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Healdsburg raises steelhead awareness
Published: Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 6:49 p.m.
Jackson Scheibal's small trout had been gutted and scaled, and still it flopped and writhed in the plastic bag Jackson's mother held at arm's length.
“He's still alive,” said Jackson, 6, giddy with excitement, his hand cupping the bagged fish. “He moves. See, look!”
It was Jackson's third time at the Healdsburg Wild Steelhead Festival, a weekend event aimed at bringing greater awareness to the Russian River watershed and the steelhead trout, which has been designated as a threatened species.
The festival, now in its fourth year, drew thousands of people to the Healdsburg Plaza, which between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. was turned into an angler's haven with a touch of Wine Country chic.
On Plaza Street, Russian River Fly Fishers hosted a 60-foot-long fly-casting pond. Children cocked back fly rods and quickly snapped brightly colored lines in the air, silently landing their insect-like lures on the shallow water. Next to the pond, kids learned the art of fly tying, making lures out of bright feathers and chenille.
“Fly fishing requires that you really pay attention to what's going on in the environment,” said Steve Tubbs, casting instruction director for Russian River Fly Fishers. “You're trying to figure out what bugs the fish are actually eating. The Russian River used to have one of the most prolific salmon and steelhead runs of any of the North Coast rivers.”
Steelhead trout are among the Russian River's three anadromous species, meaning they are born in fresh water, live in salt water and come back to fresh water to make babies. The other two are chinook and coho salmon.
Of these, steelhead are the last to return during the local waterway's migration season, which lasts from about December to the end of March, depending on the amount of rainfall.
When the river's crucial tributaries are flush with water, the doors open, so to speak, to “wild” steelhead swimming about in the Pacific Ocean, said Elliott Doss, a fish habitat specialist for the state Department of Fish and Game who attended the festival.
“Fish follow the rain, they follow the weather,” he said.
Though wild steelhead and steelhead from the fish hatchery at Sonoma Lake are genetically the same, wild steelhead spawn in tributaries of the Russian River, Doss said. The returns at the hatchery only reveal a part of how steelhead are faring.
“The hatchery tells the story of the Dry Creek system,” Doss said. “It doesn't tell the story of what the condition is of the wild steelhead.”
Water diversions from tributaries, effluent discharge with high levels of nutrients, and drought are among the problems that have hindered the seasonal return of wild steelhead.
At the event Saturday, which was sponsored by Redwood Empire Trout Unlimited, fish habitat conservationists stressed the importance of working with wine producers.
Quivira Vineyards and Winery and Michel-Schlumberger Wines, both of Dry Creek Valley, were described as “fish-friendly wineries.”
“They've allowed us to go on their properties for restoration work to improve the fisheries,” said Brian Arata, secretary for Redwood Empire Trout Unlimited.
Liz Keeley, director of the festival and director of downtown Healdsburg's Hand Fan Museum, said the proceeds from the sale of event T-shirts and wine tasting will go toward a restoration project at Foss Creek.
“The issue is trying to bring back wild fish to the Russian River,” she said.
The festival continues today at the Visitor Center and Fish Hatchery at Lake Sonoma, where you can watch fish swimming up the fish ladder, between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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