The Current Magazine Winter 2018 | Page 44

I am 16 years old and I love fly fishing, but I have realized that I rarely encounter anyone my age on the water. I wonder why this is the case, and I have some thoughts on what we as anglers and conservationists can do to fix it.

Sometimes when fishing on the McCloud River, I try to imagine what it would have looked like before humans exploited it for power. We can all agree that the McCloud is a beautiful, pristine river and an outstanding fishery, but I think we can also agree that it would be that much more amazing if it still held steelhead, salmon, and bull trout.

Sometimes these thoughts make me angry at earlier generations for ruining what was once so perfect, but usually they make me excited, for I realize that it is up to my generation to make this daydream

a reality. It is up to my generation

to continue the work of the many good people in the generations before us who dedicated their life’s work to protecting and restoring California’s native anadromous

and resident fish species.

MY ANGLE

Thomas Austin

CalTrout Member since 2016