JayB
Steelhead
Probably won't be a very merry read, but might contain a few lessons worth heeding. Or at least contemplating. If nothing else, it'll ensure that the Thompson steelhead don't disappear without an epitaph to commemorate their existence.
"In the space of a single human lifetime and perhaps only a dozen generations of the legendary wild Thompson steelhead, that river’s unique population has gone from discovery to demise. Sadly, that trajectory is proving to be the norm for too many stocks throughout British Columbia and beyond. Multiple factors have influenced that reality, some controllable, others not.
If we had to pick a canary in the steelhead coalmine to emphasize the significance of what we are losing, the Thompson stands above all others. That is not one man’s opinion. The veteran steelhead angling community that extends far beyond British Columbia speaks of those fish with reverence rarely, if ever, accorded any others. Large fish, big water, and the genetics to use those physical features to maximum advantage at the most preferred time of year have conspired to create legendary status for Thompson steelhead. The human population concerned about losing such unique fish is small, the angler population far smaller yet. Those with the power to adjust any of the controllable elements of Thompson steelhead status are somewhere between uninformed, uncaring and non-existent.
A great deal of history preceded the arrival of the first anglers on the Thompson’s shores. Experience instructs that few people have any appreciation for that history and how it shaped events that subsequently combined to reduce steelhead abundance to a level no longer sufficient to justify the presence of a recreational fishermen.
This book is an attempt to knit together verifiable history and circumstances into a story easily understandable by an audience that might encourage a level of advocacy sufficient to ensure the few remaining Thompson steelhead reach their home waters and begin to rebuild what once was."
Amazon product ASIN 1775315622
"In the space of a single human lifetime and perhaps only a dozen generations of the legendary wild Thompson steelhead, that river’s unique population has gone from discovery to demise. Sadly, that trajectory is proving to be the norm for too many stocks throughout British Columbia and beyond. Multiple factors have influenced that reality, some controllable, others not.
If we had to pick a canary in the steelhead coalmine to emphasize the significance of what we are losing, the Thompson stands above all others. That is not one man’s opinion. The veteran steelhead angling community that extends far beyond British Columbia speaks of those fish with reverence rarely, if ever, accorded any others. Large fish, big water, and the genetics to use those physical features to maximum advantage at the most preferred time of year have conspired to create legendary status for Thompson steelhead. The human population concerned about losing such unique fish is small, the angler population far smaller yet. Those with the power to adjust any of the controllable elements of Thompson steelhead status are somewhere between uninformed, uncaring and non-existent.
A great deal of history preceded the arrival of the first anglers on the Thompson’s shores. Experience instructs that few people have any appreciation for that history and how it shaped events that subsequently combined to reduce steelhead abundance to a level no longer sufficient to justify the presence of a recreational fishermen.
This book is an attempt to knit together verifiable history and circumstances into a story easily understandable by an audience that might encourage a level of advocacy sufficient to ensure the few remaining Thompson steelhead reach their home waters and begin to rebuild what once was."
Amazon product ASIN 1775315622
