"They need to do a lot more research before they separate these ponds from the river," Moosios says in between casts. "They might be spending money in one place that costs them even more in another."

Even without salmon, the river restoration has already adversely impacted fishing. To demonstrate, Moosios steers us toward a gravel bar. Once we get out, I immediately notice dozens of saucer-shaped clusters of pebbles.

Moosios explains these are bluegill nests, established when the river was running high. But one night a couple of months ago, during mid-spawn, water levels dropped, leaving the entire colony high and dry.

"When they dropped the river, millions of bluegill fry in these nests dried up and died," Moosios says. "People like to catch bluegill, and these nests could've repopulated the whole river."

Whether guiding clients or fishing by himself, Moosios spends several days a week on the San Joaquin. More than anything, he fears that having salmon in the river will bring out the worst kind of people: poachers.

Moosios has plenty of first-hand experience with poachers. He's caught people trespassing on his property carrying 100-pound stringers. He's seen people use a car antenna and surgical tubing to make homemade spears called Hawaiian slings. He's found fishing lines tied to bushes with baited hooks just left in the water. He's seen gill nets strung across the entire channel, entangling every fish that happens by.

What'll happen when salmon are present? Moosios practically shutters at the thought.

"The poaching is going to go crazy," he says. "People are going to see these fat salmon in the river, and they're not going to be able to help themselves. The only way they're going to stop it is if [the Department of Fish and Game] puts a full-time warden on the river between Friant and 99."

Given California's budget woes, and the fact that the DFG is already vastly underfunded, good luck with that.

Before we exit the pond and try our luck in the river -- where Moosios uses a crankbait to catch and release a 4-pound spotted bass, a female plump with eggs -- he has one more thing to show me.

In November, you might remember hearing about a large deer that went for a run through northwest Fresno before being captured in someone's garage. Three local TV stations carried the story with all the requisite cuteness.

"Since that story was on the news, I've been noticing more people on the river with bows and guns," Moosios says. "That's probably what happened to this animal."

Glancing down alongside the boat, a disturbing image begins to take shape. It's a large deer with its head chopped off. The carcass just lays there, half submerged. Hard to imagine a more pitiful sight.

If a 200-pound deer can be poached, in full view of a line of luxury bluff homes, salmon don't stand a chance.

San Joaquin Guide Service

Louis Moosios, a fully accredited guide and boat captain, offers fishing, boating and sightseeing trips on the San Joaquin River and Millerton Lake.

-- Details: sanjoaquinguideservice.com or (559) 351-9500.