0-FOR-OWENS FLY-FISHERMEN, DFG DISAGREE ON RIVER'S STATUS.Byline: BILL BECHER Skunked. That's what happens when I, along with three fly-fishing friends, fish the Upper Owens River Owens River A river, about 193 km (120 mi) long, of eastern California rising in the Sierra Nevada and flowing generally southward, formerly to Owens Lake, between Crowley Lake Crowley Lake is a reservoir on the upper Owens River in southern Mono County, California in the United States. It was created in 1941 by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) as storage for the Los Angeles Aqueduct and for flood control. and the Benton Crossing Bridge. Later, when we fish a section higher up on the Owens, we manage to catch only a few very small fish. The lack of sizable fish has created a debate among anglers along this section of the Owens, pitting fly-fishers against bait fishermen. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. local fishing guides, this kind of poor fishing has been happening a lot on the Upper Owens. They blame the 1998 change back to a regular five-fish limit on this stretch of water from the special regulations that restricted fishing during the first and last month of the season to artificial lures, barbless hooks, 16-inch maximum fish and a two-fish limit. ``I think when the DFG DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) DFG Department of Fish and Game DFG District Factor Group DFG Data Flow Graph DFG Difference Frequency Generation DFG Diode Function Generator DFG Dog Faced Gremlin changed the regulations in 1998 they completely blew it,'' said guide Kevin Peterson, one of the owners of the Troutfly fly-fishing shop in Mammoth Lakes. ``Ever since that change we've seen a total decline in the Upper Owens. It's gone from incredibly great fishery to a place I don't even take clients anymore.'' Earl Brown Earl M. Brown (1916-2003) was the head coach of the Auburn Tigers from 1948-1950. He is notorious for his stretch at Auburn, where he went 3-22-4, including a record of 0-10 in his final season, when the Tigers were outscored 285-31. , owner of Brown's Owens River Campground, which sits on this section of the river, disagrees. ``(Catch and keep) isn't hurting the resources, and there is fly-fishing on both ends of this section of the Owens,'' he said. ``The big fish aren't there. They're trying to protect fish that aren't there.'' Brown said the current five-fish-per-day standard regulations are an opportunity for the average fisherman to catch and keep fish in a stretch of the Owens River that many of his customers have been fishing for 40 years or more. Fly-fishermen call the section of the Owens River between Crowley Lake and Benton Crossing Bridge the ``Gauntlet'' because trout leaving Owens Lake Owens Lake is a large dry lake in eastern California's Owens Valley, located about 5 miles (0 km) south of Lone Pine, California. to spawn To launch another program from the current program. The child program is spawned from the parent program. (operating system) spawn - To create a child process in a multitasking operating system. E.g. in the upper river system must escape the bait and lures of gear fishermen who can keep five trout per day, regardless of size. Fly-fishermen, represented by CalTrout, are concerned that keeping too many large fish caught in this section of the river during May and October will impact the overall fishery by removing spawning fish. The Fish and Game Commission in 1985 enacted the rules CalTrout now is asking be reinstated: protection for spawning fish during the first and last month of the season by prohibiting bait fishing Bait fish are small fishes caught for use as bait to attract large predatory fish, particularly game fish. Species used are typically those that are common and breed rapidly, making them easy to catch and in regular supply. and restricting take to two fish under 16 inches. These rules were repealed in 1997 for the 1998 season, under local economic pressure, according to CalTrout spokesman Nick DiCroce. ``I've seen big stringers of fish coming out of this section of the Owens during the spring. That's a lot of fish that don't get to spawn,'' said Jeff McCullah, a guide at the Troutfitter in Mammoth Lakes. ``Even when during the time when special regulations were in effect, we'd see people keeping five fish, then go back to the campground and be out in the afternoon back at it again. We've had DFG out, but they're back fishing. It doesn't take a lot of people to screw things up.'' The Department of Fish and Game, according to Gene Fleming, chief of the fisheries fisheries. From earliest times and in practically all countries, fisheries have been of industrial and commercial importance. In the large N Atlantic fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, European and North American fishing fleets have long programs branch, does not share the fly-fishermen's concerns and has recommended to the Fish and Game Commission that they continue the current regulations. Fleming said only about five percent of the fish passing through this area are caught and kept during this period, not enough to impact the fishery. CalTrout submitted a proposal to the Fish and Game Commission on Aug. 3, asking that fishing on the Owens River between the ``Monument,'' which marks the start of Crowley Lake regulations, and the Benton Crossing bridge be restricted during the first and last month of the fishing season. Under CalTrout's proposal, only artificial lures and flies with barbless hooks could be used during this period, and the daily limit would be reduced to two fish under 16 inches. The commission heard an oral presentation from CalTrout at its Oct. 5 meeting. The commission will consider the proposal, along with the DFG recommendation to kept the current rules in effect, at its next meeting in Redding Redding, city (1990 pop. 66,462), seat of Shasta co., N central Calif., on the Sacramento River; inc. 1872. A principal tourist center for a mountain and lake region, it also has lumbering, food-processing, and diverse manufacturing. on Nov. 2 and is expected to announce its decision at Long Beach on Dec. 7. Curtis Milliron, an associate biologist for the DFG, said the 1998 change has not affected the fish. ``We gave it a try,'' he said. ``We implemented the new regulations and went into two years of survey work to determine if an unacceptable level of harvest was occurring. What we found was that there is very little harvest of larger fish in the entire river.'' The DFG survey found that during the two-year period 360 to 400 fish per year over 16 inches were harvested in all sections by all methods, with less than half of that number under 18 inches. Milliron said that from other work in monitoring the fish populations moving through the Owens system 90 percent of the browns and 95 percent of rainbows on a spawning run were more than 18 inches, meaning that few spawners spawners see broodfish. were being taken. Instead, Milliron and the DFG believe other factors are affecting the area. ``Temperature is a big factor on the river,'' said Milliron, who believes warmer summer water is contributing to the problem. The DFG has been measuring water temperatures in the Owens and has recorded trout- unfriendly temperatures of up to 80 degrees in summer at Benton Crossing Bridge. But Milliron is optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op about the future, saying that along the entire Upper Owens, land management has gone through significant changes that should have a positive impact on water quality. These include the creating of corridor fencing for cattle, reduced cattle grazing grazing, n See irregular feeding. grazing 1. actions of herbivorous animals eating growing pasture or cereal crop. 2. area of pasture or cereal crop to be used as standing feed. See also pasture. and streambed streambed or stream channel Any long, narrow, sloping depression on land that had been shaped by flowing water. Streambeds can range in width from a few feet for a brook to several thousand feet for the largest rivers. improvements that should encourage vegetation and shading See Phong shading, Gouraud shading, flat shading and programmable shading. of the river. ``The biggest thing we have control over is timing of water from Mono Basin The Mono Basin is an endorheic basin located East of Yosemite National Park in California, United States. It is bordered to the West by the Sierra Nevada, to the East by the Cowtrack Mountains, to the North by the Bodie Hills, and to the South by the North ridge of the Long Valley ,'' he said. ``If water were delivered during peak temperature months, that would be the greatest single beneficial effect on the river and would bring the river back to former fishing status.'' So take your pick. We didn't have much fishing success on the Upper Owens because the current rules permit excessive harvesting of large fish during their early- and late-season spawning runs. Or, maybe our lack of success was because current water management practices result in water too hot for trout during the summer. Or maybe we just had lousy lous·y adj. lous·i·er, lous·i·est 1. Infested with lice. 2. Extremely contemptible; nasty: a lousy trick. 3. luck that day. MORE INFO --California Department of Fish and Game, www.dfg.ca.gov --California Fish and Game Commission, www.dfg.ca.gov/fg-comm --CalTrout, www.caltrout.org <http://www.caltrout.org/> CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Fly-fishermen are pushing for special fishing regulations to protect spawning fish at Upper Owens River. Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News Box: MORE INFO (see text) |
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