Humboldt Steelhead Days Coming Back For 2017
Happy Labor Day, everyone!
As you likely end up doing little more than enjoy a late-summer finale before fall arrives, consider this event – Humboldt Steelhead Days – into your 2017 activity plans.
Here’s the press release with more info:
Humboldt Steelhead Days (HSD), a celebration of all things steelhead in Humboldt County, has received a significant donation from the Humboldt Lodging Alliance (HLA). The donation will enable HSD organizers to move forward with ambitious plans for the 2017 event.
Fast becoming Humboldt’s signature wintertime event, HSD will run from the first of January to the end of March, 2017. The event is a winter-long promotion of steelhead angling opportunities, education, conservation, and celebration throughout the county. Major rivers featured are the Trinity, Mad and Eel. HLA’s support makes possible both catch-and-keep and catch-and-release photo contests featuring cash prizes totaling $10,000. In addition there will be will be fish and habitat-related tours, onshore clinics and seminars, as well as theater and film events on selected weekends throughout the season. Events will take place at a variety of venues throughout Humboldt County, targeted for both beginners and experts.
Founded three years ago by Mad River Alliance director Dave Feral, HSD is now coordinated by three local non-profits: Mad River Alliance, California Trout and Mountain Community and Culture. The aim of HSD is to build community awareness and fund continued restoration and recovery activities on Humboldt rivers and streams while promoting the region in the wintertime to the outside world. During January and February there are more steelhead in Humboldt rivers than anywhere else in California.
Says Feral, “Our aim is to promote wintertime Humboldt as a sportsmen’s paradise and an eco-tourist’s dream. Steelhead are an iconic species. The rivers and forestlands that support their return and propagation are at the heart of Humboldt’s appeal and beauty. We want the world to know this. Seeing wild fish returning to their native streams and perpetuating their species will appeal to anyone who has an affinity for the outdoors and a love of nature.”
To broaden the scope and appeal to anglers and non-anglers alike, 2017 HSD will feature a number of restoration seminars and spawning tours to local streams with help from Pacific Outfitters. Humboldt County is a leader in salmonid restoration and recovery.
Humboldt Steelhead Days had 1,500, mostly local, participants in 2016. HLA funds will be used to do significant outreach around Northern California and Southern Oregon in an effort to bring people into the area to experience all of Humboldt’s many amenities during the winter season.