All This and Fish Too?

By Mark Wilbert

It?s 8:00 AM, and my colleague, Joe Kerkvliet, and I are gazing into the clear waters of the Skagit River at Marblemount. In our work lives Joe and I are members of the research department of The Wilderness Society. We help produce the science that gives much of the organization?s work its solid foundation. But this day we are just fishers, joining a handful of others out to enjoy the sights and sounds of the river and catch a trout or two. As winter deepens and the salmon runs of the fall are well done, the focus of fishers in these parts turns to steelhead, that marvelous seagoing trout that, like the salmon, returns to the river in which it was born to start the next generation.

Joe and I push off in his boat and start our leisurely drift down the river, steering toward likely fish-holding water. The air is crisp, making it a day for gloves, but the sky is blue, and the river banks are covered with snow. All in all a great day to be in the North Cascades. Our hopes are high.

This is my first float down the Skagit. Joe was here a week or so earlier, drifting the river with his family as they looked for Bald Eagles. We fish from the boat as we drift, but we land regularly to fish from the shore and explore the river?s edge. There is always something interesting to discover. Near the Cascade River, where the daytime sun and the night?s clear sky have repeatedly melted and refrozen the snow, there is a display of dramatic ice crystals covering a gravel bar. Deer tracks abound, though we don?t see the deer that made them. And, of course, somewhere in the river, where the current slackens just a bit to offer a resting place, is that steelhead we?re looking for.

Joe and I share the river with a variety of explorers. In addition to other fishers, there are groups out to watch the eagles that winter here to feed on salmon. These fish are a key part of the North Cascades ecosystem, providing a source of energy not only for eagles but for other fish, freshwater mussels, and aquatic insects that, in turn, play their role in the cycle of life here. We also encounter a group of whitewater kayakers. As we stand knee-deep in the river, waiting to make our next casts, they burst through the standing waves just above us, laughing and shouting in delight with the ride they are getting. Having been a kayaker in my younger days, and still camping, hiking, and fishing, I?m pleased with the variety of recreational activities that the North Cascades offers.

After lunch I give Joe a break from the oars and let him fish as we drift. Near Cascadian Farm, where in warmer weather we would have pulled over for a little home-made ice cream, I maneuver Joe to the side of the river other fishers have not visited. There along the bank is a narrow slot of deeper water that looks like it could hold fish. Moments later Joe?s rod lifts into the air as he cries, ?Fish on!? A few minutes more and he lands a 20-inch Dolly Varden, also called a bull trout. Not really a trout, but a member of the char family, the Dolly Varden has declined in numbers in the Northwest just as the salmon has. In most rivers it is a protected species, and the Skagit is one of the few rivers where the population is healthy enough that fishers are allowed to keep one. This is a beautiful silver-gray fish with the orange spots characteristic of a bull trout. When preparing to spawn, these fish will get bright tinges of red, orange and white, making them a sight to behold. Joe releases this one in the hope that it will help maintain this population and provide fun for the next fisher to come by.

Joe?s Dolly and a mountain whitefish that really went out of its way to get caught turned out to be the only fish we caught, but there are other measures of a successful day. We pulled into shore at Rockport relaxed and content, already planning our next visit.