Picture of the week

Fishing on the American

A fly fisherman on the American River with the glow of the sunrise illuminating the water and a small amount of mist rising from the surface. In the distance you can see the old Fair Oaks bridge and the bluffs of this charming town.  As of yesterday, the California State Fish and Wildlife has had to close this section of the river to fishing until April 30th.  Because of the drought conditions, the water level on the river is extremely low, exposing some of the spawning beds used by the fall run Chinook salmon and steelhead that are currently running right now. The image to the right illustrates one of river channels that just 3 months ago was submerged and a prime spawning area for salmon egg beds. There is a big concern that the wild fish population for these species will be severely impacted in about 3-4 years when this years offspring are expected to return.  Without sufficient habitat to lay their eggs and for the fry to mature, they will be easier pickings for predators.  Hatchery fish are expected to do better in numbers hatched since they are raised in an artificially controlled environment, but tend not to do as well in the wild once released given they lack the level of intelligence of those that had to survive on their own up to this point.

You can see more images of the American River and the parkway where this was photographed in my gallery here.

On a more personal note:  I have recently acquired a fly rod and reel and have started getting lessons from a friend on the fine art of this sport. One learns that there is quite a bit of finesse to fly fishing. It is trickier than one would expect to get the line out where you want it, and with proper presentation in order to entice the fish.  Like other sports, a fair amount of practice is required for the different types of casts, conservation of your movements, rigging of the equipment, plus study to better understand the fish's habitat, what they will bite on, and where they tend to be found. I plan on including fly fishing on some of my future trips in the Sierra Nevada mountains as a complement to the photography of these scenic areas.  Due to more difficult economic times at my company with a rumored 20% head count reduction target in my specific organization, I may end up having much more time for these activities in the future.

All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2014.  Last updated: 2/23/2014   ()