BEST BET FOR FLY FISHING GUIDE TRIPS IS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & SOUTHERN OREGON!

CALL US TO BOOK YOUR SPRING SUMMER FLY FISHING ADVENTURE.

MANY RIVERS TO YOU, JACK TROUT – 530-926-4540  OR INFO@JACKTROUT.COM

McCloud river is high right now, but fishing well when you know what to use.

Many beginners are calling me now, the other day I had a client land 14 fish and it was their first day ever fly fishing.

As long as the color is correct, if you get down to where the fish are, they are hungry.

Just on the edges of where the flows are and the seam, water temps are cold, so mid day is best.

I’m seeing grey drake mayflies, midge larva, green tree worms, midge clusters, mayfly crawlers. The river is rich with food for trout.

Beef sure is happy to be back out again on the rivers of the North State.

Norm hooking trout on his first day ever fly fishing!

You can always count on an award winning fly fishing guide lunch from Jack Trout Fly Fishing International.

All in all we had a terrific day, 14 trout landed, probably way over 20 hook-ups!

A great start to a great season, you can’t go wrong folks, make your plans to get to the Mount Shasta area, we got you dialed. We have wonderful restaurants, lodging and the best views, rivers and climate. The towns of Dunsmuir, McCloud, Weed and Mount Shasta are your towns too! We love tourism in Siskiyou County and welcome all visitors, races and religions.

Another season of catching trout with clients, what more could anyone ask for, what a great job.

Thanks again to Norm and Rosemary, look forward to seeing you folks again and thanks for staying in the Mount Shasta area. Many rivers to you, Jack & Carola Trout

Our 20th season of private Upper Sacramento Fly Fishing Raft Trips, 3 sections and Nick Stetser will be helping me this season with larger groups.

Beef is so happy about the new season he looks sad, oh yea he just fell out of the raft on the Bottoms Out rapid. Water’s coooollllldddd!! lol

I did an exploratory trip with two of my good friends from Mount Shasta, Ken Nelson, a longtime rafting guide and Doug York, nature lover and overall fun nut to be out on a river with.

Nick is the first guide I have ever trained to do this trip with me. Eventually someone is going to take this trip over, being that he works for the fire department too, I can’t think of a better guy to be out there with me hosting group trips. He’s super safe, very professional and has a lot of rafting experience already as he runs a swift water rescue course with the fire battalion he works for.

I’m always happy to just be back out there on a sunny Northern California day. The Upper Sac float is my favorite trip I do – Period! I have worked hard for 20 years perfecting this trip so you can fly fish the Upper Sac in a unique-safe way. The only outfit that can guide this trip legally, as we licensed through the USFS Shasta Trinity Forest.

From Simms To Vollmers – The best fly fishing float in California, for trout, scenery, privacy, streamside BBQ lunches and memories.

We pioneered it!  jt

New equipment, frames that are designed to be fished out of, yet safe for rafting. No anchors ever!

This Nick guy is solid and all the clients really like him.

The float is incredible, if you only floated it, you can see the most incredible views, we are so lucky to have rivers like this in our state, we are literally floating on California’s future economy, the amount of water my state gets determines how well we do economically. When someone switches on a light switch in Southern California, that’s Sacramento river water, the most important river in California.

I Just Wish One Thing As A Fly Fishing Outfitter And River Lover – That Both Parties And Every Living Breathing Person Would Realize, The Rivers Are All We Have. We Must Protect Our Rivers. Clean Air, Clean Rivers Free Of Pollutants Should Be Priority #1 On Everyone’s Agenda. To Disregard Nature Is Like Never Changing Your Underwear Or Not Brushing Your Teeth, I Would Think The One Thing That Each Political Party Would Embrace, Especially Right Now Is The Protection Of California Rivers. We Are California, We Care About Our Grandchildren, We Care About A Clean Environment, We Are Not Like Back East – We Are California And Environment Should Be Priority #1. We Need Amazing Salmon & Steelhead Runs, We Don’t Want To be left Eating Bass In The Future.

Bills Like AB 975 (Friedman) To Add 162 More Miles Of Wild and Scenic Rivers And Protect A 1/4 Mile On Both Sides Of The River Is An Very Important Bill. The Clients View From The Boat Does Not End At The Shoreline, River Shorelines Must Be Protected, Clients Do Not Get A Thrill By Seeing A Casino By The Shoreline Of Any River And Some Things Must Remain Sacred, Rivers Should Be Honored, Not Assaulted.

AB 975 Only applies to existing state Wild and Scenic Rivers, including protected segments of the Smith, Klamath, Scott, Salmon, Trinity, Eel, Van Duzen, American, East Carson, West Walker, South Yuba, Albion and Gualala Rivers, and Cache Creek. It does not add any rivers to the system. (Source – Friends of the River www.friendsoftheriver.org )

This bill goes up for vote next week, the California Assembly & Senate will be voting on this very important water bill. I guide both Republican and Democratic clients who I know value rivers and our environment. I know that we can send a message to the rest of the United States that we the people of California care about our rivers more than anything and there is no party lines when it comes to rivers in  California and how we must protect them as well as our salmon and steelhead runs. I don’t care what party you belong to, this should be a priority in your life. Protecting rivers now is more important than ever. Think about it, Jack Trout

This evacuation bucket looks like it hasn’t been used in a century?

Beef’s favorite creek is Dog Creek of course!

Harlan Miller built bridges all over the Pacific Northwest in the 1920’s. His architectural designs were coined after the same designs used by the United States Mint (Reeded silver & gold coins) and he also used the government federal emblem used by the Union Pacific railroad in their logo and seen below the hand railing on this bridge in the photo above.

READ MORE ON HARLAN MILLER BRIDGES & HISTORY

What a fantastic day! One of the best things about guiding around the Shasta area, we have so many choices in every direction. Thanks again to Nick Stetser and my good friends Ken & Doug from Mount Shasta. I plan to go out again and fish with some people next week. Give me a call I have dates open for May, you can catch big fish right now in the Upper Sac, the river coming down each week. Best to you, Jack Trout – 530-926-4540 – cell 530-925-0331

Many beginners calling for guide trips! This is so great because with the rivers coming down in level – now is the time to call to book your trip.

Though with the lack of crowds now, I would get up here sooner than later. I have dates open for May, give us a call.

Nancy’s first day out fly fishing, with a nice trout landed.

Nick Stetser – Out with Yan Yan Ley of Daly City, California and her first day ever fly fishing!

Now that’s not what most beginners catch, but if you want a larger trout to catch and release, I would consider the Lower Sacramento right now, the flows are great and we are catching great trout for our clients. Ask Yan Yan!! Whoohoo! jt (We catch and release trout in all rivers.)

Nick did a fine job and her husband was equally impressed with his day. 🙂

The Adventures of Nick Stetser begin, another Jack Trout Fly Fishing Guide Superhero!

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SPRING IS SPRINGER TIME ON THE LOWER KLAMATH RIVER – MAY –  JUNE –  JULY

Kenton tells me fishing is good on the Northern California coast, he has some great tips below, might want to get a date in the books for what we predict as being one of the most favorable seasons in some years for fly fishermen on the Lower Klamath River.

Wouldn’t you love to land one of these springers!

5 lb bass on Ryan’s flies, you go to be kidding me, I’m in! 🙂

LlOYD NUNEZ – HOPKINS VILLAGE BELIZE

Lloyd did good this week getting our client this permit in Southern Belize.

Permit are so hard to catch on a fly, THE most coveted catch in fly fishing is the Permit fish landed on a fly rod.

Way to go Lloyd, you are a bad man!! lol 🙂 But how will your San Antonio Spurs do against my Golden State Warriors??  Whoohoo – Another series bro!

www.tourplacencia.com  Airport Pickup, Tours & Shuttles – Dangriga – Hopkins & Placencia Belize.

Our client Darryl Collister caught this nice bone fish this past week in Hopkins Belize.

Note from the team leader:

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CUBA EXPLORATORY TRIP ~ CUBA EXPLORATORY TRIP ~ CUBA EXPLORATORY TRIP ~

My business partner and good friend Jesse Aguilar lives and is a tour guide in Havana Cuba. He picked me up at the airport to show me his tours around the country and possible a tour all of you might be able to do someday.

A 1950 Cadillac was certainly appreciated, I sure was welcomed in style.

After a simple immigration process, I was off to be taken to the house Jesse had arranged for me in a good area of Havana. This was a two fold mission for me. I had 5 days to see all the tours Jesse and Katia do around Cuba, then head down to the Bay of Pigs to get fly fishing gear to my guides Felipe and Julio so people who want to go fly fishing for a day or two don’t have to schlep down fly fishing gear for a limited time fishing. I could check everything out and know better these trips I have been selling in Cuba for people just like you.

The house and location couldn’t of been better and there was great restaurants in the neighborhood that were completely affordable and had great food.

This was one of Jesse’s favorite places and there was another American man from PBS there on assignment filming a documentary on his break for lunch.

On the walls I enjoyed all the currencies from different countries, being a coin guy on the side.

I enjoyed a wonderful lobster lunch with a kind of lobster aju sauce marinated onto the grilled delicacy,  a fond lunch memory I’ll soon will not forget.

Dessert was good too, I really enjoyed the dairy products in Cuba, like cheeses, ice cream and Mamay milkshakes.

Cruising Havana was always cool, it really brings you back to the 1950’s era of life.

A little later back to the pad I was staying at for 6 nights, at $50 per day including breakfast, what a bargain Jesse had found. Many people are being taken advantage with great pictures, only to find out they rented in a dumpy neighborhood, call us to get dialed into a good place based on your budget when you want to go to Cuba.

www.cubaclassictour.com

It was fun to look out and people watch from the 2nd floor of this building, people are just like you and I all over the world, late for work!

The 1940’s decor was stunning and I really got the chance to feel and experience the same things that my parents did growing up. I felt like it was 1940 to 1950’s and it made me feel great.

The place was really cute and I had all the famous movie stars of that era with me.

The bathroom was cleaner and nicer than mine at home. This place was a real treat!

In the evenings it had a lighted balcony room with a beautiful mosaic and plenty of marble to compliment it.

The house next door heard to be Swiss people really impressed me with all their colored lighting and cool art.

I kept wanting to knock on their door and ask them the history of this piece, being that I’m such a historical geek.

Whoa Nelly, I wonder what great story lies behind this relic?

Every morning Irma, who lived in another house close, would bring me these delicious breakfast’s.

I always saved the fruit and juice for the evenings when I got back from tours with Jesse, it was a really appreciated after feeling dehydrated from being in the sun all day.

We stopped by to get some drinks and a Cuban band was playing music at 9 am in the morning. Every where you go there’s music, I hear it all over the country.

Dogs lounging, taken it easy..

My 2 partners in Cuba – Yaseli & Jesse, have been guides for years in Cuba. They have guided mainly Canadians & English in their lifetime, but things are changing in Cuba. Americans are now the 2nd leading country visiting Cuba since 2016, having Canada as # 1 and replacing the British as #2. There has been an 185 % increase in Americans visiting Cuba over last year says the ministry of tourism in Cuba. Every where I went, all I saw was Americans wearing MLB baseball caps.

The main problem I see is the American Government needs to start allowing banks to operate in Cuba, Americans there are running out of money and there is no way to get it once you run out. Delta & American Airlines fly there, I have 2 businesses there. The next move would be to open up banking, there’s too many dollars involved now and it’s time for a change that would be good. Submitted respectfully, Jack Trout

Back in 1916, Milton Hershey came to Cuba to buy some lands to start exporting sugar, from his cane fields to his production plants in the United States. He fell in love with Cuba and started the Hershey Gardens near Hershey Town.

The place is a national park now and he left here way before the 1960’s, he was one American that got to experience Cuba’s history at it’s absolute finest times. 1916 to 1940’s.

Back in Prohibition in the 1920’s everyone flocked to Cuba because you could legally drink here, gamble and hang out with the newly found movie stars of your era in Havana. Maybe go out and see Milton Hershey.

The old Hershey Town, the community where the workers would come in and out of to work at the factory of the sugar cane fields. This train still runs and brings workers to nearby towns.

The original houses that the ranking employees lived in during the 1920’s through 40’s.

Pretty nice places.

Old hotel or apartment house for former employees.

The Hershey Factory, completely shut down and non operative, Jesse told me there used to be a golf course nearby.

Cuban Giants fans giving me the thumbs up, everyone was so welcoming and nice. Cuban people just want a chance to experience the same things you and I do. One day I left my camera in a central plaza park in Santa Cruz Cuba and came back an hour later with people around. The camera was still there, no one took it. Many had to have seen it, but they left it there because it wasn’t their’s. I wanted to share that story…

Then Jesse took me to the town of Mantanzas to a local museum and we saw all these amazing pistols from the 16th & 17th centuries when the Spanish empire ruled Cuba.

And this display of Spanish, English & Danish swords sure were impressive.

Colts – Smith and Wessons and many others I hadn’t ever seen before that this informative museum that also talked about the history of slavery in Cuba, a very sad history subject.

After that we went to a place where we enjoyed non-alcoholic pina-coladas that were the best I had ever had in my life. The next day I had set up a tour with a couple of nice Southern California who didn’t mind if I came along and shot pictures of there trip and experience. We were heading that day for Vinales, Cuba. below Jesse talking about the Belly Palm Tree that only grows in Cuba.

Jesse’s trip from Havana to Vinales and back is $375 USD for up to 3 people, a must do trip.

Natural caves in the hillsides that oceans once roamed, the local indigenous native tribe called the Tainos, soon ventured there after.

Cal Trout & His Dog Spot!

If You Want Good Deal Go See Trout! Want A Trip To Cuba, Go See Trout! If You Want Good Deal And You Don’t Want A Spiel. Go See Trout, Go See Trout, Go See Trout!

(Cal Worthington Music)

www.cubaflyfishguide.com  & www.cubaclassictour.com

The lush beautiful valley’s of Vinales Cuba.

What an incredible place it was!

One of my highlights of the trip was cruising back to Havana with as many as 10 other classic cars in a sort of Graffiti Fashion. You could really feel the era upon us!

John Lennon Park – Havana, Cuba

Some lady came up that Jesse said guards the statue and added some sun glasses.

Abe Lincoln Statue, Havana Cuba.

It was great to see from the last time I visited Cuba last year, that more predominant hotels in Havana were proudly flying American flags. Times are a changing folks, you can see it in the people wearing American flag shirts seen all over the country. The younger mood is prosperous, with a respect for their parents generation and a sense to just be patient and let things evolve naturally. From my perspective it reminded a lot like what I saw after the 1990’s in Chile. Those same people who were driving horse carts are now driving Toyota’s and Chile’s economy is doing very well compared to all other South American countries. The Cuban people are special and I mean that. They are industrious, hard working, good on history and world affairs from what I’ve seen. People from all over the world live and have migrated there for the last 600 years and more, it’s an amazing mix of culture and history.

The Capitol Of Cuba in downtown Havana.

Pretty cool to just walk right up and say hi!

This is the terminal where we pick up our clients for cruise ship arrivals & departures. We are not allowed to pick passengers up inside, so we meet them across from the Sierra Maestra San Francisco Terminal Building-

(Sounds like someplace back at home.)

Jesse picks up cruise ship people here – below this tree where the horse carriage is. He’ll wait until you can finally come off the ship. He can help you buy any souvenir you may want and he is an approved Cuban Tour Guide to validate your People To People designation form that every American must mark on the ship that needs to be confirmed by someone like Jesse Aguilar, who is a License Cuban Tour Guide.

Our trip to Ernest Hemingway’s House was very memorable, I got a full tour of his home as left exactly when he died in 1961.

We suggest renting the new movie Papa Hemingway, the first Hollywood Movie done in Cuba since 1959.

Hemingway’s boat he took out in the oceans of Cuba and the catalyst for the book Old Man and the Sea.

The placed reeked with history, You  literally felt as though Papa might come walking around the corner at any moment.

I got a rare visit inside his house and was allowed to shoot some photos, I was told there were thousands of books stored in this house. His notes, books, papers and art, left as is, as of the day he left it. Though he did always stand when he typed his books.

Jesse told me that Mussolini once sent Hemingway an unsigned check for the Spiral Horned Antelope he has in the back wall on the left. He wouldn’t sell it.

A few shots I got from an outside window, it started to rain and they starting closing everything up, could you blame them.

I enjoyed my Hemingway moment, it was a look back in time at a man who was a literature genus, with a wild west mind, off looking for his next adventure to drink & write about. I admire the mans books and I am grateful for his lessons in life stories and how they helped me structure a peice and keep it simple. Easy reading as my pops would say. Cuba is a safe country and a great place to visit in the Caribbean. You can now get your passports stamped and the US Immigration does not care. You can bring back 100 Cuban cigars and 100 bottles of rum, without having it taken away. When I just went through customs the immigration guard was wanting to go to Cuba too and was very positive about American / Cuban relations. He loved cigars and was seriously thinking about going soon himself. The tourism in Cuba is very strong with mainly Americans on the East Coast going now. It’s just starting to hit out here in the west that it is 100% OK to fly to Cuba now. We can help you, with airfare advice, visas information, the People to People program and general great advice for Cuba. Major American airlines are flying to Cuba several times a day. Good things can only happen now for Cuba and its people, the Yankee dollars are flowing in like magic. Tourism will bring great changes and restore Havana as an important historical hospitality city in the world once again.

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TIME FOR THE FLY FISHING IN CUBA

This is where you can stay when you come down to Havana Cuba for a few days fly fishing. You first need to take a classic car to Playa Larga to the Hotel Playa Larga or find a house in the area on Air BnB.

The place is real basic, pretty vanilla at best, but it does withstand a class 4 hurricane..

The lobby is nice and the beach isn’t far behind the back.

Check-in counter..

Little bar for drinks and espresso. The best part about this fishing package is the fishing, boat and the guides.

You’ll be fly fishing in the Bay of Pigs People! You’re going to love it! You won’t see another boat.

We get your fishing license issued and head down the 12 mile bumpy road to the fishing dock, the views are spectacular of the lagoona on the right side and the bird estuary are welcomed distractions.

I really loved that trip, even though I did get bounced around a little. My advice also is to watch the drinking the night before the trip and get to Playa Larga a day or 2 before your trip, leaving from Havana requires you to leave at 5:30 am and being in the area the day before at least is wise advice.

My guide Felipe is a master of these waters and has guided them for over 25 years.

A constamment professional, yet kind and helpful out on the water, I would trust this guide with anyone out on the flats or the open ocean.

I must of hooked 12 bonefish in the first hour alone on a perfect weather day with no wind, the ocean was like glass and you could see everything too.

Good hard fighting bone fish, nothing too huge but lots of them constantly, and no one else around.

A nice mutton snapper on my 7 wt. that was a treat. I lost one that was twice as big. I sure loved it out there, the ocean aqua marine colors were larger than life, a true Walt Disney movie scene in every direction.

We kept searching for tarpon or permit but that day, none were showing. Until I saw a shark that took one of Ryan Williams American Striper Bass Flies and he ran me so far into my backing I couldn’t believe it. But then he came unbuttoned. About an hour later I hooked another one that took the fly right in front of me and we were lucky because at first he ran into the mangroves and Felipe patiently pulled the shark out of the limbs effortlessly? I was confused on how the shark must of known, if he didn’t come back out with the tugs he was feeling from his behind, he was going to be pickled for breakfast? He then came right out and headed down the small trough opening and out into the open ocean. I thought about Hemingway and his character, Santiago, in the Old Man and the Sea, right then, I was having my Hemingway moment, the largest fish I have ever hooked on a fly rod was on my line and was taking us out to sea.

This was no normal shark, it fought hard and came up near the surface a few times to throw the hook. I looked out and thought, I have this incredible shark, the biggest fish of my life, out here with no other boats and I am in the Bay of Pigs, for an American, it was like eating forbidden fruit. It was surreal and if I could only land this personal record catch, but the shark wouldn’t give up. Every time I thought I had made some time and ground on him, he would just pull away and be off again into my backing of this 11 wt fly rod. A couple of times he neared the gunnel of the boat and bit high up on the side, I could hear Felipe say, whoa! There was no way either one of us was going to tail grab this shark. After an hour of fighting, I could feel my forearm paining up pretty bad, I started getting cramps, changing arms, hoping he would give up soon and idle my weakened limbs.

But he’d just start back up again until he got close enough and tired enough that we could grab his tail by the kype and possible tail lock him on boat with one hand, but before you could move him back 6 inches he would turn and try to bite your hand off. That’s when Felipe said to me; “I don’t think this is a lemon shark, this shark is too mean and strong?” Then he had this idea to make a hangman’s noose out of the bow rope and maybe lasso him on board. Felipe got a hold of his tail and told me to stand back and with a quick noose and a blink of the eye, Felipe had roped that steer and dragged him onto the boat. I was ready to make my first attempt ever at tap dancing if I had to…

Felipe said that’s one of the 5 biggest fish ever landed in his boat!! It was a 50 lb Blacktip Shark, the world record was 77 lbs on a fly rod. I was pretty happy to find that out later that week online. Wow, what an adventure that day! All in the Bay of Pigs, Las Salinas, Cuba.

We released it unharmed but had a lot of fish in the area lobbying us to take him home with us! lol 🙂

For sure the biggest thing I ever caught on a fly rod on a Ryan Williams fly he tied for my Caribbean trip. The sharks must of been taking it for a bait fish. There was no hesitation on both sharks, they engulfed it!

I resuscitated the blacktip shark for a longtime and he did swim off very fast and strong, I thanked him for his pleasure.

We took the bus back on the long bumpy half hour road back to the Hotel Playa Larga, but that night I was invited to stay at Felipe’s house and meet and have dinner with his family in a town nearby. It was a real treat and I felt very welcomed to the area.

The next day we did the Rio Hatiguanico that primarily sported tarpon runs up into the river from the ocean.

Once again the equipment was the best, something you might not expect in Cuba but now exists and my other guide Julio was another great guide out on the water. I had been getting reports from clients I had been sending down that both my guides were really great.

For this river you need a 80 lb leader to 60 lb tippet – 350 to 400 grain 20 foot sink line is best with a 10 to 12 wt fly rod. Flies that caught fish were black cockroaches, purple and Ryan Williams flies – did the best.

Caught this mangrove snapper on black.

Caught this tarpon on a Ryan Williams fly pearl color, the same one that caught the shark. I had seen tarpon every where in this river. They are constantly moving, jumping and thrashing the water. It was a lot of fun, but I would suggest beginners and intermediates do the day on the ocean, as this trip is very demanding for a novice. Precise long fast casts, with the tip held way down into the water and the strips must be timed correctly. The fight is odd in that you never raise your tip, never, or the fish comes off. You have to set with your hand only, never moving the tip up at all. Then you keep the tip down and fight the fish in an awkward manner, that would be best described as completely backwards to any trout fishermen. For sure if you want to bring along a non angler, do not do this trip, do the Las Salinas Flats Trip, you’ll thank me. I think the guides enjoy it a little more too. It is super cool catching these tarpon, but if it’s hot, the ocean is a better venue for novices, beginners and non-anglers. jt

Jesse was there waiting for us at the corner of the twightlight zone and somewhere ave, and I thought to myself, how would they know? But they did, and I was on my way back, headed for Havana on back country roads that only Jesse & Yaseli knew – through the farm lands of Cuba, on the tours that most others never see.

Through sugar cane fields..

Farmlands getting ready to be planted.

Cute towns that had character.

A great drive that was another highlight, only to be invited to Jesse’s house to have dinner with Katia, Melissa and Brittany his wife and daughters. I was very grateful and it cut down on a long way back to Havana that night. We watched the movie Papa Hemingway on DVD at his house and it amazed me how well done that movie was to Hemingway’s real life.

Dinner was this amazing creamed soup and fresh albacore and for dessert my favorite! A fresh mamey milkshake.

It was a real pleasure to be shown around by Jesse and Katia, what great Ambassadors of their country, they know their country and your countries history better than anyone I have ever met. To arrange what they did for me and be treated the way everyone did on my recent trip to Cuba, was something I will never forget. I have been to 23 countries in my lifetime and Cuba is one of my favorite countries, as you step back in time and the people are just marvelous.

I look forward to helping people coordinate their tours with Jesse and Katia and fly fishing with Felipe and Julio in remote & unique areas of Cuba. Give us a call if you want to go. Thanks, Jack & Carola Trout

530-926-4540  or info@jacktrout.com    www.cubaclassictour.com  &  www.cubaflyfishguide.com 

Dear Senator Gaines,

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today in regards to AB 975 (Friedman). It was very important and an honor for me to drive down and visit the State Capitol today and drop into your office to introduce myself and what my concerns are in regards to the rivers I have guided on for the past 24 years. It hasn’t been an easy road, but these rivers have provided my income for years, they have helped me buy my house in Mount Shasta as well as guide and bring hundreds of tourist in all over California. I thought I owed it to them and all of guides who guide on them, to come down and tell you how important it is that this bill get passed. It’s a turbulent time for the environment, one that seems as though the deck was stacked against. But being out on those rivers for 150 days a year or more not including all the guides I employ who also spend most of their time on these Wild and Scenic Rivers, have been talking about the decline in salmon & steelhead runs and this includes what we’ve already lost in native species since the turn of the 20th century. We have to pass this bill, because having a buffer between the river and a 1/4 mile adjacent on both sides gives struggling fish a fighting chance, because having a zone where the banks won’t be built on or are eroding into the river as well as the views from these Wild and Scenic Rivers won’t be altered un-naturally. We are California, we are not like the East, we care about clean water, clean air, good salmon & steelhead runs, your views from our boat. We care about our grandchild and what kind of world we’ll be bringing them into. This is only modest changes to what is already in place. This does not add any rivers to the bill, it makes the state Wild and Scenic Rivers more in line with the federally designated rivers adding 162 more miles, something that makes sense and further shows to the country that California is a national leader in environment in a time when we have a President that I have never heard mention the word. Remember this only applies to the existing Wild and Scenic Rivers and does not add any more rivers like the opponents have tried to say it would. When you vote on this bill next week, think about all the people who flock to those special rivers, most of them are located in tourist areas that stimulate regional incomes and economic growth for people like me and my guides, because people who go there know, these are the special rivers of California, they have been designated as Wild and Scenic and they might tell their children.

Please read below this bill and most of what it entails.

Thank you for your time, Many rivers to you, Jack Trout
www.jacktrout.com

Assembly Bill 975 (Friedman’s Bill)

Makes modest but important improvements in the management and protection of California’s 1,362 miles of existing Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Brings the California Wild and Scenic Rivers System more in line with federal Wild and Scenic Rivers, which is important because more than 1,200 miles of state rivers in California are federally designated rivers.

Expands state agency protection of designated segment beyond the first riparian vegetation to a 1/4 mile on each side of the river and adds historical, cultural, geological, and other similar values to the list of river values to be protected by state agencies.

Only applies to EXISTING state Wild and Scenic Rivers, including protected segments of the Smith, Klamath, Scott, Salmon, Trinity, Eel, Van Duzen, American, East Carson, West Walker, South Yuba, Albion, And Guala Rivers, and Cache Creek. It does not add any additional rivers to the system.

Source of information: Friends Of The River –