被红木覆盖的斜坡包围, the Klamath River swirls and swerves through a 40-mile length of the Yurok Reservation. 鱼在这里游泳 北海岸 水道位于…的中心 Yurok 民生与文化.
“Fishing is a way of life,” says tribe member Pergish Carlson. “We eat food from the river, whether it’s salmon, eels, or sturgeon. The fish are involved in all of our ceremonies, rituals, and storytelling. We still have the same ceremonies we've always had, and salmon is always the main meal.”
A lifelong Klamath River fisherman, Carlson runs 蓝溪导游服务. He takes anglers out on the river in his 24-foot jet boat to catch chinook salmon weighing as much as 20 pounds.
“Fishing on the Klamath is one of those experiences that people long remember,” Carlson says. “他们做了一次就上瘾了. Part of the appeal is the landscape, which is a lot different than what most people know. Out on the river, you aren’t going to see roads or cars. 只有河流和荒野. Most people think you have to go to Alaska to find wildness like this. 他们不敢相信这里有多偏远.”
Tribe member Morgan Clayburn, who operates his own 指导服务, says that a Klamath fishing trip delivers a lot more than dinner-table fare. “你有机会看到秃鹰, 鱼鹰, 黑熊, 水獭, 偶尔会遇到黑尾鹿. We should start seeing condors soon because the tribe has reintroduced condors in the upper part of the river.”
有一个Yurok向导的好处, Clayburn说, is that you’ll gain a broad perspective on the river and the tribe’s history as its steward.
“I feel so fortunate that not only am I guiding on my aboriginal waters, 我家的水, 但我可以和人们谈论bbin游戏官网的文化. I can point out ancient village sites and share the culture of this place. It’s nice to show people that it’s not just a fishing destination. 我的族人就是从这里来的.”
钓鱼之旅, Clayburn tells his clients about his grandmother, who was the last person born in his tribe’s traditional village. “She used to row a boat across the Klamath River to catch the school bus. 那只是两代人以前的事. We might be evolving as a people—we are running around in jet boats now—but the Klamath is still a very wild place.”
Both Yurok guides were born and raised on the river. “bbin游戏官网是渔民，”克莱本说. “From the time I was little, I grew up with my mom gill-netting on the river. I was always at the river, so to me the river feels like home.”
Today Clayburn and Carlson fish mostly with rods and reels, and Carlson is teaching his four children the craft. “They’ve all caught salmon, even my four-year-old. My 11-year-old has caught multiple big fish,” he says.
除了鲑鱼洄游, the Klamath River also boasts a world-class steelhead fishery that appeals to catch-and-release anglers. “A lot of hardcore anglers like the steelhead because they're a really good fight. They're very acrobatic; they jump out of the water. 他们提供那种刺激，”克莱本说.
Steelhead are present in the river much of the year, but the busiest fishing season is August and September when the chinook salmon swim upriver to their original spawning grounds.
“On the Klamath, salmon is the fish that everyone’s chasing after. 每个人都想吃鲑鱼，”卡尔森说. “不仅仅是运动渔民. Everyone in the tribe is trying to switch their diets from American beef and pork to salmon, 橡子, 还有河里的食物. 吃起来健康多了.”
Carlson’s freezer is filled with elk, deer meat, salmon, and steelhead. “bbin游戏官网所有的食物都是基于bbin游戏官网捕获的东西. Every night we try to incorporate one of those for our meat,” he says.
Carlson’s six-year-old daughter loves to eat Klamath River eels, he says. Outside of the tribe, they aren’t popular table fare, but in his family, they’re a staple. Carlson prepares them the traditional ways by grilling, smoking, and canning them.
“鳗鱼是一种超级食物. 一条鳗鱼的omega-3含量相当于三条鲑鱼. In the old days, our people might have had to walk 20 or 30 miles in one day. They could eat one of those eels and it would give them enough protein to do that.”
Clayburn说 the Klamath River provides him with food and a livelihood, 还有一些更无形的东西. “When it's 5:30 and you're running up the river in the pitch-black darkness to your first spot, 然后太阳出来了, 你认为, “这是我的工作? 这是我的办公室?’ I'm very fortunate to do what I do and live where I live.”
