Check In on your angling, and your advocacy
Pre-season is the best time to recalibrate, set new angling goals, and realign your advocacy aims.
CFSers,
Saturday night the Deschutes River Alliance held its annual gala, where anglers and river lovers come together to raise tens of thousands of dollars to help the DRA meet its goals.
It's a pivotal year for the Deschutes, as DRA executive director Sarah Cloud noted in her opening remarks. After years of work, the problems on the river—which are 100% solvable with a few small administrative tweaks—have become visible to a broader population. Not just river lovers. Local alt-weekly Willamette Week has been dogged in its reporting about the river's issues. At the urging of the DRA and others, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek launched an inquiry into the Department of Environmental Quality's efforts in the area. And three independent consultants corroborated the DRA's scientific findings in a paper in Water: The $108 million dollar selective water withdrawal tower that dam operators PGE installed to help the dam comply with regulations doesn't work. This is all pointing to the state of Oregon requiring PGE to adopt a new operating agreement to return the river to compliance.
The solutions the DRA is demanding are simple: A three-year trial of increased releases from the bottom of the dam, except in periods when salmon smolt make their nocturnal outmigration: the Night Blend.
It's time to make goals for your angling and advocacy
What does this have to do with my fly fishing, in my corner of the world, you ask?
I share it as an example of how progress toward big, impossible-seeming goals is possible. The DRA is the one organization standing up to PGE and a sovereign tribal nation and generating scientific data to show its solutions are in violation of state standards. And things are changing.
I'm guessing that wherever you fish, there are rivers that need advocates. Do you have a river that you advocate for, above all others? If it isn't clear, the Deschutes is mine. I support the DRA's work, and I have a very special project in the mix that will give you a fun way to join me.
Similarly to lengthy conservation battles, it can feel daunting to learn all the things you need to learn to feel confident and engaged as a fly angler.
The CFS Check In sets the agenda for a season of learning
That's why we developed the CFS Check In. It's a tool to help asses the skills you want to grow by focusing on more of the areas that light you up as an angler.
By aiming to develop both the soft skills and hard skills necessary to become a better angler, you'll be able make a tangible series of steps towards your goals, both long-term and short.
Anyone can benefit from pouring a cup of coffee and pondering the questions in the Check In.
Setting your fly fishing intentions: The CFS Check In
Check in with your goals and set new fly fishing intentions as spring starts creeping up.
If you're a paid member, that includes a 1:1 session with me where we connect and go through the Check In together, and end up with a plan for you to make progress against your goals. Paid members: I'll be in touch in the coming weeks to make sure we connect.
If you're not a paid member yet, it's not too late to get on board this year, before the fly fishing season starts in earnest. Sign up for a paid membership and take an affirmative step in your transformation to the angler you want to be.
Leaders ➰
Ten fishy links to start your week on the fly side:
Mindset 🧘♂️
I have been sharing Robin Sloan's latest essay "Flood Fill and the Magic Circle" as a counter-spell whenever any of my group chats shares the latest viral AI doomer post. Sloan's thesis? That we over-estimate AI's influence based on a pro-screen bias, and should cultivate pursuits outside of the "magic circle". I see pretty much anything as an excuse to go fishing or tie flies, but especially this. (robinsloan.com)
Environment ⛰️
Salmon need a balanced diet too, Alastair Bland decodes a paper describing how the lack of vitamin B1, or thiamine, is impacting winter run populations of Sacramento River winter-run chinook. The culprit? An ocean ecosystem overrun with anchovies, that do not provide the vital nutrient the same way other forage fish like herring did. (Biographic)
Tools 🎣
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Admittedly, I have a bias against old school flies. They're often tough to tie. And, I have the gut feeling that they're less effective. All nonsense, of course. In "More Forgotten Flies" Huge Fly Fisherman goes through a few styles that have gone out of favor, with some great fly history revealed. (Huge Fly Fisherman)
Technique 🤺
If you haven't yet, I recommend you develop a smallmouth bass practice. They're great fun on a fly rod, and eager participants in the spring pre-spawn period, once water temperatures reach 50 degrees. Midcurrent's Marshall Cutchin has all the details of how to get started. (Midcurrent)
One of the angling voices I enjoy and respect the most lately is Cosmic John. And that's not just because he's seen the Dead hundreds of times. His angling insight is hard won over decades. Tune in to his latest as he dissects how to fish the margins—the places where fish hang outside of the main flow—especially when the current is ripping. Come for the intro to fluid dynamics, stay for the master class in how to read water. (Cosmic John)
Conservation 🌲
The mental gymnastics needed by NOAA to look at abysmal steelhead returns on the Olympic Peninsula and the habitat challenges they face, and determine while they're at moderate risk of extinction in the next 40-60 years they shouldn't today be given Endangered Species Act classification is beyond. (Midcurrent)
Former Montana gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse is running to oppose breathtakingly corrupt congressman Ryan Zinke and has an urgent note about Zinke's plans to fast-track mining on the Bitterroot River, an absolute gem of a stream. (Montana Dispatch)
STATS OF THE WEEK
Despite the appearance of partisanship in all aspects of American life, there are things we agree on—important things—across party designations.
In the annual Conservation in the West poll, among residents of eight states, "76 percent of respondents want...more emphasis on public lands protection than on increased extraction."
Meanwhile Trump Administration Vol. 1 denizen Kellyanne Conway emerged in an unlikely place: as a clean energy lobbyist. Her polling found across 1,000 voters in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas that "83% of all voters, and 75% of Trump supporters agree...solar energy should be used in the US to strengthen and increase our energy supply." So, put that in your pipe and vaporize it with clean electric energy. (RePUBLIC, Semafor)
Community 🏘️
Adipose Boatworks in Helena, Montana, creators of some of the most rowable, workhorse skiffs going, suffered a fire last week at their manufacturing facility. The footage is staggering, but thankfully no lives were lost. Consider an Adipose if you're in the boat market, they're a dream to row. (Adipose Boatworks)
Events 📆
Got an event you want the community to know about? Send it over, and I'll include it here. You can see all of our upcoming CFS events on Luma.
February 28, Roscoe NY
Catskill Fly Tyers Guild's FlyFest (Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum)
March 5, Eugene, OR
Book launch for Jesse Lance Robbins' "The Best Fly Fishing is Everywhere" at Caddis Fly Shop (The Redsides)
March 14, Portland, OR
Anna Le of Grayling Education, who you may remember as the host of last year's amazing TroutFest Trivia, is collaborating with the great folks at Guss outdoor sauna to bring sauna and angling to Sellwood Riverfront Park.
March 18, Ann Arbor, MI
Spencer Lecture Featuring climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe (University of Michigan)
April 24-25, Gresham, OR
Sandy River Spey Clave (Sandy River Spey Clave)
April 25, Vida, OR
The Wooden Boat Show on the McKenzie River (The Redsides)
April 30, Seattle, WA
"Running Wild: Return to the River" showing at the Pacific Science Center (Wild Salmon Center)
CFS: May 2, Willamette Valley, OR
Waterside fly tying and fishing field trip (More details to come)
May 20, Portland, OR
"Running Wild: Return to the River" showing at OMSI (Wild Salmon Center)
CFS: May 28-31, Maupin, OR
It's our annual Maupin Meetup! Registered now, before it fills up. (CFS Events)
June 23, San Francisco, CA
"Running Wild: Return to the River" showing at the California Academy of Sciences (Wild Salmon Center)
June 26-28, La Pine, OR
Tenkara Oregon's Tenkara Bugout (Tenkara Oregon)
Register for the Maupin Meetup!
The salmonfly hatch and all the beauty of late spring in the high desert will be upon us soon. Join CFS May 28-31 in Maupin, Oregon, for some classic big bug fishing and the DRA's TroutFest celebration.
High fives for secondhand gear ✋
How two Michigan pals launched a fly fishing gear marketplace
Their goal? Create an online marketplace to help fly anglers connect with each other around quality secondhand fly equipment.
How to buy a used fly rod: Six steps to get started
In addition to CastBack there are other sources you can scour—online and off—to get a great deal on a used fly rod. Read our six tips, and get a checklist to follow when evaluating a used rod.
That's it that's all! Current Flow State is a weekly newsletter from me, Nick Parish.
If you had a magic wand, what river would you improve? Tell me on Bluesky 🦋, Instagram 📸, YouTube 🎥, or the Fishcord 💬.
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"The environment is where we all meet; it is the one thing we all share." – Lady Bird Johnson
