Research reveals surprises for Ventura County’s history of steelhead trout

May 09, 2008
Santa Paula News

Whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting, but it’s what is in the water - namely, steelhead trout - that has led to the fighting; and attendees at the April Good Morning Santa Paula learned that sometimes history is indeed rewritten.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesWhiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting, but it’s what is in the water - namely, steelhead trout - that has led to the fighting; and attendees at the April Good Morning Santa Paula learned that sometimes history is indeed rewritten. Debbie and Don Johnson/Santa Paula Times hosted the Chamber-sponsored event held at Logsdon’s at the Airport.United Water Conservation Resource Plan Manager Jim Kentosh said that the agency has been striving to balance a “limited amount of water” with the demands that area waterways, notably the Freeman Diversion Fish Ladder, maintain a population of steelhead trout. “Unfortunately, we’ve only had a handful of steelhead,” and the federal government’s “thoughts are that our operations and fish ladder are going to jeopardize all steelhead between the Santa Maria River and the Mexican border.”Although an article recently published in the county newspaper addressed the local history of the steelhead, the “photo of the fish caught in the Ventura River” failed to mention that the fish had been planted. Kentosh said that official history of the steelhead “only goes back until about 1930,” and UWCD found a “scarcity of information before then,” which prompted the agency to hire a researcher who examined old newspapers, diaries and journals.There is historical evidence of steelhead in Ventura County a century ago, although “one thing you find when you read early newspapers is it’s a different vocabulary,” with such terms as “mountain trout” that must be deciphered. Early conservationist Izaak Walton was the “Michael Jackson of fishing... and there was lots of trout in the old days.”
The opening day of fishing season was considered a major news item, with the names of participants and what they caught receiving press coverage. In the 1910s the opening day of the fishing season would provide school children with a day off.Research revealed that fishing resulted in a “lot of tongue in cheek articles,” so when the recent story on the steelhead trout mentioned the record of a 10-pound trout caught, Kentosh said it did not mention the nature of the story. “Here’s the untold story... there was lots and lots of planting” in the late 19th century from a hatchery in Shasta that produced both rainbow and steelhead trout.Trains had “fish cars, and when they arrived at the station it was a big deal, they would unload the fish in cans” for planting, a practice that slowed considerably in the 1940s. Research into the issue has revealed “lots of amazing stories, really interesting,” including an 1877 report that a well produced “these inch long fish” from a depth of well over 200 feet.Overall, “Lots and lots of examples of trout planting” were found, and agreement must be found on resident trout. “There are still plenty of issues we can debate,” such as did the plantings affect the number of reported catches and are today’s trout related to those original fish planted.Kentosh noted that “What happened to all the steelhead” couldn’t be answered until “we also find out what happened to all the trout... but what a difference between then and today.”



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