There are several ways the growth in the future will affect the eastern sierra rivers and creeks. One of the most obvious will be the impact of more fisherman on our rivers. with more people, will come more people who want to enjoy the resources around them. this brings a very unique challenge of how to continue to enhance our fisheries while dealing with the increased amount of people. Most fisherman out there are not catch and release conservation minded. the average fisherman only fishes several times a year, keeps fish they catch, and only travels short distances. this presents are great opportunity in solving this challenge. here are several ways i believe we should move forward in the state of Nevada, and the Sierra mountains.
1. Fishing sticking programs- Fishing stocking has very mixed results. most stocked fish tend to only survive a few weeks, tops. this means stocking thousands of trout in a region where they may not be fished is a waste. Fishing stocking is very expensive, and requires a lot of resources, from collecting eggs to raising brood. * i believe one of the keys to managing the future will be more targeted stocking. we need to enhance local places to fish, local ponds. since most people don't travel far, it will keep close to home, while preserving rivers like the East walker. If you have fisherman who would be removing trophy fish fishing local ponds, versus fishing our blue ribbon rivers, its a winner! this requires NDOW to review some of the places, or quantities that are stocked. should remote, or non-visited places be stocked?
2. Increased Protective Regulations- Some of our local rivers already contain good regulations. Many people don't like fishing regulations ( i know lots of fisherman who hate barb-less hook regs) and regulations can be tough to enforce. However merely having them in place, and visible ( signs at entry points) will mean most fisherman will follow them. Catch and release and low limit regs really do work. So do barb-less regs! I personally believe that single barb-less can be dangerous, therefore I'm ok with just barb-less regulations. Creating large sections of river that are protected will allow for more, healthy fish on our rivers. The Truckee river should be Barb-less hooks/ limit 2 under 18" for the entire stretch of river. allowing a few fish to be removed will mean bigger fish for the rest of us, and keep big healthy breeders in our river. most people who keep there catch end up keeping large fish. by having a size limit, it will keep more large fish in our rivers! there are several bodies of water in our region that could use more protection, such as the West walker, the Truckee river, the West Carson to name a few.
Take a look at a local restoration project
3. Restoration and preservation- this to me is key. if we do not work to restore and preserve more of our rivers, then fishing will not get better! since 2002, the Nature conservancy has restored 11.5 miles of Truckee river ( including the current project, to be completed summer 2014). That means there are now 11.5 miles more of river that was essentially unfishable a decade ago. there goal is 20 miles of river restoration, but there are easily 15-25 more miles of river that could be restored or enhanced. just think, if 20 more miles of river were restored, in 30 years, there will be so much more mature, healthy river for everyone to fish. there are tons of places that could use restoration ( full reconstruction of the river or stream) and enhancement ( minor improvements to increase habitat) some rivers that could use a full blow restore, are the West walker river, basically east of Topaz, and some of the upper stretches above 395. The Truckee is another great example, from sparks east, there are still many miles of channelized river. Many rivers could see small projects that would be inexpensive that would help with erosion, increase habitat, and provide for better fisheries, from the little Truckee, to the east/west Carson, to the Owens river.
Nature conservancy - check out there work on our local rivers!
4. Education- the final key is public awareness. most fisherman out there have no clue what is going. they don't know about catch and release, conservation, or restoration, and the problems our rivers face. Most people aren't aware of the up coming challenges, so the only way to move forward is to work to educate people. there are many ways, and i think the key is for our local organizations, TU, the Nature conservancy, NDOW, to help people understand. simple, easy to understand brochures should be handed out at public events, on what the challenge is, and how to fix it. social media, and public relation is key to building support and knowledge of making our rivers a better place!
If local fisherman aren't united in moving forward, nothing will be accomplished. we all want the fishing in our region to be amazing. doing nothing about it is not an option. hoping things will get better is also not an option. this year, the Truckee river take limit was reduced from 5 fish to 3 fish. This is a step in the right direction. more can be taken, fisherman like you must get interactive. i know our first response is to become defensive over our favorite places to fish, but that wont solve what will come, change! Come join us at the Truckee river fisherman
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