Fish Whispering episode 0404 The Blackfoot river
2014 ж. 22 Жел.
17 569 Рет қаралды
Host Zac Sexton joins his friend and fellow outfitter Scott Anderson on a float down the Blackfoot river. They experience rough weather, but exciting fishing and outdoor adventure, on one of Montana's greatest rivers.
Love the Idaho hat, Go Vandals!
Gotta' love it to be out in that. Great video guys. --Not a bobber fisherman personally.
I guess Scott's clients are well behaved since he carries a revolver, ha ha ha!
Well, not all clients are well behaved, hence.... Just kidding. The Blackfoot is in the middle of grizzle-bear country, and many guides carry spray, and/or a firearm for that reason. But, Scott did get attacked by a client's domestic dog, once....
Nice video. I assume this was early in the season. Was the river in run-off/snow melt mode or was the high water from a rain event? I'm an Easterner and am wondering if the Blackfoot is in grizzly country? I was thinking of walk and wade fishing it but would hate to run into a bear if you know what I mean.
+Matt Troutman Thanks, Matt. This was at the back-side of run-off, so the river was high somewhat from melting snow, but we also had rain/snow events during the time, which added to the off-color. It is Grizzly country, and I have seen tracks on several trips, but have yet to encounter one. Generally, the bears know you are around and take off without an angler even knowing there's a bear around. I carry bear spray on a carabiner, on my chest pack when I am wading the area. It is very effective in repelling bears, as I know from experience. ;-)
Fish Whispering TV Thanks for your response. So you have had an encounter with a bear?? I've survived many physical issues to arrive at 72 years old and would hate to get mauled by a bear. It is fun to drift with a buddy and take turns in the rowers seat so you both can fish. I have a Hyde low profile and my buddy and I often float and share the rowing.
+Matt Troutman I once had a black bear cub snap it's teeth and lay its ears back at myself, and Ariell. It was on a high river bank, about 20 feet away. I was guiding, and we were pinned along the river, with deep water in front of us. I had no idea where the cub's mom was, so I wanted to give it other options ASAP. I gave a quick burst of spray for a split second. That was enough to get it to ruffle its fur, turn and lumber away. It was actually kind of cute. The cub just didn't want to leave its resting space below an over-hanging pine. We never saw the mother, or cub again. So, I hope it has since thought twice about messing with humans. I've had bears huff and chomp at me from behind willows, too. that was actually quite scary, because my spray was in the canoe, 50 feet away, and my camera guy locked up in fear. I yelled at him to film, but he just stood there, white with fear. He was bigger and slower than me, and closer to the bear, which was hidden about 30 feet behind the willows. I just stepped in to the water and kept fishing. The bear didn't leave, though, and we were running out of daylight to film. I threw a couple branches in to the willows. Eventually, it ran off. It was a big damn bear judging by the sound. Usually, bears just go somewhere else, and you never know they are there. And as long as you keep your cool, and talk softly to them, and don't make eye contact, they will go somewhere else. Attacks are very rare. Spray is the best deterrent, and I highly recommend it. Keep it on your chest, or some other quickly-accessible spot. Don't put it in your backpack, or leave it in your canoe, when you walk off to fish! ;-)
Fish Whispering TV I live in PA and much of where I live is quite rural. Within an hour I can be in very thick and heavily wooded forest. Probably ten years ago I was fishing a small freestone stream buried tight up against a mountain in a forest full of pines and hemlocks. I was very preoccupied tying on a new tippet and flies and was wading right on the very edge of the right side of this 20' wide brook. I heard a noise over my left shoulder and some rustling in the leaves and thought it was a squirrel.at first. I waited a few seconds and just barely looked to my left. You can imagine my shock and fear when instead of seeing a little squirrel I was looking at a full grown black bear walking along on the other side of the creek totally oblivious of me. I didn't breathe, or move a muscle, until it ambled past me. I guess the wind was in my favor and my lack of movement and somber colored clothing made me kind of invisible to the bear. As soon as it past me I fumbled in my vest for my camera but I was so shaken by the incident all that could be seen on the film was a black blur! I've had two other close encounters with black bears but that is another story.
Great video! what section of river is this?
It’s the upper Blackfoot, below the confluence with the N. Fork.
@@fishwhisperingtv9606 Thank you! I'm planning to visit Montana from Alberta next spring.
@@jeffible5910 Send me a PM and I can suggest some places for you. I used to guide in that area quite a bit. I now guide more east of there near the Montana-Wyoming border. The Blackfoot can be a challenge but it can also be very rewarding!
@@fishwhisperingtv9606 Excellent! Will do!
Hey, do you have an email address?
Why would you not have a net ? Especially for bull trout
Please see my comments below. Briefly, nets actually harm fish more than handling them in some cases because there is more surface area contact - which leads to more slime being pulled off the fish. However, if the habitat is good, which the Blackfoot is at this time of year, fish can grow slime and recover very well. Also, my buddy forgot a net. Also, by keeping the bull trout in the water while taking the hook out is way less stressful than surrounding it with an artificial and strange environment - a net. There are ways to use a net well, and times when that might be a best choice. One of my steelhead/salmon fishing mentors- a man who testified in federal courts on behalf of fish and studied fish-handling techniques during a PhD. study, does not use a net because he says it causes more harm (according to his years of research) than using your wet hands. Fish survival as a population, depends more on the quality of their habitat than how they are handled by anglers. More fish will die when the water is warmer by poor fish handling than when it is cold. And poor fish handling often includes the use of a net.
how is it possible 2 guys fishing with a boat and no net????? ridiculous!! bye bye
Below is a response I gave to fish-handling in a comment above. I hope it sheds some light for you. I will address your specific comment as well, in this paragraph. Sometimes a guide forgets a net. Sometimes an anchor. Heck, sometimes they forget to put a plug in the boat. It happens. So, we make adaptations when these things occur, and often have a good time, with no additional harm to the environment. In this case, we were able to get out of the boat when needed, to land fish, and quickly release smaller fish by hand. I interviewed a fisheries biologist while I was in college, by fishing with him in Montana. This biologist testified in federal court on behalf of the salmon and steelhead in the Columbia river system, as to what they need to survive. He is an expert on fish handling and survivorship, after handling. While we fished in Montana, he did not use a net, as we floated, and caught and released brown trout. I asked him why. He said, "Well, if you remove slime by touching a fish, then the amount of surface area touched on a fish is the issue. How much surface area are you covering with your hands on a fish? Little, compared to using a net. A net covers at least 50 percent of a fish, if it stays on one side. If it flips around, you essentially cover the entire fish, removing slime. I studied this during my PHD work on steelhead. I don't use a net." So, an interesting fact from an expert, who I am not naming as he wishes to keep to himself, and keep swinging flies on the Clearwater river. Below, you will see a larger discussion on trout biology, and their ability to handle stress. Again, using science, biology and facts, and keeping emotions to a minimum. Thank you for watching, but I am afraid you may have some incorrect information about a trout's biology, with which you draw this conclusion. Fish do not die the moment one is touched, or the second they are taken out of the water. If you've ever seen a migrating salmon or steelhead jump waterfalls, then fight each other for position on a redd, it might give you some idea of their ability to survive. I have electro-shocked, trapped, tagged, drugged, and handled tens of thousands of fish while surveying streams for the US Forest Service. I have an emphasis in zoology, and studied ichthyology in college, while practicing what was preached, as a professional fisheries technician in later years. Trout are a cold-blooded organism, living in an environment with small amounts of dissolved oxygen, compared to a terrestrial habitat (what you live in). Therefore, they do not consume oxygen at the same rate as humans. Comparisons of holding your breath while holding a fish to see what the fish "feels" like, are absurd. We consume oxygen at a much faster rate than trout. There is no comparison. Fish can also respire oxygen as long as their gills are wet -- meaning, until their gills are completely dry, they can squeeze some oxygen in to their blood. Another biological fact to consider, is trout can replace slime. It is not a limited agent, as their zygotes are, i.e. milt and eggs. So, as long as their habitat is healthy (cold, clear, clean) they will replace lost slime. This is partly how they are able to swim so fast -- the slime dissipates, as the water pulls it away from their bodies, to reduce friction and enable ease of movement in an aqueous environment. I have interviewed biologists, and all have said as long as the dissolved oxygen is available (based primarily on water temperature, and some on slope, and substrate of the stream), the fish which is caught and released, even if drug on to shore and released with a human hand -- will survive. Once the water temperatures rise to about 67 degrees fahrenheit for most cutthroat sub species, and 70 degrees for other salmonids, then their ability to replace slime, and flush the lactic acid from their muscles used in fighting an angler becomes difficult, and some will inevitably die. Many will still live. It is not an all or nothing circumstance. The longer an angler fights a fish, especially in these conditions, then the higher the likelihood of a caught trout becomes. That is why I use heavier tippet than most, and apply as much pressure as I can, when fighting fish. The less I fight them, the better. The more a fish is flopping at one's feet, the healthier it is -- it has not worn itself out. I try to think about actual science and biology, combined with our own feelings as anglers, in each episode of Fish Whispering. The science of trout biology shows in most studies, they can and do well, after being caught, having their pictures taken, and released. You will find statements to the opposite of this, but they are outliers of the bell curve, and we are usually not given other data such as water temperature, stream slope, and/or substrate content (steeper streams have larger substrate in general and dissolve more oxygen in the stream), or the time it took to land that particular fish. As for the Ketchum Release, I also find it to be a sometimes useful tool for releasing fish. Unfortunately, I have snapped many tippets working to get a hook out of a fish's mouth, and stopped using them for the most part. Now, I have a different release tool, which I make out of stiff wire, brass, bamboo and cork. They get to the bend of a hook better, and put less pressure on the tippet/hook eye connection. Lastly, in filming a TV show, the host does well to include the viewer in the experience. To do this, it is nice to show the fish to the camera, which often is better if the fish is out of the water for a brief period. We generally time this moment, to keep the fish out of the water as briefly as possible, but also make it visible to the viewer to help them see, and appreciate the fish, and its environment. Sometimes a good fish-viewing will better help a Fish Whispering fan identify a rainbow vs. cutthroat, or brookie vs. brown trout, and they can better appreciate native vs. non-native, hatchery vs. wild fish. If I just release all fish in the water, without the viewer seeing them, then my words to describe that fish and moment, will fail. Imagine, "I just caught a native, steelhead. You can tell because it has a fully formed adipose fin, which I would show you, except I just released the fish in the water, and you couldn't see it was even a salmonid, really. But, it was. You'll have to take my word on it." It's possible of course, but not as engaging. You might suggest to hold the fish in the water and shoot video, which we do sometimes. However, often the fish is still ready to go, as I said, I fight them quickly with heavier tippet, when possible, and they like to flop away without being filmed. This happens often, and many of these instances don't make the final cut. When I fish alone, which is most times, I do keep the fish in the water, and release it most of the time. I can see the fish, and know it well. I can hold the hook shank, and let the fish flip feverishly, then swim to the wet, dark, and smile knowing everything is okay. Everything is okay with that fish, and the ones I hold for viewers. The next time you read about a fish population in decline, the primary issue is mostly one of habitat: too warm of water, too little water, too much sediment, too many dams, too much irrigation, too much logging, mining, too many miles of roads, etc... These are the issues we need to work together to educate people who care about freshwater ecosystems. This should be everyone, as every organism respiring at this moment depends on liquid, fresh water to live. Thank you for your part in that puzzle. Thank you for watching.