We’re putting together our “CalTrout’s Year In Review” email right now, but while we’re waiting, we thought we’d feature a few of the pretty and interesting photographs from 2011 that highlighted important stories.

In no particular order…

Big Springs Salmon

The return of salmon to restored Big Springs was a big story in 2011

The recovery of Coho salmon on the Shasta, Scott and Klamath Rivers remained an important story in 2011, especially on the Nature Conservancy-owned Big Springs ranch, which provides critical Coho salmon rearing habitat.

This photograph of a Big Springs salmon was taken at the Nature Conservancy open house in October.

Lake Tahoe Invasives

24" Koi don't belong in Lake Tahoe...

One of the more striking images of 2011 came courtesy an electro-shocking survey in Lake Tahoe Marina, which turned up a 24″ Koi.

CalTrout Northern Sierra Region Manager Jenny Hatch was part of the crew, and the picture remains a stark reminder of the invasive issues facing California’s native trout.

The Val Atkinson Interview

Our Val Atkinson interview remains one of the most-visited stories of 2011

We ran an interview of longtime CalTrout supporter and nationally known outdoor photographer Val Atkinson, and while the frank, interesting interview was one of the most-read articles of the year, this picture generated comments and emails like no other.

California’s Golden Trout

California's Golden Trout may have recovered enough to avoid ESA listing

While California’s Golden Trout are clearly still in some peril, recovery efforts have succeeded to the point that when the US Fish & Wildlife service decided it didn’t warrant an Endangered Species Listing, CalTrout was cautiously supportive.

This photo — sent to us by CalTrout member Scott Chandler — is a reminder of what’s at stake. We remain watchful, but optimistic that the current collaborative approach is working.

Hey, Our ED Fishes

We work for fishermen...

While it was taken in 2010 (New Zealand), this picture illustrates a compelling reality about CalTrout’s Executive Director. He fly fishes.

The Casting Call

The 2nd Annual CalTrout/TU Casting Call

Our 2nd annual Casting Call offered California’s legislators a chance to hear from us about important legislative issues, and does so in a lighthearted (nay, we say “fun”), nonpartisan environment.

(Well, not entirely nonpartisan; it featured a “Cast Off” between three Republican and three Democratic legislators.)

Those interested in a Mikey Weir video of the event should click here.

The McCloud Video Thing

The McCloud hydro relicensing story was one of the biggest stories of 2011, and in order to keep our membership informed about what was going on (especially in the face of some misinformation), we created a simple screencast that neatly illustrated the benefits of the proposed new McCloud flow regime (and in only five minutes too):

Forty Years

CalTrout celebrated forty years protecting and restoring California’s coldwater trout, steelhead and salmon. To see where it all began, watch our 40th Anniversary Video:

More To Come in 2012

We’re proud of what we accomplished in 2011, including the re-launch of our website and online presence.

And we fully expect next year’s “Year in Review” and “Year in Pictures” articles will highlight even more success protecting and restoring California’s wild trout, steelhead and salmon waters.