whats hot?

[davetclown]

Just wondering what is in season and what is hitting these last few days...

thanks for any info...
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[Justdave]

Spring Chinook and summer Steelhead are beginning to move over the Oregon City Falls and up the Willamette. Spring Chinook and Sturgeon have been caught in Tillamook Bay and tidewater. Starting to see summer's and springer's in other coastal rivers as well. Trout season is open in about half the rivers, the remainder to open at the end of the month. You can go to ODFW website for current seasons.

JustDave

[davetclown]

thanks Dave,

sounds like things are going in full swing.

I was I fugured there was a spring salmon run in your area but wasnt quite sure.....

thanks...
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[Justdave]

We have pretty decent runs in most of the coastal rivers and tributaries of the Columbia. Sea lions have been wreaking havoc below the first dam on the Columbia, with several finding their way into the ladder. USFW has been hazing with rubber bullets with some success. The run was a bit late as well, prompting the closure of fishing on the Columbia and some of the up river tribs. The Tillamook Anglers Ass took over one of the state hatcheries in the Tillamook area and have done an excellent job of providing clipped fish opportunities in many of the rivers at the coast. There are also some summer run Chinook that take us into August and some of the Fall fish begin to arrive in Sept.

JustDave

[davetclown]

[center][cool] that is incuraging [cool][/center]

speaking of the columbia, how is the fish advisory for that area? I know most every state has them.

arent there latters on the columbia where they do fish counting? I think I remeber seeing a documentry where the ladders have glass walls where they count the fish individualy as the pass though it... That was realy kool looking set up... Dont know if I could handle working in a cave under water tho []

one more question, what is the ruleing on the catching native salmon? are you suspost to release them? I know the planted salmon have fins clipped.

the pbs program I saw had something to do with jump starting the natural salmon reproduction eco system. The last I had heard there were incuraging results comming from the counting ladders.... Truly and awsom and inlighting program if it ever comes your way. sorry I cant remember the name of it. but it was broadcast on my local PBS channel, I know you can do a look up for it if you have a local channel out your way to see when it may get aired or it can be perchased from them...

I love PBS....[cool] my window to the world.....[cool]

but as you know ya cant tell every thing in an hour..
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[Justdave]

Columbia counts for the Spring Chinook are way down so far, leading to the closure. The Oregonian had an article yesterday titled "Revised prediction due next week in light of dismal Chinook returns."
Following are some quoates:
"As of Friday, only about 15,500 spring Chinook had gone past the dam. The ten year average is about 112,000 past the dam for this time of year."
"By Friday, only 18 spring Chinook had gone past Lower Granite Dam, the uppermost of the eight dams between the Pacific Ocean and Idaho by way of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The ten year average for this time of year is about 18,000 fish."
"Oregon, Washington, and Idaho put about 14.2 million hatchery spring Chinook into the Columbia River System each year above Bonneville Dam. About 1% or fewer survive the journey to the ocean and back."

We had more snow than normal this year, so the colder water may have delayed the run. There is another article about the sea lion problem below the dam. There are about 30-50 sea lions hanging out below Bonneville. They are eating about 120 salmon a day. They are hazing with rubber bullets and firecrackers, but they still hang out eating away. Last year, about 8 of them figured out how to go into the fish ladder, so this year thry installed gates to keep them out. One still figured out the gate. There is a move about to get a limited harvest of the sea lions (also protected), but will take several years of government wrangling.
As for wild fish retention, Spring and Summer Chinook must be clipped. The Fall Cinook is all wild and 2 per day, 4 per week can be kept. Tillamook area rivers and bays, 10 per year can be kept. Steelhead must be clipped with the exception of a couple rivers on the southern Oregon coast where 5 wild fish per year can be kept. The State has gone to a brood stock program at most of the hatcheries, in which selected fishermen will catch and transport wild fish to the hatcheries to be spawned with one wild and one hatchery parent. These fish tend to return later in the winter giving us a more spread out and longer season we can expect to retain fish. There are still some stragler brood stock fish returning to some of the rivers. Summer Stealhead also need to be clipped. They are returning now and hanging out until winter to spawn. We can pretty much find Steelhead all year somewhere.

Sorry I have been so long winded.
JustDave

[davetclown]

and yet another peice of the puzzle falls in place.

thanks, the documentery said the salmon fishery was in trouble but did not go in to the amount of detail you have provided.

That explains why a multy million dollar a year task force is working on this. I never thought to think that you would have the same salmon species as we have in michgan waters.
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[Justdave]

Davet,
Another update on the Spring Chinook run on the Columbia. The original estimate was 88,000 fish over Bonneville Dam. The doom and gloom has eased a bit as huge numbers started going over the dam. The revised estimate is now 65,000 - 88,000. Monday over 5,000 fish went up the ladder. They are making comments like "We don't know why they are late". Basically the run hung in the lower river an extra three weeks and ar enow hell bent for Idaho and all points in between. I'll give you the final count when it shows up.
JustDave

[davetclown]

sounds encuraging,

new gates and concrete can change the smell of the entrance for a spell, but the critters waiting for supper is a pretty good deturent too.

thanks for the update...
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