Shhhh! The Salmon are Spawning

With the upcoming forecast for 10 days of rain (with 10 inches accumulation....) we opted to go for a walk yesterday along Lagunitas Creek in Samual P Taylor park and hunt for the spawning coho salmon and steelhead trout.  These fish are threatened species and Lagunitas Creek is one of their last spawning habitats on the central California coast.

The first official survey of the creek this year identified 50 some fish -- that is about what was seen all of last year -- but way down from the 15 year average of 500+!  Last year we walked the creek and saw no fish; 2 years ago we spotted a few.

We set off with high hopes.  It was a cold morning (almost freezing which wimps us out in NO TIME) and we had the creek to ourselves.  Actually it probably would have helped to have more eyes on the creek to spot those salmon.

We laughed at the signs posted along the creek.

I never knew that fish could hear me laughing from the trail or my red fleece hat would be such a frightening site!   But Alan and Bryan kept peering at the creek.

And then FISH!   Both managed to spot those illusive salmon in a pool along the creek.  Here is a picture to give you an idea of what the experience is....there is a fish in there somewhere.  

We "fished" at several other spots along the creek but no luck anywhere else.  It was cold, fun, and a moment to reconnect with the natural order of the world.