CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES
CONSERVATION: OUR HERITAGE
San Jose Flycasters ha been involved in all aspects of conservation since it's formation in 1965.
Over the years it has been at the forefront of the fishery conservation battles, both in the
legislative and habitat restoration arenas.
FlyCcaster's CONSERVATION MISSION
Carnadero Creek, a Myron Gregory memorial
CARNADERO CREEK, 1981-1984-1985
The Federation of Fly Fishers established a $1,000 fund for a memorial to Myron Gregory, who
died in 1977. Since Myron was a Flycaster, it was appropriate for the club to undertake this
project.
A call to the DFG in Yountville brought an immediate response. DFG had negotiated a lease
with Southern Pacific Transportation Company (SP) for installation of diversion weirs under the
railway bridge over Camadero Creek at Bolsa Road south of Gilroy.
DFG had no money and were glad to give us the job. This led to frustrating delays in getting plan
approvals from SP, in getting the liability insurance coverage demanded by SP and getting SP
approval of member Jerry Hensley (a stab licensed contractor) as superintendent of the work.
There is a concrete floor pan under this bridge that is 80 feet wide. At low fall and spring flows
the inch deep flow of water blocked upstream spawners and downstream smolt. It created a
bonanza for poachers using pitchforks to spear adult fish trapped in the pool below the bridge.
In October, we constructed a concrete weir across the west upstream half of the pan between the
center pier and the west wall. In addition, we built a tail berm from the downstream end of the
center pier to the lip of the pan. The concrete weir and berm were 1 foot high by 2 feet wide,
with a 45 degree slope on the upstream face.
We did not install a Gregory memorial
plaque as we knew this "fix" engineered by SP would not solve the problem.
After many efforts to get DFG approval, a change in DFG personnel opened the door and we
received an OK to build another weir across- the east outlet lip of the pan with a 3-foot-wide
open, next to the tail berm. DFG specified some minor rearrangement of the rip-rap boulders
below the pan to assist steelhead access to the foot-deep water flowing over the east pan.
Again, it was in was October before we wrestled our way through the SP bureaucracy, complete
with another costly liability insurance policy. Jerry Hensley provided hands-on supervision of
the work The county Fish and Game Commission provided $600 for insurance, materials and
machine rentals.
But we still knew that the "cure" was incomplete.
Finally, in early 1985, we were able to get the chief engineer of DFG to visit the site. He agreed
with our one-in-four assessment and sent us plans for a 16 foot concrete and steel plate Denil
fishway to be constructed below the tail berm outlet.
With help from Henry Coletto, Santa Clara County Fish and Game Ranger, we received a $4,000
grant for this project. After the usual long negotiations with SP we built this fishway in October.
Any curious Flycaster can inspect it by leaving Highway 101 at Monterey Road in Gilroy and
turning left on Monterey, which becomes Bolsa Road after you swing under the freeway. Just
stay on Bolsa until you get to the SP railway crossing. Park there and you can see the fishway as
you stand on the bridge.
A hands-on inspection will entail a climb down the bank. All who worked on the three weekends
involved made that 20-foot climb in and out many times each day. The fish now have an easy
swim instead of a tough, four-foot jump.
The project now met our standard for a suitable Myron Gregory Memorial so we mounted the
aluminum plaque on the center pier of the bridge 12 feet above the concrete floor where vandals
cannot reach it without a tall stepladder. To protect it from hunters we covered it with a sheet of
half-inch thick clear polycarbonate, the material that is used for bullet-proof windshields on
military aircraft.
Thanks to Fred Houwink for this article and the photos.
Flycasters has an active conservation committee. Contact the committee chair for information.