The Wild Steelheader -- August 14, 2017

August 14, 2017

As we head into the final days of summer we're reminded of the importance of clean, cold water for wild steelhead, salmon and trout. Intermittent and ephemeral streams - streams that may be dry for part of the year - provide important contributions of cold water for main-stem rivers. In fact, one study published recently in the journal Freshwater Science found cold-water patches (crucial refugia for steelhead) at 53 percent (36 of 68) of tributary confluences examined. Of these, 14 tributaries had no flowing surface water, and all the cold water provided by them was delivered via  subsurface flows. The lesson? While water may not be flowing on the surface it doesn't mean that stream is not contributing critical amounts of cold water to steelhead habitat as we hit the hottest part of the summer.  It's very important that we protect water quality in the sources of our wild steelhead rivers and streams. Tell the E.P.A. you support protecting small streams. Stand up for clean water today.  Then, for some practical advice, stop by and learn why Bill Herzog tells anglers not to "reel up just yet." All that and more in this week's WSU newsletter.         If you haven't taken the time to comment on the proposed repeal of the 2015 Clean Water Rule, now is the time to do so. Intermittent and ephemeral streams are vitally important to restoring wild steelhead populations. In California, for example, 64 percent of stream miles that comprise steelhead habitat are intermittent or ephemeral. All steelhead anglers should be deeply concerned about the announcement that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead with a process of rescinding and replacing the so-called Clean Water Rule of 2015. Please let them know how important clean water is for wild steelhead today.         "Don't reel up just yet." We of the swung fly club have to deal with quite a few of our brethren these days on the river, especially the more popular waters, sections and times. If we aren't first through the run, then all we can hope for is a moving fish to come into swinging range or the rare one that was somehow spared multiple presentations. There is an adjustment in presentation and type of water we can target that just might make the difference between 1 and 0 on a steelheading trip.         In September 2016, Trout Unlimited partnered with the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game to rehabilitate 0.8 miles of the mainstem Pahsimeroi River to improve salmon and steelhead habitat. Over a century of irrigation, which dewatered the streams for much of the year, has left the upper Pahsimeroi and its tributaries just stringers of dying cottonwoods running across a broad sagebrush valley.         Summer is here. That means hot weather and hot water, two things that don't mix well with a cold-water fish like steelhead. As a searing heat wave turns the Pacific Northwest into a blast furnace, we review a piece of research that looked at how adult steelhead alter their behavior and use micro-habitats to cope with warm weather and water.