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Salmon Spawn, Marin, 2005 When people think of fish swimming up river to spawn more often than not they think of Alaska, Canada or maybe rivers in the Pacific Northwest. Few if any think of the creeks and streams of the greater Bay Area. At least I know I really don't think of fish swimming up our streams. But this winter I found out that yes Virginia, there are salmon in our streams! Thanks to a heads up posting from some local kayakers on my BASK chat group I decided to follow their direction and head over to Marin for the day. Normally I would be doing this by motorcycle but since it was a tad rainy and I had company I decided to opt for the four-wheel mode of travel instead. I soon found myself staring down into a little stream outside of Lagunitas. Not much happening I thought. Just a lot of rain runoff pouring down a stepped section of the creek. The fish ladder off to the side of the creek had lots of water flow but no fish action. Drat... And then I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of color. I turned my head in time to see a fish shaped object disappear back into the main part of the stream. Hmm, that's interesting. Someone swimming up the middle rather than taking the ladder. Sure enough a couple of minutes later a big salmon shot right up the middle and into the next pool. We spent the next 30 minutes or so watching it's attempts to climb further up the stream via the main channel. Way too cool! After a bit we jumped in the car and wandered further on out toward the coast. We found a wide spot in the road at a trailhead called The Inkwells. Right there next to the road were a couple of salmon in the stream. Wow! And then a hiker came by and mentioned that there were several salmon just a hundred yards further up. We hiked up the trail and found a frenzy of activity in the creek. It was just like on the Animal Channel except there was no cheezy announcer describing the action. I took a few photos and some video of the fish. I wish I could have gotten closer but decorum dictates minimizing your impact on the environment so I held back. What a cool day! Craig
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