Port Angeles, WA. The Conservation Angler (TCA) is pleased to welcome Pranjal “PJ” Srivastava, a San Diego-based fly angler with ties to steelhead rivers from California to British Columbia, to its Ambassador Program.
PJ started out trout fishing with spinning gear in the Sierra Nevada near Bridgeport, California, in the mid-1990s. He picked up a fly rod a few years later and began chasing steelhead in Northern California, then across the Pacific Northwest. On Oregon's North Umpqua, he found his home waters, returning twice a year for many years to fish with the late guide Tony Wratney, who taught him much of what he knows about steelhead. Today he travels to British Columbia each October.
From Sierra Nevada trout to Pacific Northwest steelhead, three decades into a life spent on rivers, PJ eases a wild fish back into clear water.
A Sense of Wonder on the River
"I met PJ on the Babine, and his enthusiasm for steelhead and the natural world was immediately apparent," said John McMillan, President of The Conservation Angler. "He brings a real sense of wonder to the river. I look forward to channeling that passion into our work to learn more about wild steelhead and protect the places they depend on."
TCA's Ambassador Program brings together anglers, guides, shop owners, scientists, and advocates committed to wild fish. Ambassadors help connect their communities with TCA's conservation work and its growing effort to collect long-term biological information with guides and anglers.
PJ above a green North Umpqua pool, the river he returned to twice a year for the better part of two decades.
The River as Temple
"I think of the outdoors as my religion and the river as my temple," said Srivastava. "I've caught many fish over the years, but what has stayed with me are the beautiful places fishing has taken me, the time on the river, and the conversations along the way. I'm joining TCA to give something back to these rivers. The more diverse the people who fish for steelhead, the more voices we have for these fish. If my son and his generation are going to know wild steelhead, we need to take care of them, and when we protect the fish, we protect the rivers and the places they flow through."
As an Ambassador, PJ will work with TCA's Oregon program, share his experience as a traveling angler, help bring new voices into wild fish conservation, and support TCA's work connecting anglers with science across the Pacific Rim through its Northern Crown Initiative.
Bent into a fish on a wild river, the time on the water and the places it leads for wild steelhead.
About The Conservation Angler
The Conservation Angler works to protect wild steelhead through science, advocacy, and angler engagement. Its Northern Crown initiative brings scientists, guides, lodges, and anglers together to build long-term biological records on rivers across the Pacific Rim.
For more information, visit www.theconservationangler.org.
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