The Current Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 40

If you ask me why I have long supported CalTrout, I only need to review the waters I have been regularly fishing since the 1980’s to be reminded. The Owens River, Hot Creek, the Kern and Kings rivers, the creeks of the Golden Trout Wilderness, and in my own backyard here in southern California, the West Fork of the San Gabriel River. Each of these has been the beneficiary of CalTrout’s commitment to “protect and restore” trout, especially native trout, and their habitat. From riparian fencing on the Owens and Kern rivers, to restoring alpine habitat for Golden trout, to returning water to Mono Lake (and thereby establishing an important legal precedent for stream flows) and to the Owens gorge, CalTrout has been a major force. As the Conservation Chair for my local fishing club, the Pasadena Casting Club, I am especially grateful for CalTrout’s long-standing commitment (almost 30 years now) to the West Fork Long-term Management plan, to which they are a signatory. And just to round off the list, here are two more reasons, items which younger or more recent fly fishers might take for granted: California’s Wild Trout and Heritage Wild Trout programs, and the development of the Catch and Release ethic in fishing.

Thank you, CalTrout!

John Tobin

Pasadena, CA

CalTrout Member since 2005

Click to

JOIN John

in supporting

CalTrout

DONOR PROFILE