Sockeye Madness

I read somewhere variety of diet is important so I took a day off from chinook fishing to go sockeye fishing.  I caught this on a small green Spin-N-Glow with a piece of shrimp. It was a delicious fish.

Small Water Salmon

Hooking big fish in small water was described by a friend as "fighting a gorilla in a storage unit." There will be bloody shins and lost fish, but I can't think of a better way to spend a June morning. The problem, of course, is ropey lines allow control but mean fewer hookups.  Lighter lines mean more hookups but then you can't horse salmon ashore. I fished small water salmon in B. C., Washington, and Oregon with mixed success.

Recently, on my way to small water salmon, I passed weary construction workers who stared at my fishing pole like thirsty men in a desert.  "Well, somebody's got to do it." I said, and received a hearty laugh.

Fishing with Suz a few years ago, we spoke with a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman's wife while waiting for the verdict to fish his Washington property.  "How did you get your hair to do that?" asked Suz, and they spoke like old friends.  Light bulb.  The next time a guy crowded me small water salmon fishing I would try that to drive him away.

Before long, it happened.   A fisherman inched closer and closer until it became uncomfortable.  "How did you get your hair to do that?" I fired.

"Do you mean the highlights?" he asked.  Utt-oh.

In other words, there is always a balancing act in small waters between remembering we are spiritual beings and primitive harvesters.  Competition means conflict.  Rumi said, "God is the only real customer," which is true since everything else is temporary.  I received comments about my blog post below as being "sort of heavy" by mentioning all fish in all seas may be dead "by 2048."

If not then, scientists say in a billion years the sun will evaporate all oceans so life on Earth will be impossible.  This means Rumi is right.  What matters is the regenerative power of the universe to make new salmon and salmon fishers.  Jesus said in Matthew 3:9: "I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."  And He did.  And He will.

Most best fishermen I have known have been deeply spiritual.  This is going to become even more important as drought continues, competition increases, and salmon runs drop.  Yesterday, I read water over 60 degrees will start killing salmon, and this is happening in the Clackamas, Santiam, and Willamette.  In worse news, 75 degree water is predicted in Northwest watersheds this summer which will mean massive salmon die offs.  Unfortunately, cassin's auklets are facing a similar fate in what has been noted by Craig Welch of National Geographic as "Unprecedented."  Also at National Geographic, I read Ken Balcomb's June 11, 2015, essay linking loss of chinook salmon to extinction of orcas.  Balcomb is a Senior Scientist, Center for Whale Research, in Friday Harbor, WA.  He wrote, "As a nation, we are dangerously close to managing the beloved southern resident killer whale population to quasi-extinction (less than 30 breeding animals) as a result of diminishing populations of Chinook salmon upon which they depend."  The comments after Balcomb's article are interesting and show both sides of the Snake River dams breaching issue.  After reading all of the comments, my vote goes to Balcomb.

Spawning Run

How many seeds inside a seed? 
How far does north go? 

I’m on my spawning run north

over I-205 Bridge

and salmon below in the Columbia

are on theirs.

The Statesman Journal reports

over 60 degree water is killing them

in the Clackamas, Santiam, Willamette

before they have a chance

and, unless lightning strikes

minds of politicians in Paris,

I wonder how long before we  
have lost our chance.

If You Love This Planet, See Rob Stewart's Revolution

The authenticity of Rob Stewart's film making, historical perspective, accurate knowledge, and list of victories won by activists make Revolution an essential film.  But what would you expect from a guy who successfully fought a $400 a pound shark fin industry in his previous film Sharkwater which helped ban shark finning in 100 countries, and led to a 70% reduction of sales in China?

A great quality of Revolution was its blend of personal focus with macro focus.  It reminded me of Derrick Jensen's essay "Forget Shorter Showers." In other words, nonviolent civil disobedience is gaining traction, twice resulting in the arrest of James Hansen (2011 and 2013), former director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. The second time he was arrested with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

John Muir noted, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."  Let me explain.  The online device you are using to read this is made possible by burning carbon.  Your car, house, clothes, and food are the same.  You may know this.  What you may not know, as Stewart's film Revolution shows, is all this burning of carbon leads to ocean acidification which means, unless we stop soon,: 1) all fish in the oceans may be gone "by 2048"; 2) technicolor coral reefs may be gone in "50 years time, probably even 20 years" to be replaced with ghostly white emptiness; 3) phytoplankton, "responsible for half the oxygen we breathe," are dying.  Scientists claim "2/3 of world species may be gone by the end of the century." Coal, the worst offender, accounts for "44% of energy" in the United States, as China builds one new coal plant "per week."  Hell, you may think, what's the point of even trying?  I'll just go fishing. The answer is this film is not just about gloom because it empowers viewers with knowledge and real world examples to be part of the solution. In short, there will be no salmon if all fish in the ocean are dead.

Before I watched Revolution, it was reported Shell, responsible for new Arctic drilling (making Seattle Mayor Ed Murray an anti-drilling activist) plans on a 4 degree Celcius increase, even though scientists worldwide agree that would be catastrophic. Our planet is a blue jewel worn by an oil industry harlot named the U.S. Congress that puts a dollar value on Earth. This is the same as pretending water cares what you name it, or vital resources can be restored as fast as zeros and ones in banking computer databases.  Ask Californians how they will buy their way out of the worst drought in 1,200 years. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) wants a pipeline from Seattle to Lake Mead since California only has a widely-reported year of above-ground-water left. As a backup, the LA Times reported "decades worth of groundwater remain [unless rate of use increases]." The LA Times also noted the state lost 12 million trees due to the recent drought, with "millions more [dead] trees" expected.  To give you a sense of the value of water, consider the alleged $50 a gallon charged during the Oct. 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco/Oakland or worse, a 2014 water bill "over $4,000" for a Detroit resident, as reported to the United Nations Human Rights Team investigation.  Thomas Jefferson wrote "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever."  The injustice we are collectively causing to future generations is unprecedented.

The film Revolution is about a different and better story.
Watch Now - Revolution

Watching the film with headphones in a public library, the beautiful photography made me cry for what is dead, dying, and what may be lost on land and in the sea, as three children stared at me in sympathetic confusion.  I hiked old growth forest that morning so I was more open than usual. Watching the children, I recalled the Iroquois Confederacy thought seven generations ahead long before white colonists arrived in their country as opposed to our senators elected to six year terms, representatives elected to two year terms, a president elected to a four year term, and business plans commonly much shorter.  Profits are taken and companies move on without regard to costs inflicted on others and future generations. Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef made this clear with his idea of Barefoot Economics.

Watch the Revolution film, and reflect on what we can do to bear witness, and take action.  A friend has a Bruce Lee poster that says, “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”  I joined 350.org and supported students at my college wanting to divest from coal and fossil fuels. Foothill-De Anza Community College District in California already has.

Three for the Road

At sunrise I caught two adults and a 23 and 1/2 inch jack.  A Bavarian tape measure with a double 22 inch mark was handy. On a humorous note, I wore a white latex glove to test a new salmon egg cure, and one of the locals said I was Michael Jacksoning it.

After that, one of the regulars was upset because I brought a banana, considered bad luck for fishing.  I assured him it was okay, though, because it was an organic banana.

I will visit my mermaid then another set of rivers.

Finding May Salmon

New friends arrive daily from the sea.  My 4-year-old nephew said "Fish are friends, not food." from watching Finding Nemo 47 times with my brother.  I answered with a university-level lecture on the either/or fallacy, explaining "Fish are friends and food."

More May Salmon

I caught this 17 pounder and 8 pounder.  The great thing about springers is both cut beet red.

May Salmon

My first day back in Oregon my river friends were waiting.

Books Push Back

Twice in the past month writers asked to see my new book Industrial Oz coming out before the Paris Climate Conference in December.  "Word or PDF?"  I asked.  Both wanted hard copies.

I liked this because hard copies are more intimate, more human.  We are, after all, hard copies ourselves. Maybe hard copies push back against the info glut and social media in cyberspace.  I recently fished beside a well-known angler in Washington.  "I heard you had a fish blog," he said, "but I never looked at it -- too busy fishing."  Made sense to me. While speaking, he hooked and caught a bright 12 pound data-driven hen steelhead, if data we are talking about is what ecologist Eugene Odom said has been "flowing for millions of years."

If cyberspace continues to take over, I imagine in the future, before you date, you will read about a person first instead of making mistakes we all make.  Prospective Jane or Jack will hand you a bio drive to wade through medical history, genetics, life expectancy, etc.  But something essential and mysterious will still be hidden.  Something about the way neurons fire, misfire, and fail to fire, and something about choices made, choices never made, and choices that will happen.

In contrast, salmon and steelhead feel the urge, choose an attractive partner, and mate.  The river takes care of the rest. Somewhere between data-wading and instant gratification of salmon-love, there must be a balance.

Watching spawning salmon, I reflect that when I die, my ashes are going in a secret river, not blasted into cyberspace.

NASA scientists tell us cyberspace may one day have trouble due to solar storms.  On July 23, 2012, Earth was only a week ahead of a solar storm passing through our orbit, which, if it hit, would have disabled even toilets "because urban water supplies largely rely on electric pumps," according to NASA. An article at Science News reported such a storm would "knock modern civilization back to the 18th century." This NASA Science Casts video, which explains the event, cites a National Academy of Sciences study noting a direct hit, calculated by physicist Pete Riley at 12% in the next 10 years, would mean an "economic impact [which] could exceed 2 trillion dollars."

I guess that means my poem "What If One Night a Big Solar Storm Went By?"
in Industrial Oz may not be that far off.

Then there is the global warming issue. According to columnist Paul B. Farrell, a Scientific American research study estimated $60 trillion could be taxpayers' global warming cost by the year 2100. Farrell noted the global GDP is $75 trillion. By 2100 human population is expected to be 11 billion. That means even if we are lucky enough to maintain output, which we won't be, $15 trillion to take care of everything else with an extra 4 billion people.  According to Isaac Asimov, most humans lead "a miserable, starvation level of existence. And it will just get worse as the population continues to go up [. . .] Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears." Some, reading this, may wonder, "Yeah, but will I be able to afford my Netflix?"

It would be great if our money could buy us another planet to live on, but the light-year distance between life-friendly planets is too far for our technology and, dare I say, our ideology, not to mention the reported problem of astronauts' brains fried by radiation which exceeds damage even from watching "Fox News" (see comments section below article). As Shelley noted in his famous poem "Ozymandias," Impermanence is law.

Impermanence is another reason books matter.

I'd better get an extra fishing rod in case that solar storm thing happens.

Just in case of solar flares or global warming catatrophe, I put one of my historical poems on clay which is good for the next three ice ages, if humans survive.  Otherwise, maybe highly-adaptable roaches, expected to outlast us, will read it with their feet which I guess is a little better than not being read at all, as many modern poets complain.  Take heart. I wonder how well Shelley would have done competing against Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for the precious few moments any of us have on Earth. How many hits or visits would "Ozymandias" have had compared to "Ozzy Osbourne," and, with all those salmon and steelhead to catch, would it have mattered anyway?

Monday Report

My first springer of 2015 caught March 30.

Splash after giant salmon leapt.

I fished three rivers Monday, and made new friends including this spring chinook.  You'll have to use your imagination for the slow draw on my camera.  Today I caught another 14 pound wild steelhead buck.

Jinxed

Friday I sat fishless on a rock in a rainstorm trying to understand exactly what I did wrong. Then I saw my sweater was on backwards. That explained it.  Saturday I hooked 7, and caught 5 wild steelhead, which were released keeping them in the water without touching them, as you can see.  Needle nose pliers are great for that.  The sweater incident reminds me of how I was unable to catch fish off a new rod until I removed the barcode, and another time I was skunked all day in Eastern Oregon, probably due to unmatched socks.

Slomo Saves His Life

I pass Slomo about 4 times a week on my beach walks. I asked my students who he was, and they said he was a super wealthy brain surgeon who got sick of his life,and decided he only wanted to skate. I thought he was a homeless man with PTSD. My students were right. Check out this great New York Times Video.

Smooth Sailing, Scott

Finally, the Fishing Movie, A Deliberate Life, is Available, and Lost Salmon

If you love fishing, you may want to watch this trailer of A Deliberate Life.
It begins, "It's easy to lose sight of what's important: family, health, passions, pastimes. To pick your head up and suddenly realize 20 years of your life has simply passed you by. It's easy to get swallowed up and just keep giving more and more of your blood, sweat, and tears in return for less and less happiness."  Watch five anglers find happiness on rivers.  The trailer is good medicine for your soul. I am also happy to report MoonPath Press in Washington will publish my poetry book tentatively titled Lost Salmon due out summer 2016.

Activist and Fishing Books at 3 Good Books

Thanks to Drew Myron for interviewing me at 3 Good Books regarding my interest in activist poetry. An excellent 5 minute audio of Robert Bly discussing Alden Nowlan's poetry appears at the end.

I saw the fine poet Philip Levine died recently at age 87.  He was quoted as saying, "I'm not a man of action; it finally comes down to that. I'm not so profoundly moral that I can often overcome my fears of prison or torture or exile or poverty. I'm a contemplative person who goes in the corner and writes."  However, he had a bold streak that served him well.  The article by Hillel Italie and Scott Smith linked above noted, "Exhausting factory hours made Levine so determined to write that he showed up in 1953 at the University of Iowa's Writers Workshop even though a planned fellowship had fallen through. He was told he could sign up for one course, but he enrolled in three. One of his teachers, the poet John Berryman, became a mentor."  I've heard "Sometimes vitality will push you through barriers."

At 3 Good Books, I greatly enjoyed the post Henry Hughes on Fishing which listed Thomas McGuane's The Longest Silence, Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, and John Engel's Big Water.  I'm glad I  bought Big Water.  There is a blurb inside from my favorite fisher poet Ted Hughes: "It's a kind of poetry about fishing that I've often tried to imagine -- focuses the moment, the target event, and somehow brings to life and holds suspended the whole aura of accompaniment that makes a great memory and a unique happening. [ . . .]"  Henry Hughes wrote, "These poems understand our stewardship and existence through water. [ . . . .] This is an indispensable collection for the poetry-minded angler."

Tree Deco, Elk, and Saving Sea Turtles

During the holidays, fishermen decorate trees with bad casts.

Elk, not ants!

Two steelhead I caught at sunrise.

I asked elk where fish were, and, as usual, they knew.

It's great to visit Pacific Northwest coastal wilderness, and I honor it by picking up fishing line to stop birds from getting caught, and foam bait containers killing sea turtles 2000 miles away who mistake them for food.  The message today is even far things are real. The Oceanic Society notes, "Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales, and other marine mammals, and more than 1 million seabirds die each year from ocean pollution and ingestion or entanglement in marine debris. Marine debris is manmade waste that is directly or indirectly disposed of in oceans, rivers, and other waterways."  Help pick it up.

One Arming It in the Coast Range

Washington and Oregon steelheaders wait in icy dark for this, one joyful day at a time.

I hurt my left arm by sleeping on it, which gave steelhead an unfair advantage, but I caught two anyway.  For a month I have been going over boulders and along steep trails exploring, sometimes falling and crashing into brush or river -- but I injured myself in bed.  It reminds me of hearing about astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr. who orbited Earth in Friendship 7 in 1962, and in 1964 slipped in his bathroom and hit his head on his bathtub, injuring his inner ear.  It could happen to anyone.

Maybe my injured arm is karma for accidentally hooking a steelhead in the arm.  As I said before, the river has a life of her own. As Tom Robbins said in my post below, "Joy in Spite of Everything."

Calling in to Work Well

"My personal motto has always been: Joy in spite of everything. Not just [mindless] joy, but joy in spite of everything. Recognizing the inequities and the suffering and the corruption and all that but refusing to let it rain on my parade. And I advocate this to other people." ~ Tom Robbins

I love teaching creative writing (even to you, Hieronomous), and lit. but composition class grading has become too exhausting. Hence, the Robbins quote above.  Soon, I will be trading these:

for these:
Mountains of papers to grade.

But not for long.  Reduced load/early retirement will happen in a few years, or before.

I could start a "Send Scott Fishing Fund" but I know deep in my barbed heart Amnesty International  and Eugene Bell Foundation are better causes.

"Stop whining, you lazy professor," some have said, and will say.  Someday, I hope to call in to work well. It reminds me of an interview, "Tom Robbins: Joy in Spite of Everything," I assigned to students 20 years ago to get some creativity out of them. Bill Strickland, the author, gave written permission for free while George Orwell's estate wanted to charge each term to use "Politics and the English Language." Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times now links it for free, ranking it as Orwell's "No. 1" essay.  Ray Bradbury wrote me a personal letter, also giving written permission to use his famous, and ecologically wise, short story, "A Sound of Thunder," without copyright restrictions. In a "Meet the Writer" box at the end of the story, Bradbury "claims to remember everything -- every book he's read, every movie he's seen, all the events of his life back to and including his birth, [ . . . .] his fantasy stories are often warnings against blind faith in science [ . . . . ]" Bradbury's success is a good reason for want-to-be-writers to "Turn on, tune in, drop out" as noted by Timothy Leary, though I would advocate mountains and rivers instead of LSD, or modern drugs like NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.  Allen Ginsberg once told me and about 14 other grad students at Eastern Washington University to avoid drugs and anything that can weaken one's potential as a writer.  William Stafford said the best way to write 40 years is to avoid alcohol.

Anyway, here are memorable excerpts from the Strickland interview with Robbins: “One day, I had gone to the bank, and was hurrying back to the Seattle Times, back to my job. I was walking very fast and very intently, with my coattails flapping and my tie swinging over my shoulder. I was a harried young man, on the way up. And in the distance, I saw a figure approaching — a man with red hair, bewhiskered not like he cultivated a beard, but more like he’d been drunk for four days and hadn’t shaved. Wearing a World War II overcoat, the hem dragging the sidewalk."

“And he was singing, walking up the sidewalk singing. When he got really close to me — he was watching me all the way because I was watching him — he looked at me in the face and laughed, burst out in derisive laughter. It was as if he had seen through me, and registered all my areas of discontent, and then laughed at it all. He might have been a mesquilito, a peyote god, a Pan-like figure. I just call him the red-headed wino.”

“On Monday, I called into work well. I said, ‘I’ve been sick for a long time, but I’m well today so I can’t make it in.’ I went to New York.”