We couldn’t have made this headline up if we tried…
According to an article from the CBC, fish biologists in British Columbia have unfrozen 20-year-old salmon sperm and hatched fry with plans to release them back into the wild. The sperm was harvested as a sort of “salmon insurance policy†against eventual environmental disasters or shifts like the Big Bar Landslide on the Fraser River in British Columbia, which cut an entire river system off from wild running salmon from the Pacific.
A total of 10,000 fry from the frozen batch were removed from their trays and are being raised a bit longer until their eventual release into the Endako River.
For more information on the study and the story of the frozen sperm, check out the full CBC article, here.
Introducing the Behind the Fish Series, where we go one-on-one with various different fishery scientists across the world to better understand a specific species of fish or fishery. From the genetic make-up, feeding habits, fishing techniques, native range, to conservation we dive straight in to learn about the facts that matter and what makes these fish so special.
In an effort to get more understanding about salmon and steelhead conservation in the Pacific Northwest we decided to sit down with John McMillan to learn more about his life, his work and his passion for the conservation of salmon and steelhead in the pacific northwest. John is the current Science Director of Trout Unlimited’s Wild Steelhead Initiative. Check out the full interview below.
Flylords: Who is John McMillan?
John McMillan: Professionally I’m a fishery scientist. For the past 23 years, I’ve spent my career studying salmon and steelhead. Over the last 16 or 17 of those years, I’ve focused on steelhead. I’ve been a research scientist, published quite a few papers and peer-reviewed manuscripts and stuff like that. In 2009, I started working on the Elwah Dam removal project and that was before the dams were out. So I was studying what the populations of fish and habitat looked like prior to dam removal. Then I continued that job through 2015 when I took my current position as the Science Director for Trout Unlimited’s Wild Steelhead Initiative. I’ve been working with Trout Unlimited on the West Coast to try and find ways to advocate, implement, better management practices and do the type of habitat work that’s necessary to basically protect our last best remaining wild steelhead rivers.
A big part of my job now is going around to rivers everywhere from Washington to Idaho, California, and Oregon, even Alaska making sure that we’re doing what we can to ensure that those rivers are going to continue to produce wild steelhead. So that’s my professional side.
Bill McMillan showing off a nice fish.
On my personal side, I grew up on a steelhead and salmon river in Washington. My dad was an angler, my grandfather had been an angler and my great grandfather had been an angler in Washington and Oregon. So through many generations, I’ve just grown up being someone who loved to be outside and be on rivers. I was pretty lucky as a kid because the river was our backyard and in high water, I could basically stand on my bedroom window and pee out into the river. It was that close.
So being so close to the river and having a dad as an angler, it was just natural that he took me fishing all the time and long periods of that as a young boy were just sitting on the riverbank in winter and summer watching my dad fish and swing a fly rod. I think I caught my first steelhead… well my dad let me land my first steelhead like at age three on a fly rod and I got to hook my first one but I didn’t make the cast. At age 11, I actually caught my first one on a fly by myself.
Young John with a Steelhead
And so probably from age 12 or 13 onward, I spent almost every hour of every day thinking about how to catch steelhead or going out to snorkel because I did a lot of that as a young boy too. I think it was age 12 that my mom got me like an underwater mask and snorkel. And so I spent a lot of that time in the mile behind our house just watching steelhead. I guess I just love fish. I grew up with them and that childhood passion is carried over into my adult life.
Flylords: What is the difference between a steelhead and rainbow trout?
John McMillan: So basically a rainbow trout and steelhead are both the same species, Oncorhynchus. The only difference is really a steelhead is a rainbow trout that goes to the ocean and returns to swarm and freshwater. So rainbow trout technically spend their entire lives in freshwater without going to the ocean. And the only difference with the steelhead is that the steelhead that goes out to sea.
Steelhead Smolt
Flylords: What’s the main difference between a salmon and steelhead?
John McMillan: Salmon and steelhead are both very similar species, but the main difference is that salmon are pre-programmed to die. They’re what we call a semelparous fish, which commit all of their energy reserves to their eggs and sperm and secondary sexual development. And because they commit so much of their energy to eggs and spawning they don’t have enough energy left to survive. So they die.
On the other hand, steelhead are not that way. Steelhead aren’t pre-programmed to die and so even though spawning can take a toll and most steelhead do die after spawning, a number of those fish can return to the ocean again, grow, get enough fat in the ocean through their food sources to then get to rebuild their sperm and egg production and then return to spawn again. So steelhead can spawn more than one time.
Steelhead and Coho Salmon
I think the other different part for steelhead is that they have more life histories than any salmon species. A life history is what a fish does to achieve maturity. For example, we delineate fish into life histories based on how long they spend in freshwater. Like a steelhead might spend one year, two years, three or four years, sometimes even five years in freshwater before migrating to the ocean. So a fish that spends one year in freshwater and then two years in the ocean has one life history and a fish that spends two years in freshwater and one in the oceans, another life history.
While salmon typically express somewhere between three to four up to maybe a little over a dozen life histories. There are fewer options to draw from when they’re trying to survive in the environments. Steelhead populations tend not to fluctuate as much year to year as salmon do. I like to call… like pink salmon, for example, basically, they have one life history. They almost all do the same thing and I like to call them kind of the Bitcoin of the salmon world. Really variable. And if the ocean conditions are bad then in one year you might get a run back that’s only 50,000 to 100,000 fish. But if the ocean conditions are really good, you might get several million back. And on the other hand, steelhead populations might fluctuate from a thousand to a few thousand fish but they’re never fluctuating from like a thousand fish to 20,000 or 20,000 fish to a million.
So because salmon put most of their eggs in one or two baskets, their variability from year to year tends to be greater than steelhead. And then lastly, I would say that steelhead have the resident component, which is very rare in most salmon. So steelhead and rainbow trout do interbreed and that provides benefits to both populations. So this means that when you have periods of bad ocean survival, some rivers still have a really large population of rainbow trout to draw from that can help rebuild the steelhead population.
Flylords: How does an angler know if the fish they caught was a steelhead or a rainbow trout (assuming there are both resident rainbows and steelhead in the system)?
John McMillan: This can be really difficult. Generally, they’re pretty easy to tell apart because when the steelhead go to the ocean, they change coloration and become very silvery and get a dark back and that provides them camouflage in the ocean. So when you catch a steelhead for one, they tend to be larger than a rainbow trout. But the main difference is really the coloration that steelhead tends to be more silvery on entering freshwater with kind of dark sea line on the back. It’s a black back or green back. They have nice silvery sides and a white kind of pillowy colored belly.
Baby Trout
The difficult part becomes when the steelhead starts to change colors. So a steelhead that had been in fresh water for a period of time and they get closer to spawning, they themselves begin to take on that green and olive coloration and often get a red stripe on their side for the males. And so that period of time it can be really hard to distinguish a steelhead from a rainbow trout. The best way to do so in these situations is a rainbow trout can have lots of spots all the way down to their belly, while 80 to 90% of steelhead spots tend to mostly occur above the lateral line and they won’t run all the way under their belly.
Now all that said, there are some lakes where rainbow trout, like if you’re in the Kamloops lakes in BC for example, with a lot of rainbow trout in lakes. In lakes at times, if you’re not sure because some lakes do give returns of steelhead and rainbow trout and those situations that can be really difficult. Maybe the only way you can tell them apart is actually by taking a scale from the fish and have that scale tell you whether the official to the ocean or not.
Flylords: What is the difference between a hatchery and a wild steelhead?
John McMillan: So the main difference between hatchery and wild steelhead is that the wild fish lived their entire life in nature. And of course, that process means that there’s lots of mortality. So generally from the time when a wild steelhead in nature is born after it hatches from its egg to the time that it becomes a smolt, you’re going to lose anywhere from 70 to 90% of those fish. That’s a lot of mortality.
With the hatchery fish, the adults are brought into a hatchery, and spawned artificially. And then the juveniles and the eggs of course are reared in what we call a raceway. So the juveniles are put into concrete ponds or circular tanks and they’re fed every day and they live underwater temperatures that don’t vary like they do in nature.
They get a lot more food than they would ever get in nature. And because they provide such good conditions for growth in the hatchery, the juvenile steelhead in the hatchery tend to grow much faster than they grow in nature. I go back to diversity in that because the hatchery rearing environment is a very simple environment that tends to produce a very simple set of life histories.
Some wild steelhead will grow in places that might become de-watered during the summer. Other fish might grow in places that are more prone to floods. And because they occupy all those diverse habitats, they end up with a lot of different life issues. They are more resilient.
So we say the main difference between a hatchery and wild steelhead is that they’re raised in very different environments and those different environments have effects on the fish. And then a hatchery that basically simplifies the number life histories so earlier as I had said, for example, a big population of wild steelhead might have 30 to 40 life histories and a population of hatchery steelhead might have one to four life histories.
Flylords: Would you say that on average a hatchery steelhead is not going to return to that home river as often as a wild fish?Â
John McMillan:Â I would say three things in general about the patterns we see in hatchery fish. The first is hatchery steelhead do not survive nearly as well in nature as wild fish. And that’s even the case if you take a wild fish and bring it into the hatchery for one generation and then rear it and then kick it’s smolts out. Those fish still don’t survive as well as wild fish. So that’s important.
The second component is that recent research indicates that over 700 genes are changed during the hatchery rearing process in steelhead. And these are what we call epigenetic changes and I won’t get into all that, but basically what is happening is that the hatchery influences how genes are upregulated. And again, it’s just a really complex situation but what you can say is that the hatchery rearing process… by rearing fish at really high densities, somehow that’s changing the way that genes are expressed in hatchery fish compared to wild fish.
And lastly, then I would say you’re right. Hatchery fish do tend to stray more than wild fish. So they’re less likely to return to their home river where they were released. That is because most wild steelhead… outside of California spend two to three years in freshwater and the fish gets imprinted on the chemical cues where they’re born every spring. A hatchery steelhead only gets one year to imprint on its marine environment while the wild fish might have two to three years to imprint. That strength of imprinting determines how well the fish home back to their original location. So you’re right that hatchery fish tend to, they do what we call, they stray more than wild fish tend to.
Flylords: How do salmon and steelhead know where to and navigate to their home river?Â
John McMillan: So for a long time, people hypothesize that somehow salmon were using the magnetic field on the earth, which is basically like a grid. And lots of animals use the magnetic fields to orient themselves. But recent research in the last few years has definitely indicated that that’s how salmon and steelhead are finding their way home from the big ocean. So once they’re out in the big ocean, they basically use the magnetic field to orient themselves so they can get close enough to their home river. Then when they get close enough to their home river, they start to use the chemical cues in the water, they smell.
They basically use their olfactory senses to smell their home river. And then they start to follow that smell all the way back home until the signal gets strong enough to the point where they actually feel like they might spawn in the exact same red location as their parents spawned or it might be within a kilometer or so. But they’re probably going to return to a place that’s pretty close to where they spawned. But it’s a magnetic field and then just smelling the difference in the water.
Flylords: What is your opinion on hatchery fish at this day and age? Are there river systems that you think it’s all right that hatchery programs are in place or do you think that hatchery programs are having a negative impact on rivers systems?
John McMillan:Â I think it is complex and I think over the past five years of working with steelhead and then my history as a scientist and an angler the science has become really clear. The overwhelming body of evidence for steelhead indicates that hatchery fish most of the time have a negative effect on wild steelhead. There’s kind of one situation where that’s not the case and that’s when your steelhead population is almost extinct and you’re trying to give it like a demographic boost just to basically add more breeding members to the population. In those cases, hatcheries can really improve diversity. But I would say this, I think that science is pretty clear on the effect that hatchery steelhead has on wild steelhead. It can be ecological through competition for food. It can be through interbreeding and genetics.
It can all also be through predation because once hatchery fish are released from the hatchery they tend to attract a lot of predators. It’s like if I opened my chicken coop with my dog and my dog was a bird hunting dog, she’s likely to kill them all because they are naive to the concept of predators.
Up here on the Olympic Peninsula for example, where I live, we’ve got some of the best remaining habitat. A lot of it’s in the National Park and we think these are ideal places that probably should remain all wild. So I guess if you look at it like that, I think every river and population requires its own decision and that can be cumbersome. What I’ve tried to select the best remaining wild steelhead rivers in the Pacific Northwest. We have some on the Oregon coast, we have some in California and just looking at these different rivers and then saying if the river has pretty good habitat and it’s still producing a lot of wild fish, those are places that we should commit to being wild and manage the fisheries well. On the other hand, we have other places that are more degraded. Those places are well suited to the hatchery. So I think we’re looking at a balance where the best places remain wild and those places that have almost no chance of having a fishery otherwise are the best places for hatcheries.
The Mighty Elwha River
Flylords: Could you talk about a success story of one of the projects that you’ve worked/working on with Wild Steelheaders United?
John McMillan: The work on the Elwah River. So this has been the largest dam removal project in North America. And there was a lot of consideration locally over whether they should be removed. Lots of people said it will be a failure. It’s not going to work. And this resulted in lots of discussion amongst conservation groups, anglers, and scientists. But the end result was that the managers ended up using some hatchery production for species like chinook, coho and winter steelhead to try and rebuild those runs. One of the populations that didn’t have a hatchery effect were the summer steelhead. And every year I snorkeled, I was lucky maybe to see one or two adults summer steelhead.
So they were almost down to zero, but they had thousands of rainbow trout above the dams. They removed the dam and as soon as they removed the upper dam at Glines Canyon river mile 15, that place is only been open, accessible to steelhead since 2016. And in the last three years, the population of the summer steelhead has rocketed to almost to about 900 fish last year. And the population did this also in probably the worst set of ocean conditions we’ve had in the past 40 years for steelhead in the North Pacific, like the Skeena river only got I think 17,000 wild steelhead back this year. So they’ll get almost a thousand steelhead back to a river while other adjacent OP rivers are only getting maybe 50-200 fish per year and the best rivers in Puget Sound are probably producing a similar number. That is really encouraging.
I was so excited to see that because I felt it was the one… I always have to say this but my dad and my grandpa always told me as a kid you were born a generation too late. All the great angling is gone. We’ve developed the rivers, killed all the fish and the Elwah River is one place where some father is going to be able to tell his son or daughter I was born a generation too early. You kids are going to have better fishing and opportunities for wild steelhead in the Elwah River than any generation has in the past a hundred years. And I think that’s like one of the few small but really big success stories. You can look forward to more fish and better fishing.
Flylords: What do you think is the biggest challenge you face in the light of salmon/steelhead conservation?
John McMillan: A big challenge we have had is implementing the portfolio concept of hatchery and wild rivers. For instance, Trout Unlimited, and others spent considerable time over the past three years working with anglers and managers to identify rivers that could remain free from hatchery steelhead and those where we would use hatcheries. There is now a formal agreement that the whole Skagit basin will be managed solely for wild steelhead for the next eight years. And while we spent 3-4 years working on the issue, others have spent the past 10-20 years working on the Skagit. So it’s really…. like a grind, man. Lots and lots of work to just get one wild steelhead river. We believe a place like the Skagit River is an ideal place for a population of all wild steelhead. And I almost have to put it as a sports term, which was that if you played football… this conservation for wild steelheads is like playing football in the fifties. It’s like three yards and a cloud of dust.
There are no big gains, there are no home runs. I feel like this has been a long time coming, 10 to 15 years of different groups of people trying to ensure the Skagit remains a wild steelhead river. Thus, while the work is hard and the gains can be small, we broke a longer run with the Skagit, and that is rewarding. But, I always wonder if people know just how many years of my life and other people’s lives it really takes to kind of commit yourself to protect a watershed because it might take a decade or even two decades to get the outcome that you’re really hoping for.
Flylords: From your Instagram feed, it looks like you do a lot of river snorkeling. Can you tell us a little bit about this?
John McMillan: I love to snorkel, I started because I want to know what the fish we’re doing as an angler when I was a kid but eventually it became fun itself as much and sometimes more fun than angling. In the summer I’m basically in a wetsuit and in the winter I wear a dry suit. And usually, my goal is to try and get photographs or video of fish. It’s not uncommon for me to have to wait for 20 minutes to 30 minutes for the fish to calm down.
I definitely snorkel more than I fish now and stuff and part of it is we really don’t have summer steelhead up here. We have cutthroat fish in the summer and I like fishing for cutthroat, but with the Elwah dam being removed, I have so many opportunities to shoot fish in the Elwah but I’ve been doing that more that I’ve been fishing in summer.
Flylords: What kind of camera gear do you use underwater?Â
John McMillan: I started out with a point and shoot Canon like 12 years ago and then I gradually kind of worked my way up. I’m using a Sony A7RII and an autocam housing. So it’s like in a nice aluminum housing and I tend to use one lens underwater more than others. And that’s a 16 by 35 F4. So it’s a nice wide-angle lens. It gives you those shots of big fish that are really nice. But I also use a 90 macro to shoot juvenile fish, smaller critters. And then I use two strobes on the outer part of the housing. So the housing, the camera, and the strobes end up weighing about 15 to 18 pounds. It’s pretty heavy. And that’s the one crappy part is just lugging that thing up and down rivers all day trying to like get shots of fish.
Flylords: Go to steelhead fly rod?Â
John McMillan: Burkheimer 9143.
Flylords: What would you say your home river is?
John McMillan: Sol Duc River
Flylords: Favorite fly color?
John McMillan: I would have to go blue and black is my favorite color, even though I don’t use it as much because so many people use it now. But I would have to say blue and black. I just don’t think I can pass it off.
Flylords: Unweighted or weighted?
John McMillan: Yeah. Winter it’s weighted and summer I’m going to go with an unweighted fly.
Flylords: What is one tip for a beginner steelhead angler?
John McMillan: To experiment. Don’t get it a rut. Like I think a lot of people come out of steelheading and they have a vision for how that works. And I just remind people that experiment, that’s an important thing. So if you’re a beginner, don’t be afraid to pick up different rods and lines to find what you like to cast best. Don’t be afraid to try different sink tips and flies to figure out what we like to fish best. I found one that I was fishing in ways that my dad enjoyed. Sometimes that was fun, but other times I didn’t enjoy it. So I always told an angler to experiment and find exactly what you do to fish. Because when we’re swinging flies for steelhead, most of the time if you’re not catching fish. Like 99% of your day is nothing. So that 99% of the day better be enjoyable, which is why I like to find a rod and line and just something I really like to fish with. And that only comes from me through experimentation.
Flylords: With the decline of steelhead and salmon in the past a decade, should new anglers not have confidence in catching fish? Â
John McMillan: Steelheading depends on generating new anglers. Because anglers are some of the very best and sometimes the only advocates that the wild steelhead and their habitat has. And that means that the future of steelheading depends on having more anglers taking up the sport and then getting involved. Most of these are driven by changes in ocean conditions, but increasingly these are also being shaped by climate change. Bad drought, summers, bad floods in winter. So it doesn’t look pretty for the future. But I would say this, that an angler should be hopeful because there’s never been any better science or any more effort put forth to run a wild steelhead than there’s now at this point in time. I think it is starting to bear fruit.
As anglers, we can all regulate how many fish we catch every day. And that’s one thing that I tell the people. I’ve fished bait, I fished almost every method known to humans for steelhead. And my favorite way is the swung fly. And another reason I love the swung fly is I’m not going to catch 20 or 10 or 15 in a day, right? I can regulate myself. So the population isn’t doing well, I can still go on fishing and maybe I’m lucky enough to get a fish every couple days or every week. So I can still be on the river, enjoy it, but I know that I’m really having no measurable impact. I think anglers should always be aware of the methods they choose if they’re really concerned in that way.
We need more anglers to get involved because the future is steelhead depends on anglers. And even though things look bad sometimes in the Pacific Northwest with climate change but to remind people climate change is also starting to open up lots of new habitat in the Arctic, Alaska, and even further North. And so as those watersheds begin to be more influenced, as Alaska becomes warmer, that’s going to open up a lot of new habitat for steelhead that had not been previously used by steelhead. So there is actually some hope for the future outside of the Northwest in terms of just climate change, melting glaciers. And when it melts glaciers and melt snow and it warms things up, those areas become more productive for salmon and steelhead for the North. And then I’ll remind people lastly, I would say that even though the OP rivers are struggling right now, the places in Northern California and Southern Oregon, those fish tend to go out to different places in the ocean than the steelhead from further North.
Flylords: What are some ways that anglers can get involved with steelhead and salmon conservation?
John McMillan: Yeah, I would say first is get to know your own watershed, your home watershed. And go out and just become educated on that. And once you feel sufficiently educated on a topic that you’re concerned about, then you start to get involved by introducing yourself to local biologists who work on the issues. So that’s one way as individuals. To work in your home watershed, find a topic, become knowledgeable about it, and then get involved. And the other way I’ve said that’s kind of the blood, sweat, and tears. That’s the personal way.
So the other way that people get involved is to donate money to groups like TU and Trout Unlimited’s Wild Steelhead Initiative where we have a really large set of staff, a lot of really good scientists, a lot of people working on habitat. We’re working all across the West Coast. So if people want to help us out, they can go to wildsteelheaders.org.
Flylords: Is there anything else that you want to add?
John McMillan: I would say I don’t want anglers to be so concerned that they stop fishing for a fish that we all love because I just want to hit on that again, I think the conservation strides groups like TU are making because we have a lot of members, are going to play a big role in doing what we can to rebuild fish and provide better fisheries in the future.
Be sure to follow John on Instagram at @rainforest_steel, his posts are very educational and informational to help shed some more light on the salmon and steelhead conservation work he is doing.
To support John, his work and Trout Unlimited be sure to check out the Wild Steelheaders Initiative online here.
As anglers, we’ve all been in a situation where we think to ourselves, “Man, I wish I had a boat to reach inaccessible/un-wadeable areas of this river/stream.” Granted, there are many waterways where boats aren’t necessary, but in certain waters, having a boat is absolutely key to fooling fish. Kayaks are easily one of the most portable watercraft in the industry and can be a lot of fun to fish from. Along with the positives, there are also a few downsides to fishing in a stream/river with a kayak. While diving deep into the concept of kitting out our kayak, we found a few DIY tips and tricks to improve your kayak fly fishing experience!
Comfort is Key
As anglers, we all know that it can be very difficult to cast out of a kayak, especially sit-inside kayaks. If you are looking to get into kayak fly fishing, it is advised to get a sit on top kayak, as this will improve comfort and accessibility. Although sit on top kayaks are easier to use, they can still be tough to cast from. A key tip that will improve your ability to cast and land fish, is to invest in a pair of knee pads. Having knee pads gives anglers the ability to kneel comfortably with fewer restrictions when it comes to casting. Another key benefit to most sit on top kayaks is the ability to stand. If you are familiar with Drew Ross (@looknfishy) on Instagram, he is a very talented kayak fly fisherman who utilizes the ability to stand and fish. Incorporating these tactics on the water will provide more comfort and enhance your ability to catch fish!
DIY Line Management System
Truth be known, kayaks are compact and can be tight when it comes to space. Kayak anglers require extra gear for safety during lengthy trips on the water. This gear can cause issues when it comes to managing your fly line between casts. Traditional stripping baskets can be shockingly expensive but we have an inexpensive and simple solution for you. Head over to your local hardware store and pick up a tarp of any size or material. With the tarp, cover all of the gear in the front of your kayak and tuck one end in your life vest or waders if you’re wearing them. This will create a slight ramp and will prevent your line from getting wrapped around loose gear!
Another affordable stripping basket option could be to use a small Rubbermaid container. Anglers can cut slats on one side to feed an adjustable belt through to strap around your waist. You can pick out a pack of wooden golf tees from your local sporting goods store and use super glue to space them out in the bottom of the stripping basket. Once the glue is dry, you have yourself an easy and affordable stripping basket! Although a stripping basket or catch system isn’t for everyone, they can be very helpful when it comes to line management.
DIY Anchor System
Kayaks are small, portable watercraft’s that seem to have a mind of their own in certain situations. When fishing in a lake or pond, where the current is minimal, anglers can use a traditional anchor to keep them in place. But what happens if you want to fish a river or large stream where there is a continuous current? We all know how that will end if an anchor is used. We have a simple and affordable solution for this exact situation! Again, head to your local hardware store and pick up 5 lengths of 1/4-inch chain ranging from 10 to 12 links. You will also need to purchase a large carabiner and a can of Plasti-dip.
Image Courtesy of Bassmaster.com
Step-By-Step Process:
Using fishing line or a similar product to lower each segment of chain into the can of plasti-dip until each link is coated. (This will make the anchor quieter)
Hang chains in a secure location to dry completely.
Once dry, clip off fishing line or equivalent that was used to dip the chains.
Hook each chain segment to the large carabiner.
Use paracord or rope to tie off of the carabiner and then tie directly to your kayak at an appropriate length.
And there you have it! A simple and affordable drag system to keep your kayak at a steady pace in a faster flowing body of water.
DIY Rod Holder
Let’s be honest here, trying to row a kayak while holding your fishing rod is not an ideal situation. Having a way to store your rods while rowing is crucial for the optimal kayak fishing experience. The issue is that most kayaks with built-in rod holders are unable to hold fly rods. We have a simple and affordable solution for you!
DIY Kayak Fly Rod Holder
Steps to Create:
Measure the diameter of your flush mounts in your kayak.
head to your local hardware store and pick up some PVC pipe that will fit snugly into your flush mounts.
Stick the PVC pipe into the flush mount and measure where you would like your rod to sit.
Cut a thin strip out of the pipe (wide enough for your reel seat to slide into) down to the mark in which you’ve made. The strip should be about an inch in width. The cut should start at the top and go the entire way down to the mark in which your rod will sit.
After that, you can line the pipe with padded protection material of your choice.
And there you have it, a simple solution that will allow you to fly fish from your kayak more effectively! Some kayaks may not have flush mounts built-in which will require a little more work but this can be done affordably.
Key Tips while Fly Fishing in a Kayak
We all know that fly fishing out of a kayak can be difficult at times, but there are ways to effectively utilize its capabilities to maximize your ability on the water. Here, we highlight a few key tips that will help anglers on the water when using a kayak.
Tips:
Choose a kayak that is right for your angling style.
It is necessary to select a kayak that is suited for fly fishing. This will be a sit on top kayak in most cases.
Keep your gear under control.
Minimizing your clutter will help you become more successful on the water. Be sure to utilize the tarp line management system as talked about earlier.
Utilize rod holders.
As state previously, having a rod holder will become very useful while on your next kayak trip. DIY holders get the job done but if you’re willing to spend some extra coin, there are rod holders made specifically for fly rods.
Anchor yourself in safe locations.
In order to keep yourself safe, make sure you are anchoring your watercraft in a safe location. If on a lake or pond, position yourself upwind of the current. This will ensure safety when anchored.
Keep your backcasts high and false casts to a minimum.
Keeping your backcasts high will prevent you from snagging anything that may come in your way. Limiting your false casts will also ensure fewer hang-ups and will prevent spooking fish.
Fishing from a kayak is a great way to test your abilities and to venture into areas that you may have never fished. With everything, kayaks can be expensive. By utilizing these DIY options and tips, we hope this will enhance your time on the water!
Written by Content Team Member Grant Michaels. Check out what he is up to here!
Another PNW wild salmon and steelhead river will be once again set free from its impoundment as the Middle Fork Nooksack Dam near Bellingham is removed in July. The restoration will not only improve fish movement through the system but also for the endangered Southern Resident orcas of Puget Sound, who have been in decline as their primary food source, wild salmon, has dwindled in the past years.
“BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Construction crews have begun work to remove the Middle Fork Nooksack Dam near Bellingham, restoring a crucial river for salmon.
The project is decades in the making and is critical as fish species in the Northwest dwindle.
Steven Day, a project engineer for the City of Bellingham Public Works Department, says it opens up 16 miles of spawning habitat for salmon, steelhead, and bull trout.
“The project itself has been listed as the single most effective fish passage project in the Nooksack watershed for a period of over 15 years,” he points out.
Restoring the river is important for the endangered Southern Resident orcas of Puget Sound, which have declined in numbers as salmon populations have dropped.
Project partners include the Nooksack Indian Tribe, Lummi Nation, the organization American Rivers, and the state of Washington.
Dam removal has required creative thinking.
Over the past 50 years, the dam has been a vital part of Bellingham’s water supply. But Day and the city have come up with a solution. He says the new system will be installed slightly upstream from the old dam and is a win-win for the city.
“It will not create a waterfall or other step within the river that creates a passage issue and will still provide for municipal water supply to the citizens of Bellingham,” he explains.
American Rivers joined the project in 2017, getting the ball rolling on removal with funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
April McEwen, river restoration project manager for American Rivers, says she hopes this can inspire other projects in the region.
“That’s just a tremendous story of hope and also what we can do with our future,” she states. “We can meet our own future needs better without creating so much impact on the life support systems that we all depend on.”
The dam is scheduled for demolition in July.
The Middle Fork Nooksack River is expected to flow freely in September for the first time in 50 years.”
When people think of fly fishing, a few species come to mind: trout, bonefish, and maybe bass. Most, however, do not think of walleye. Well, I’m here to tell you that walleye is a great species to target on the fly. Guides and anglers in the conventional fishing world use flies to catch them in rivers because walleye love flash and the other materials fly tiers use. Most fly anglers catch them by accident while targeting other species, but recently there has been a growing movement of anglers targeting them and having great success. In today’s strange times, fly fishermen and women are looking for new species close to home. With these tips, you’ll be wondering why it took this long to target them on the fly!
Where to Find Walleye:
I think the main reason people don’t target them is that these fish are on the move (walleye follow the food) and/or usually retreat to deeper water during the heat of summer. They are, at times, more difficult to catch than other species, because getting flies deep over a structure can be difficult. However, technology advances in electronics and fly lines have made it easier to locate, target, and catch them. The possibility of detecting a bite in 20-30 feet of water is easier than ever.
To be successful in targeting walleye on the fly, understanding their habitat and biology are good but knowing your water body is even more important. It’s not as complicated as you may think. Walleye require the same things as other, more familiar, fish: cover, food sources, well-oxygenated water, and have a preferred temperature range.
Both have their pros and cons to locate walleye. Lakes are probably more complex or difficult for fly anglers to access than rivers. Most lakes require some sort of watercraft to consistently find walleye. In any case, if you’re going to try a lake, look for rocks piles, sand flats, fresh weed lines, transition areas (from sand to rock, rock to sand, weeds to rock/sand, etc.), distinct current seams (wind-blown points are a classic walleye magnet), underwater humps, and inflowing water from streams or storm drains.
Depending on their size, rivers can be more accessible for the fly angler to get out and target walleye. Similar to any fish in a river, they want to hold in the prime feeding areas with as little work as required. The locations mentioned above for lakes are good starting points, but also look for current seams in large pools, back eddies, dams or current breaks, log jams, and undercut banks.
What Fly Fishing Gear for Walleye:
You probably already own all the gear needed to target walleye, a standard 5wt to 8wt rod is a good start. A floating line and at least one sinking line will be needed. As far as reels go, you can use any of your bass or larger trout reels. It helps to have a spare spool with a different line spooled, so you can quickly switch between floating and sinking lines. A smooth drag will also be helpful; walleye aren’t known for their long runs, but they bulldog and head shake. A large walleye will definitely test your drag. If you’re a two-handed fly angler, a Spey or switch rod is a perfect tool to fish rivers and chuck big flies far and to get deep. A 4 to 8wt Spey rod is an excellent choice–it’s my preferred way to cover water and find fish in rivers.
Fly lines are a difficult subject, as deciding which one will depend on how and where you target them. Walleye can be caught on dry flies, streamers, under an indicator, or in 30 feet water or anywhere else in the water columm. So, at the very least have one floating line and one sinking line to match your rod. Just like every other technique or style of fly fishing, there is a specific line to match.
Leaders have a purpose and depending on how you fish may differ slightly. Try to keep it simple–a 7.5 to 12ft long leader for floating lines (you can add or subtract tippet as needed). For sinking lines a 3ft long leader is a good start. If you need to keep your fly off the bottom due to potential snags, then a longer leader may be required–up to 6ft. Tippet size is dictated by structure, other species present (like pike) and water clarity. For the most part, a good fluorocarbon in the 6lbs to 12lbs is a good choice, (leaning on the heavier side if possible, as walleye have teeth and if they eat your whole fly, you run the risk of losing them).
What Flies for Walleye:
This is my favorite part, the flies. You can make it as easy as you want or can tie the most realistic and challenging patterns to catch them. Walleye eat insects, leeches, crawfish, and minnows for the most part and sometimes it varies, but these will get you started.
Woolly buggers, Clouser minnow, deceivers, and half/half are all tried and true, walleye-catching flies. Plan to have a variety of weights and colors–such as white, brown, black, purple, and olive. Orange/chart, chart/yellow, black/red, chart/pink, red/white, red/black, and all black are also great colors for catching walleye.
A balanced leech is an excellent pattern to hang below an indicator.
Sculpin patterns in brown, black, and olive are one of my favorites (I am biased though, I landed the Ontario record walleye on a black sculpin a few years back).
Insect flies, both in the nymph stage and the adult dry fly, at times are very effective. So, think of mayflies, Stillwater caddis, and stoneflies, especially in a hatch when the water is exploding with fish everywhere. It is one of those special moments to catch a walleye on a dry fly, who wouldn’t love that.
Crawfish flies are a fly I find that people don’t use enough, especially in the spring during their molting phase when they are orange in color. Great patterns to use are Dave Whitlock’s Near Nuff, a Super Bugger, Morlock Craw, all in either tan, brown, olive, or orange.
If you like to use intricate patterns, look no further than the sex dungeon, swimmy jimmy,  chunky dunker, and articulated leech.
Walleye on the fly used to be an unheard-of thing. But as people try new things and learn more about their local waters, they are finding more and more ways to target them. The gap between conventional fishing and fly fishing for walleye is closing. After all, we are all doing the same thing for the same reasons, just in a different way or using another tool in the box.
The Just Add Water Project is committed to cultivating common ground among diverse communities and making outdoor recreation welcoming and accessible to all. We believe that fresh air, clean water, and healthy outdoor activity are key to recovering our spirit and creating a brighter future for all. We know that the best way to protect our precious public lands and waters is to connect people to positive outdoor experiences. We also believe that representation matters and diverse communities have been historically underrepresented in the outdoor and conservation community. Our ambassadors and this project aim to interrupt this cycle, celebrate diverse people playing outside, tell their stories, and spark conversations that shift us toward a more inclusive way of life.
The Just Add Water Project is a month-long event starting this Thursday, June 18th. Every Thursday evening we will come together virtually for select film screenings followed by conversations that dig deep and aim to spark a dialogue that moves us toward a more equitable and just future in our great outdoors.
The project kicked off last Thursday with the online premiere of Una Razón para Pescar (A Reason to Fish). Followed by a Q&A with Just Add Water guides Faith Briggs and Adam Edwards, Dan Diez, Orvis president Simon Perkins, Orvis ambassador Alvin Dedeaux and Katie Guerin from City Kids, where they spoke about the film, conservation, and about representation and access in fly fishing.
Tune in this Thursday to Orvis’ Instagram and Facebook for info on the next film screening and panel!
In this week’s how to tie video feature, Tim Flagler from Tightline video is here to show us how to tie the yellow sally stimulator
Learn About This Fly:
Difficulty: Intermediate
The Yellow Sally Stimulator is a stimulator fly that is tied to loosely imitate a golden stonefly. Stimulator flies, or attractors, are extremely popular amongst anglers when fishing large hatches in the spring and summertime, as their flamboyant shape and coloring makes them hard to miss on the water.
Oftentimes, stimulator flies will be used in an attempt to draw fish to the surface when little or no rises can be found. Their large build makes them an attractive meal for a curious trout, and will oftentimes trigger a dry fly eat. The yellow sally stimulator is the adult representation of the yellow sally stonefly nymph, a fly that has really made a name for itself in the western part of the US due to the nymph’s abundant presence in rivers and streams.
This fly is an excellent tie for anyone looking for a gentle transition from beginner flies, to more complicated flies. While there isn’t anything particularly challenging about tying this fly, it does have a few parts that novice tyers may get hung up on. However, once you’ve tied a few, you’ll really fall in the swing of things. These flies are an absolute essential to any anglers fly box, as they’re one of the best flies to entice a timid trout to rise.
Last week, our amazing friend, Jay Johnson (of GeoBass and Fish or Die fame) was injured while fighting a kitchen grease fire. If you’ve ever met Jay, followed him on social media, or seen him on your screen, you know Jay is one of the best of us. Ever altruistic with his time and energy, it’s our turn to help this legendary angler out!
According to a friend close to Jay, “He sustained mostly 1st-degree burns, with some 2nd-degree spots, to a substantial part of his head and face last night in an accident at home. He was very lucky that he avoided his eyes, and outside of some pretty intense swelling around the eye/burn area, he’s doing well. He only has a couple of spots that are exposed and he is in virtually no pain, despite looking like a character from an 80’s sci-fi.”
In the meantime, Jay will be laid up at home while healing from the burns and if you know anything about Jay, that’s probably going to be the hardest part of the recovery for him. We’re sure this injury and down-time will surely only fuel the passion that man is capable of.
Jay is part of the reason Flylords is where we are today, and for that, we couldn’t be more grateful. We know medical care these days is wicked expensive, and a few of Jay’s friends have put together an amazing fundraiser to help our man Jay out until he’s back on his feet doing what he does best. Check that out here, and help us show the man who has given the fly fishing community so much how big of an impact he has had on our lives!
As fly fishermen, we tend to go through various fly patterns during a typical outing on the water. Our goal is to do our best to match the aquatic food sources in which fish species are munching on. In order to do that, our imitations must have a fairly realistic and life-like look to them. If you enjoy tying your own flies, you may have run into a time where you wish you could add more bulk to your fly without hindering the life-like appeal. A simple and easy tip to achieve this effect is to create a dubbing loop while tying your fly. This makes adding bulk and liveliness to your flies much easier. In this tutorial, Orvis endorsed fly tyer, Tim Flagler shows us how to easily and effectively create a dubbing loop when tying flies.
Step-by-Step Process
Position your tying thread at the hook point.
Pull down to expose about three inches of thread.
Loop thread around the index finger of your left hand.
Take a full wrap around the hook shank and then pass the thread around the loop.
Feed the loop with a clump of dubbing.
Remove your finger and twist the loop clockwise until the dubbing is spun nicely.
Use the loop to wrap the hook shank creating the body of the fly.
Use your tying thread to finish off the dubbing look and snip off the excess.
8 Years ago Jeremy Clark (AKA Jerms) found himself stuck on the 25th floor of a building in Christchurch New Zealand…
The city had been hit by a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake. In that moment of darkness, Jerms had a new perspective on things. His near-death experience was a clarifying moment, he knew what he wanted if he had the fortune of making it out alive. He wanted kids.
After several years of trying to have children proved unsuccessful, Jeremy and his wife Billie Jo decided they were going to give adoption a try. As young professionals, the adoption process was expensive and daunting. Unannounced, Jerms’ friends put together a fundraiser to raise money to help him adopt a child.
90% of the money came from the fly fishing community. Members of the community auctioned flies, guided trips, custom rods, anything they could, out of the kindness of their hearts to help a fellow angler. Fast forward a few years and we have Zealand. This is a story about a dad, a husband, a father, an outdoorsman, and a beautiful mess.
