and need names for this section of Spring Creek. We fished very small drys and nymphs and caught over 30 trout that day. One rainbow was almost 4 lbs other than that, most of the fish were 10 to 13 inches but fought good.

We caught 3 browns up to 14 inches and I once again enjoyed my trip with John and Kenny like I do every winter! See you guys in the Spring/Summer.

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Back in Dec. Evan Mossop caught this healthy Klamath Steelhead and then we all took a break for the holidays.

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This week was sponsored by the Mt Shasta Brewery who has been very good to locals, my customers, my friends, me and you, if you try it. www.mtshastabrewingcompany.com

For tours and tastings please
call their office.

360 College Avenue
Weed, California 96094

530-938-2394 Phone
530-938-2354 Fax

Drop us a line:
mtshastabrewing@snowcrest.net (Great Weed Ales are also available at the Wine and Spirits Fly Shop)

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Can you believe January is already here! I’ve been taking a few reservations for rafting fly fishing trips on the Upper Sacramento River for this spring. But I know there’s that carnivore rafting element out there just waiting and drooling, every time the thoughts come crashing down in a daydream about fly fishing, out on my raft. It’s spring, the smell of wild azalea is passing around every turn as you hook and see a trout come jumping out of the river before your very eyes! You’re back again, in the remote canyons of California’s most spectacular water resources, the Upper Sacramento River. Join us in 2006 for California’s most incredible adventure fly fishing/ rafting trip. Here’s a quote from my old pal Tom Stienstra; “The finest rafting fly fishing trip for trout in California is with Jack Trout on the Upper Sacramento River. On my 3rd cast I caught a trout that was 17 inches, and by the end of the day I caught and released too many to remember? I put it on my calendar every year!”
-Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 times National Outdoor Writer’s Award

Wow!! I’m honored, thanks Tom.

OTHER NOTES:

Hello my name is Sheila. I want to thank you for your web site and tell you how much I enjoy it. I grew up in Dunsmuir and also lived in Mt. Shasta as a child. We moved to Oregon the summer of 65′. A very long time ago! But my heart and foundest memories are there. My family & I did a lot of fishing there. We didn’t have to walk far. I spent most of my time in the river or in the mountains. We lived (my mother managed them and my Dad was a dispatch for the RR) in the housing project that use to be next to the city dump which is now a trailer park and the wastewater treatment plant. I grew up looking at Mt. Shasta from my door step. I did go back about 8 years ago to visit, and the first view of it, brought tears to my eyes.

Your website gives me a chance to see the beauty of that area, to see the mountains and river and the great fish. I truly love the pictures that you take. I am also greatly sadden by your lost of Shasta and Lambchop. I miss not seeing Shasta in your photos. I am sorry.

Thank you again

Sheila

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THANKS FOR THE EMAIL SHEILA RAE, YOU’RE THE REASON I DO IT! JT

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Good morning! I’ve enjoyed your periodic reports. I have a favor to ask. The Federation of Fly Fishers, for which I am the vice chairman of the Board of Directors, is about to announce an International Fly Tying Competition in Support of Conservation and Education. If I send you the link and a little announcement, would you be willing to post it on your web page? The Competition is going to run from Feb 1 to April 30. In addition to large medallions for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each fly category, there will be on the order of $10,000 in prizes.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Ron Cordes
vice chairman of the Board of Directors
Federation of Fly Fishers

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I CAN POST THAT FOR YOU RON, NO PROBLEM JACK TROUT

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KLAMATH UPDATE:

An agreement between the Karuk Tribe and the State of California regarding suction dredge mining could boost salmon recovery efforts on the Klamath River. According to Karuk Vice-Chairman Leaf Hillman, Indians do not want fish on the Endangered Species List, we want them in our smoke houses.

Dan Bacher

K a r u k T r i b e o f C a l i f o r n i a

P R E S S R E L E A S E

For Immediate Release: January 5, 2006
For more information:

Craig Tucker, Klamath Campaign Coordinator 530-627-3446 x 3027 ctucker@karuk.us

Minor Restrictions on Suction Dredge Mining Could be a Major Boost for Salmon Recovery Efforts

Happy Camp, CA ¡Ì An agreement between the Karuk Tribe and California Fish and Game proposes minor restrictions on recreational suction dredge mining that will pay big dividends for salmon recovery efforts. By selectively protecting the best remaining cold water sources used by young salmon at certain times of year, the agreement will aid salmon recovery efforts while still allowing for recreational suction dredge mining. Panning for gold will not be affected by the agreement.

This should not be interpreted as Indian versus miner issue. This is a win-win for the entire river community since we all depend on a healthy fishery. Miners still have over 255 of miles of river open to them yet the most critical cold water habitats will be protected, according to Sandi Tripp, Natural Resources Director for the Karuk Tribe.

The agreement stems from a complaint filed by the Karuk Tribe earlier this year charging that California Fish and Game was failing to adequately protect fish from the negative impacts of suction dredge mining. In 1994, the agency¡Ùs own Biological Opinion pertaining to suction dredge mining stated that the practice could jeopardize the continued existence of any threatened or endangered species or species of special concern.A year after the Biological Opinion was adopted the State of California recognized Coho salmon, Pink salmon, Chum salmon, Green sturgeon, and Klamath River lamprey as species of special concern. In March of 2005, the state listed Coho as a Threatened Species under the California Endangered Species Act.

According to Mrs. Tripp, despite the clear recognition that salmon and other fish species are in trouble, Fish and Game continued to allow suction dredging during spawning and migration. This agreement redresses the issue.

Suction dredge mining is done recreationally throughout the Klamath Basin. The practice involves what is essentially a gas powered vacuum cleaner mounted on pontoons anchored in the river. The miner then swims along the bottom of the river vacuuming up river sediment which is run through a sluice box. Any gold would fall into the sluice box trap and the rest of the sediment is simply dumped back into the river. Depending on location, dredge size and density large areas of the stream bottom can be negatively impacted by this recreational activity. The practice harms fish by suctioning up and killing salmon eggs and frye, modifying the streambed, and degrading water quality.

;The overall impacts to miners will be minimal, but the benefit to the fishery and the local economies that depend on the fishery will be huge, according to Tripp.

Efforts to protect Klamath salmon have intensified since the fish kill of 2002 where over 68,000 adult salmon died before spawning. Agencies cited low flows and warm water temperatures as the cause of the kill. We are focused on identifying and protecting the most important cold water areas and the change in mining rules would be step in that direction, according to Tripp.

The Karuk Tribe hopes that by taking measures to protect critical fish habitat that there will not be any future ESA listings of fish and that species such as Coho can one day be de-listed. According to Karuk Vice-Chairman Leaf Hillman,Indians don’t want fish on the Endangered Species List, we want them in our smoke houses.

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For recent press releases and addition information regarding the Karuk Tribe visit http://www.Karuk.us