The history goes something like this: In 1972 CalTrout fought to restore Hat Creek—winning it a wild trout designation. By 1983 it supported more than 5,000 trout per river mile. And as recently as 2011 those numbers have sunk to less than 1,000 due to a steady deterioration of habitat that’s led to what’s been labeled “crisis conditions” for trout.
CalTrout aims to change that, and recently received a $650,000 grant to help buoy this iconic fishery.
“Recent studies suggest Hat Creek still has the ability to produce big trout, but the lack of cover and habitat makes those populations vulnerable.
“CalTrout outlined a preliminary recovery plan in an earlier article, and while we’re finalizing the restoration plans, depositing large woody debris in Hat Creek—to slow flows, provide cover for bugs and fish, and promote the growth of aquatic vegetation—is still central to the recovery of Hat Creek’s native rainbow trout, which used to be supported by massive aquatic weedbeds and invertebrate populations.”
Watch filmmaker Mikey Wier’s latest edit on the project after the jump.
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.