Chinook Salmon Spawn in San Jose River

He's the same gentleman who knows where Chinook salmon spawn in Guadelupe Creek -- though he won't say exactly where.

Roger Castillo, 52, is the "steward of the river," according to the San Jose Mercury News. That means that in addition to salmon and ancient fossils, he's found trout and avian life.

Now is the time for rainbow trout and Chinook, the latter of which return from the sea to where they were spawned -- in this case, far, far upriver -- to themselves spawn, after which point they die.

At all points it's illegal to catch fish from the river; Castillo, who once discovered an extensive fishing operation at a homeless encampment, reports poaching.

Of late, the river has been restored to some of its former glory, when it was the natural edifice near which an Ohlone settlement sprang, thousands of years ago.

This year, however, he could find only six California toas on a six-mile-long river walk. That makes him fear for the future.