Steelhead season is over on our local river and streams, but some of the best fish of the year were caught just yesterday. Poachers? No, this is an entirely legal effort conducted by the Monterey Bay Salmon and Steelhead Project who finally got the go-ahead to capture a limited number of wild fish for their native steelhead-breeding program.

In addition to bolstering the number of viable steelhead returning each year to the San Lorenzo and other local streams, this allows the popular Salmon and Trout Education Program to continue, wherein local students incubate, raise and release thousands of steelhead fry each year. Matt McCaslin and Barry Burt established the STEP program in the late 1980's and are directly involved in the fish-trapping efforts currently in process.

McCaslin and a group of dedicated volunteers have collected all the females needed for the year, but are still collecting wild males this week. "We got one of the finest bucks I've ever seen from the San Lorenzo today, probably around 16 pounds!" McCaslin enthused on Thursday. "That went in the tank along with another 14-pounder." Efforts at the Felton steelhead trap will conclude when an additional 10 wild male steelhead are caught and transferred to the Big Creek hatchery location, joining the females already there.

Tim Loomis from the Santa Cruz Fly Fishermen Club is one of the volunteers working the Felton trap this year. He, and the Fly Fishing Club are hosting the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour at the Rio Theater on Friday, April 13 this year. The tour features two Hi-Def. movies including Mike Weir's "Soulfish 2." Kids under 12 are free, and tickets can be purchased at the Patagonia Outlet on River Street, or via PayPal through Loomis' website: Big Sur Styles Website.