Thanks to all my supporters

Dear Friends and Anglers,

I have officially shut down all aspects of my fly fishing business. This blog will remain up as an archive and for when I feel inspired to discuss fishing and fishing related issues. I want to thank everyone who has supported me through this adventure. My clients are incredible people that I really enjoyed spending time with over the years, dating all the way back to 1994 in Colorado. I hope to see many of you out on the river. Feel free to email or drop me a line anytime!

Jason Cross

For local guiding and lessons, please contact my good friend Ed Megill @ cascadesfly.com.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Hatchery fish: To bonk or not to bonk!

Wild North Fork Hen


That is the question. This discussion can get pretty heated for some people. If you catch a hatchery fish are you going to kill it? I have to say that for me it usually feels better to release a fish. I have kept hatchery fish and I suppose I will do it at some point again on the right healthy river. The Nooksack is obviously having some hatchery issues, thus the closure on the North Fork. New regulations have put the fate of hatcheries in their own fish. For example, the Kendall Creek hatchery can no longer supplement its egg take with eggs from other river basins as it has done for so many years. If people bonk all the hatchery fish the next few years there may not be any more hatchery fish to kill.

What they are hoping to see happen is to have some good genetic traits start to build in the hatchery population. Such genetic traits would increase survival rates of hatchery fish in the Nooksack as they develop and evolve to the environment of the Nooksack Basin. The most successful hatcheries in Washington have been doing this for some time. Don't you want more fish in the Nooksack? I do.

But what about the wild fish? Do we know the negative effect that hatchery fish have on wild fish? Is the wild strain still pure? Would the river be better off without a hatchery? Would the river be closed to steelhead fishing if there weren't a hatchery? These are all questions to think about and discuss. How many wild fish are finding there way into nets and coolers?

The North Fork closure may continue for the next four years if it is successful this season. This is probably a good thing. But I ask everyone, if sport fishing loses a section of river because there aren't enough hatchery returns, why is subsistence gill netting open 6 days a week? I have spoken with the netters and they are definitely getting steelhead.

Has anyone heard of egg boxes that are used in Alaska? Apparently they are extremely successful. I do not know much about them but I plan on doing some research. Recently, my friend signed me up for CCA, Coastal Conservation Association. I have been out on the Nooksack a lot this year and I think our river needs help. It's going to boil down to a major change for everyone or nothing is going to change for our fishery. CCA has joined the fight for Pacific Northwest Salmon and Steelhead. This a powerful, strong and active organization that is coming here to get things done. So if you want to see change, join CCA. I am not saying that our local organizations aren't doing anything, I am just saying that the problem we have here is bigger than any of them can handle on their own. There are so many issues with our fisheries that need to be re-assessed, re-evaluated and simply re-done. CCA can get us there. Please check it out!
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Local Information

Nooksack River

The Nooksack is our most Northern Puget Sound river. From the flanks of beautiful Mt. Baker and the Mt. Baker Wilderness the Nooksack River travels 75 miles to Bellingham Bay through diverse terrain. Three forks make up the main stem that locals say starts in the town of Deming. The North Fork provides most of the water in the drainage right off the northern side of Mt. Baker and parallels the Mt. Baker Highway often unseen. The Middle Fork is smaller and faster tributary with a steeper gradient and deep plunge pools. The South Fork, although some 50 miles long that stretches into Skagit County, is only fishable for 14 river miles before it closes to protect endangered Chinook spawning grounds.

The North Fork Kendall Creek hatchery provides a decent fishery for winter steelhead and October salmon fishing. Chinook and coho hatchery returns are mainly from the Native hatchery on the South Fork at Skookum Creek. Salmon fishing opens on the Main Stem in early September and stays good through a healthy chum run well into December. Both forks open in October for salmon but can be fished for sea-run cutthroat trout in September. Thanksgiving brings about hatchery steelhead season which carries through into January. Wild steelhead start trickling into the system in December and really show up in good numbers in January and February. Sadly for the fishermen the river closes in the end of February.

The main stem is a true spey rod river with some beautiful classic steelhead runs that will remind you of other nice places you have fished. The forks are smaller and lend themselves more to the single handed rod or a switch rod. The North Fork Nooksack is a wild and scenic river and boasts an incredible population of bald eagles. The river shifts quite frequently throughout the vast channel as the waters rise and fall with rain. Tree roots and log jams make up much of the excellent fish habitat on this fork. The south and middle forks are more defined channels and runs and holes remain more consistent. Wherever you are on this river the backdrop is spectacular. Around one bend you will look back and see The Sisters and the next bend will offer a pristine view of towering Mt. Baker.

Resident trout and anadromous dolly varden are found throughout the system in small numbers with the latter being off limits to target. The North Fork Nooksack above the 100 foot Nooksack Falls can be fun summer trout fishing with light weight rods and surface flies. Some open tributaries such as Canyon Creek can be great fun on the dry fly in July through September for small to medium sized trout. These tributaries of crystal clear cascading water sooth the sole and bring you smiling back to the roots of fly fishing.

Puget Sound Beaches are fun relief from the river and Stillwater settings. Sea-run cutthroat are available for the catching along several nice cobblestone reaches. The shelter of bull kelp beds provide a great feeding grounds for this fun anadramous salmonid. Late summer sees the arrival of solid hatchery coho fishery easily within reach of shore.

Come on up and get away from the crowds. You wont believe how beautiful it is and you won’t regret it. And, oh yeah, you might catch some nice fish!