Mokelumne
River Fishing & Conservation
by Bill Ferrero
Posted 3/20/09
- A
50 Year Love Affair with a River
Flowing,
ever-changing, ever-evolving is what comes to mind when
someone asks about our valley treasure, the Lower Mokelumne
River. The area I’m referring to is the reach of river that
runs below Camanche Dam to New Hope landing in Thornton.
With over 50 years and countless hours on this gem, I would
like to share some thoughts, history, and concerns about the
Mokelumne River.
My parents
built a new home on Turner Road in 1957, when the North city
limits of Lodi stopped at Lockeford Street. After living on
Sunset Drive for the first four years of my life, I was
introduced to rural living and the Mokelumne River. One of
my favorite memories is watching my father navigate Turner
Road in a row boat and probably wonder why he built a house
before Camanche Dam and the flood levees were built. As
early as the age of six year old, I was fascinated with Lodi
Lake, fishing, and exploring what is known now as the Lodi
Lake Wilderness Area. I have wonderful memories of watching
herds of deer crossing Turner Road where Lakewood School is
now located to eat the almond blossoms in Jim Burlington’s
orchard. We used hide up in the trees and wait for the deer
to come at dusk or dawn to munch on those sweet blossoms. I
lost count of the beaver dams and lodges all along the
Mokelumne in Lodi. All of my neighborhood buddies and I
spent countless hours fishing at and around Lodi Lake,
watching birds, beavers, otters, deer, rattle snakes and a
variety of wildlife and birds.
The
Mokelumne has a long history in the development of the West
and California. I recently learned form a Lodi News Sentinel
article that two paddle-wheel, steam driven boats ferried
supplies all the way up the river to where the Mackville
Road bridge is and Stillman Magee County Park. There are
still traces of where a mule-driven ferry took people headed
for the Mother lode across the Mokelumne with their wagons
and supplies. This area was literally a gateway to the folks
seeking fortunes in the Mother lode. For the sake of not
causing a modern-day gold rush, there still could be a lot
of gold along this river.
Now I find
myself trying to developing a business venture that provides
guided fishing and wildlife viewing trips on the same river
I grew up on with the least amount of environmental impact
to the river as possible. The often used term of “home
water” really applies here. With regard to the environment
and the ecology of the river, the human effect is varied.
From the long-term and high impact of gravel mining to the
development of residential home sites, to the siphon pipes
on agricultural pumps, every time we touch any river, we
change something. Sometimes for a short term effect, too
often for long term effects. Gold and gravel mining over the
last 150 years still show their past impact all along the
river. Crop runoffs from irrigated fields along with cattle
grazing are another visible impact we see quite often.
Probably the most visible effect all along the river is
people’s propensity to leave their trash along the banks, on
gravel bars, and people’s private property. The
ever-changing, ever-evolving system of nature is interrupted
by everything we do when we touch this river. From carrying
out your trash to how we release fish is part of our
responsibility to be a steward of nature. If we all adopt a
similar philosophy on the Mokelumne, it still may be a
valley treasure in years to come.
One of
things I try to instill among my clients is the stewardship
of this river. I have participated and coordinated in
several river cleanups over the years. In the early 90’s a
concerted effort by local residents, the Committee to Save
the Mokelumne River, The Delta Fly Fisherman, and California
Waste Recovery Systems removed 16 tons of trash and foreign
debris from Camanche Dam to Thornton. When fishing the river
in October and January, I even caution my clients from
walking in the river in order to leave the salmon redds
(nests) undisturbed. Nature has an incredible ability to
heal itself when the balance of the ecology is interrupted.
After an accidental release of low water from Camanche Dam
in the late seventies contaminated with heavy-metal runoff
from the Penn Copper Mine, the river below the dam was
aquatically dead for almost a year. It was recorded that
over 300,000 fish were killed as a result of that release.
That led to the formation of the Committee to Save the
Mokelumne River that along with the perseverance of Bill
Jennings and a long court battle, forced East Bay Municipal
Utility District (EBMUD) to remediate and encapsulate the
mine from causing further impacts. Now EBMUD is one of the
fine stewards of this river with their gravel spawning
augmentation project that is part of their Wildlife
Mitigation agreement. After Camanche Dam was completed in
1963, the natural salmon spawning grounds located near the
small town of Camanche were flooded when Camanche Reservoir
filled. EBMUD has brought in tons of gravel at several
locations below the dam in order to re-create those spawning
areas for salmon. The results are several great habitat
areas that attract trout and steelhead also.
My affair
with the Lower Mokelumne has inspired me to have my ashes
spread along the river after I’m gone and I hope that
doesn’t impact the ecology too severely. I encourage
everyone to enjoy this valley treasure whether your interest
is fishing, hiking, kayaking, or just a weekend float on
your favorite raft. I also encourage everyone to be a
steward of this beautiful gift of nature by becoming
knowledgeable and sensitive to the human impacts we can
cause to nature. Be safe, be thoughtful, and I hope to see
you on the river.
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Mokelumne River
Outfitters Featured in the Stockton Record;
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081029/A_SPORTS03/810290323/-1/A_SPORTS
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Our
“Jewel of the Valley”, the Mokelumne
River
deserves some TLC, while enjoying all of its recreational
opportunities, my focus for this ongoing article is to
educate people so we can all preserve the beauty and
integrity of this wonderful river and it’s wildlife.
I spend an
average of 40 to 60 days each year, fishing with clients on
the river from the Comanche Dam to Stillman
Magee
Park on Mackville Road. During the warmer months of the
year, I collect a minimum of one large trash bag of cans,
bottles, worm tubs, lost sandals, damaged rafts, cigarette
packs and other debris on each outing. It’s sad but true
that rafters and bank fisherman intentionally leave this
litter. In 2006, we had some pretty high flows in the
spring and recreational floating was at a minimum due to
closure of the river. I took several random photos of banks
and river areas that were void of litter. The day after the
Board of Supervisors reopened the river; I took photos of
those same locations and filled three large trash bags of
the familiar debris. It’s really a simple approach and
similar to backpacking philosophies. Only take in what you
can take back out. If I were to point out the single item
that plagues this river, its beer cans. Personally, I enjoy
a cold one as much as anybody else. To combine alcohol and
water temperatures below 50 degrees is a bad combination.
Save those cold ones for after your float trip and in the
safety of your home.
On a more
positive note, lets address fish conservation on the river.
As I meet and talk with fisherman along the river, I’ve come
to realize that the majority of the folks I meet don’t know
the regulations on this stretch of the Mokelumne. The river
opens to fishing each year on January 1st and
closes on March 31st. It reopens the fourth
Saturday of May and closes again on October 15th.
The daily limit per person is one hatchery trout or
steelhead and three salmon. Hatchery fish is easily
recognized by the missing adipose fin located between the
dorsal and tailfin. Keep in mind, my daily records that I’ve
maintained for over twenty years show that one in
thirty-five fish caught are hatchery fish. The point of this
information is that the lower Mokelumne is essentially a
catch and release fishery.
In order to
try and maintain a healthy and successful fish release
program, I promote the use of barbless hooks and a careful
release. It’s very easy to turn your barbed hooks into
barbless hooks. I use a flat-jaw set of pliers and simply
crimp down the barb on each hook. I modify all of my hooks
prior to fishing so I make sure we’re always barbless. As
far releasing your fish, the best method is to really never
touch the fish. Whenever possible, I use a rubber net and
avoid touching the fish. A good set of medical forceps work
great for removing hooks. There are also several fish
release products on the market including the Ketchum Release
by WaterWorks or the Arc Dehooker. Of course we all want
that photo of our best fish. My approach is to remove the
hook while the fish is in the rubber net and immersed in the
water. As I setup my photo, I try to coordinate and time the
event so my clients touch their fish for the shortest amount
of time possible. Then we oxygenate the fish by “tailing” it
in the current to insure a safe and healthy release.
Be safe,
have fun and I hope to see you on the river.
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