Through the efforts of Harthorn and his organization, the creek from Centerville Head Dam to the Oro-Chico Road bridge crossing south of Chico was reopened to catch-and-release steelhead fishing, artificial lures with barbless hooks only, from November 15 through February 15 starting in 2001.

Eventually, Harthorn would like to see the creek reopened year round to steelhead and salmon fishing, including a limited harvest of spring run chinook, as the fishery rebounds.

"Last year I took the majority of my steelhead on Glo Bugs, but this year it's a 50/50 toss up between bead head nymphs and Glo Bugs," he added. "I caught and released three fish on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. One hit a Glo Bug and the others grabbed beadhead nymphs."

Harthorn snagged his Glo Bug on a rock and broke it off. Without retying a Glo Bug on the dropper leader, he decided to cast out again and immediately hooked up. After he landed the scrappy fish, he cradled a gorgeously colored small steelhead and I took a few photos of it before he released it.

He noted that the water was too low and clear for good fishing, since a lot of runs and riffles were not fishable in the low flows. Right after the first rain of the season, Harthorn hooked four steelhead in a pool below his house, but most of these steelhead had already migrated further up the canyon.

Although he prefers to fly fish, Harthorn explained that spin fishing with barbless spinners, such as silver Mepps #2 and Rooster Tail lures, and Glo Bugs also produces good numbers of native steelhead and resident rainbows.

Butte Creek fish are not big by steelhead standards, but range in size from 16 to 25 inches, with an average weight of 2 to 3 pounds. The 2000-2001 record was a 25 inch buck caught by Russ Collar above the Covered Bridge.

The largest fish documented in 2001-2002 was a 21 incher taken on a nymph by visiting fly fishing guide Tim Hutchins from Yosemite.

Steelhead are constrained by the same problems on Butte Creek that chinook salmon face - low water and impassable conditions. Since minimum flows of 40 cfs were imposed on the stretch of creek below Centerville Dam in 1992, both spring run chinook and steelhead populations have rebounded. The removal of five dams on lower Butte Creek, the result of political pressure by Harthorn and other activists, have also greatly helped the restoration process.

However, much work needs to be done, including putting fish screens on PG&E flumes, where Harthorn estimates that 90 percent of the juvenile steelhead are trapped. "When the DFG in 1980 requested PG&E to screen their diversions, PG&E responded that the flumes offered great habitat for fish," he said. However, after making the bizarre claim that the flumes "added" to the creek habitat, the utility, against the DFG's recommendations, lined half of the flumes with gunnite (concrete), making them even poorer fish habitat.

"The juveniles in the flume are protected under the Endangered Species Act just like steelhead returning from the ocean," said Harthorn. "In fact, PG&E is 'taking' steelhead without an incidental take permit by not screening their flumes."

Another major obstacle to fish restoration is Centerville Head Dam, located 300 yards below De Sabla Forebay, where steelhead are almost completely blocked from reaching the creek's upper watershed. PG&E has made no mitigations for these losses, so Harthorn has begun a petition drive to remove the barriers (available on www.thepetitionsite.org). Harthorn would like to see a fish ladder constructed to allow passage over the dam or to have the dam removed entirely.

Another hurdle to restoration is the holding up by Congressman Doug Ose of the purchase of water dedicated to Butte Creek fish. But in spite of these challenges, the steelhead fishing is improving every year as the river recovers from years of habitat degradation.

The spring chinook run is the largest remaining one in California, more than the Trinity, Klamath, Yuba or Salmon rivers. The run has averaged 7,000 fish per year for the last eight years, with the best return reaching over 20,000 fish. The run this year was estimated at over 12,000 fish, although a fish kill caused by warm, low water reduced the population by 25 percent or more.

Salmon usually can't get over the "Quartz Bowl," but when flows rise to 1500 to 2,000 cfs, some fish can reach Centerville Dam, like they did in 1995. Removal of a big boulder in the "Quartz Bowl" would assist the salmon in migrating upstream.

The section of creek we fished is on private land, but Harthorn emphasized that plenty of public access for steelhead fishing is available on DFG ecological area and CSUC preserve land below the Honey Run Road Bridge.

After Harthorn released his fish, we hiked back to his house. I drove to De Sabla Reservoir above Paradise to check out the fishing. I arrived there right before dark and saw a trout jump near shore. I tossed out a nightcrawler under a plastic bubble and quickly caught a beautiful 14 inch holdover rainbow. Harthorn said this small lake is a good one to toss a variety of flies and lures from a float tube throughout the year.

The upper creek from Centerville Dam through Butte Meadows is open to fishing year round. Access can be very challenging in the steep terrain below De Sabla, but the creek in Butte Meadows has good public fishing access. The DFG plants 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of catchable rainbows every year in De Sabla Forebay and another 4,000 pounds in the creek in Butte Meadows, according to Dennis Redfern at the American River Fish Hatchery.

In the lower creek below Oro-Chico Road, anglers may not keep any trout or salmon though they may keep smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, channel catfish and other species.

Harthorn is available for guided fly fishing trips on Butte Creek by calling (530) 893-0360. For fishing information and information on how to help restore Butte Creek, access the Friends of Butte Creek website, www.buttecreek.org. I urge everybody to sign the petition for the restoration of Butte Creek on this website or thepetitionsite.org.