Conservation Commons: Toby Wyatt
In Idaho, the story that many people tell of their lives is one centered around a sense of place. A love of rivers, mountains, and forests drives people both professionally and personally. Toby Wyatt is one of those people. Born just over the border from Idaho in Clarkston, Washington, his family moved away when he was young but the Lewis-Clark Valley and surrounding rivers always called to him. When he finally moved back to the valley where the Clearwater River collides with the Snake, it was for good. This is his story.
Toby and I first met nearly 2,000 miles away from Idaho in Washington DC. Toby was among a group of Idahoans visiting the Nation’s Capital to advocate for the fish, rivers, and industry that sustain Idaho’s river communities. It was an honor and an inspiration to hear Toby speak with Idaho’s congressional delegation about a place and way of life he is so passionate about.
B: Tell me a little about yourself and your business.
T: I was born in Clarkston, Washington and still live there today. My dad has lived here his whole life, he’s a fishing guide and builds boats. I’m lucky in that I’ve always known what I was going to do. When I was in 7th grade I took two friends bass fishing. We pulled into the first hole, I said “cast towards that big rock into the hole and let it sink”, and they doubled up. They joked that I should be a fishing guide and I said “I know. That’s what I’m going to be". All through High School I helped my dad with his fishing business. On my 18th birthday I drove to Portland, got my coast guard license, and became a fishing guide. In 1999 I started in negotiations to get a Clearwater permit and by 2000/2001 I became an outfitter on the Clearwater.
B: You’ve been working, fishing, and living along the Clearwater and the Snake for a long time. What changes have you seen over the years?
T: When I first started as an outfitter on the Clearwater, there was very little guided traffic between Lewiston and Lenore. It was more of a good ol’ boy river. People had their hole and it wasn’t good etiquette to fish next to them. Then there was a period where it was really popular with a lot of people coming here to fish. Idaho Fish and Game meetings would always discuss overcrowding on the river. Fish declines started to really impact the number of anglers. Once, in 10 days, I landed 250 steelhead. There are three times as many guides now but fewer fish.
B: At what point during your career did you start becoming concerned with declining salmon and steelhead returns to Idaho?
T: I’ve always been alarmed at the lack of wild salmon and steelhead. We had these great runs but they were predominantly hatchery fish. Hatchery fish are great to have and great to catch, they do serve a purpose, but it’s not the same. It’s the wild fish we’re trying to save.
I didn’t think there would be such a decline in hatchery fish. Things were good for quite a while, but I knew it couldn’t always be as good as the early 2000’s. It was around 2013 when things really started to decline. That was the first year we had a size restriction which opened up my eyes. I went from having this wonderful, thriving business, to losing at least half of our salmon and steelhead business between 2012 and now. We diversified and started fishing for walleye, sturgeon, and bass but it’s not the same. The salmon and steelhead is where we should be making most of our money.
B: I imagine at one point you thought about passing down your business to your kids. Now what does that look like?
T: At this point, it is not a viable option to pass the business down to my children. Salmon and steelhead aren’t going to be around unless we do something in my lifetime. So passing it down to the kids really isn’t an option. The other species I can target are just a fraction of the money I could make from fishing for salmon and steelhead. So yeah, people need to act. They need to get involved, talk to their elected officials. I realize that a dam breach is obviously the #1 thing studied that could help the fish the most. But that’s just not really feasible at this point in time. It would take so long to get people to agree to take those dams out so in the mean time we just have to work with what we have. We have to protect those babies who are making their way to the ocean.
B: In 2018, the Idaho River Community Alliance (IRCA) was formed. Can you talk about this group and the role you play?
T: In 2018, there was a threatened lawsuit. The fishing community was up in arms. So the town of Riggins quickly formed the Idaho River Community Alliance and I went down there for one of the first meetings. After, I decided to meet with Lewiston outfitters and fishermen to see if we could form another chapter. After a vote, we formed the IRCA Clearwater Chapter. I’m the current President of IRCA Clearwater Chapter.
The formation of the Idaho River Community Alliance really helped unify outfitters on the Clearwater. We still meet to this day and have fishing tournaments all the time. We’ve talked several times about river enhancement projects or things we can do to give back. Our goal is to provide sportfishing opportunity to sport fishermen when there’s a viable opportunity. Last year, they closed all seasons because of the steelhead. Yet we were having a record return of Coho up the Clearwater. We asked for a small section of river to be open for Coho. We’re a voice for sport fishermen.
