Contact Info
Email pmichaelcarl@yahoo.com
Phone (650) 726-7312
Philosophy
Early on, I decided that fishing would be my way of looking at the world. First it taught me how to look at rivers. Lately it has been teaching me how to look at people, myself included.
... The Bible tells us to watch and listen. Something like this suggests what fishing ought to be about: using the ceremony of our sport and passion to arouse greater reverberations within ourselves.
The Longest Silence by Thomas McGuane
Who's Behind the Ecological Angler?
Michael Carl - an angler and self-taught biologist and ecologist. A couple of decades of my life seeking out native fish around Northern California and the Western United States. Pursuing
these fish puts me in the heart of some amazing country (i.e. that's when the fly-rod takes a back seat to the camera). My main goal is simple - to share my experiences with the angling community through my writing and photography.
Enjoy and tight lines!
Ebooks
Central California Coho
Today, fisheries biologists fear coho salmon have entered an extinction vortex along the Central Coast of California. Is extinction inevitable or can we recover their populations in time?
To understand both the challenges to their survival and the recovery efforts, writer and photographer, Michael Carl, travels up and down California's Central Coast exploring their natal streams, talking to scientists and fishermen, and working alongside fisheries managers at a conservation hatchery.
Download this ebook to your Apple iOS or Google Android tablet.
Native Trout Waters of California
Native Trout Waters of California is now available for purchase. Nearly three years in the making - pouring over survey data, sorting through photographs, and of course, spending time fishing each of these amazing waters which support populations of California's native trout. Read More...
Native Fish of the Golden Trout Wilderness
California's Golden Trout Wilderness is home to three unique forms of native trout, and you'll find descriptions for each of these trout in my new Ebook - Native Fish of the Golden Trout Wilderness.
Read More...
Environmental Articles
Bay Nature
In this feature story for Bay Nature I put down my flyrod (just for a while) and do some research. Driven by curiosity about the coho salmon that once lived and spawned in the streams of the Santa Cruz and San Mateo Coast, I begin a three year quest to find them.
Learn what I discovered and meet some of the folks dedicated to helping this fragile population survive in the October - December 2012 issue of Bay Nature.
Fly Fishing Articles
Salmon & Steelhead Journal
Look for my feature article on one of North America's finest steelheading rivers the - Rogue River - in the Spring 2012 issue of Salmon & Steelhead Journal.
With a focus on the middle Rogue, you'll learn effective techniques to fish this classic steelhead water.
American Angler
Look for my feature article - Secrets of the Sierras 4 Classic Walk-In Trips appearing
in the May/June 2010 issue of American Angler.
You'll discover some terrific the wild trout fisheries of the Central Sierra Nevada.
Northwest Fly Fishing
I wrote a feature story for the January/February 2008 issue of Northwest Fly Fishing. The article covers the upper Merced River in Yosemite Valley flowing down through the Merced Canyon until it meets the South Fork of the Merced.
Another, shorter article I wrote appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Northwest Fly Fishing. It's a piece about one of my favorite still-water destinations in the entire Sierra Nevada - Heenan Lake.
Southwest Fly Fishing
I contributed a story for the January/February 2009 issue of Southwest Fly Fishing focusing on the Wishon Fork of the Tule River of California.
Arising from the high granite slopes of Moses and Maggie mountains in the Golden Trout Wilderness, this segment of the Tule River flows south and then west through a portion of the former Sequoia National Forest ...
I contributed a feature story for the November/December 2008 issue of Southwest Fly Fishing focusing on the Kings River of California.
Broken down into two classic reaches: the lower Kings River below Pine Flat Dam, and the upper Kings River above Pine Flat Reservior.
It's ultimately a story of two different fisheries. Each reach impacted by vastly different management practices.
I wrote a feature story for the July/August 2007 issue of Southwest Fly Fishing. The article details a five day span spent angling for Kern River rainbow trout along the upper Kern River within the Golden Trout Wilderness.
References
- P. Moyle. 2002. Inland Fishes of California
- J. Voshell, Jr. 2002. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrate of North America
