Salmon Spotting

Growing up fishing for salmon and steelhead on cold, wet, winter mornings in Oregon helped be develop a sense of awe for these fish. This is partly due to their long journeys to spawning grounds and also because all of those days out fishing I never caught one. So now, I go fishing with my eyes. Salmon spotting. There has been a big push recently in Marin county to restore some of the salmon runs of the past and the fish have returned slowly, but surely.

This past Thursday, after teaching, I drove out to Shafter Bridge on Lagunitas Creek for my first salmon spotting this year. I saw 6 fish (3 Coho and 3 steelhead, my best guess) and happened to get a picture of 2 of them (3 if you enlarge the pic) :
Today, Deb came with me and we saw 5 more fish. Two great days of salmon spotting!

A local non-profit called SPAWN has led the charge with creek restoration and by raising local awareness. It is amazing to see what a small group of people can accomplish.

It makes me wonder what possibilities BAYA could pursue in 2007. Any ideas???