Paid to go fishing

by Ed Kluender, Guest Blogger

It’s happened to most of us in fisheries field research, whether loading up the shock boat at a ramp, stopped at a gas station for tater wedges and bad coffee, or on the river when you run into someone who’s paying a guide to be there for nearly the same reason we’re there on the clock.  

It starts with the initial, “What are you doing with all that weird gear?”  Upon explanation is the inevitable, “Man, it must be nice to get paid to go fishing!”  

I’ve seen a range of attitudes after this.  Oddly enough, one of the more common responses is an uncomfortable mixture of resentment, cynicism, and anger that one could actually make a career of being on the water studying fish.

Humpback Chub are an endangered species native to the Grand Canyon.  As a tourist, you can pay upwards of $1000 to visit this spot.  As a fish biologist, you can make overtime pay there.  Photo: Kristen Pearson

Why fishes need floods

In April of 2011, the river near my house was bigger than I had ever seen it. One afternoon I went to get a closer look at the flooding at a park near the dam. Although the park sat more than 20 feet higher than the normal river’s edge, water stood where children had played a few days before. As I watched luxury boats and floating docks bang against the dam, several loud splashes near the monkey bars caught my eye. A group of longnose gar was laying eggs on a patch of grass near the edge of the park!

Last week’s post focused on man’s success at reducing