By John McMillan, Wild Steelhead Science Director Conserving and restoring our wild steelhead runs requires a blend of habitat work, adjustments in management and angling policy, and advocacy from the angling community. As anyone who follows us here at Wild Steelheaders United knows, one of the issues we look at frequently is the impact of captive-hatched or reared fish on …
Commission denies petition to prohibit wild steelhead harvest in SW Oregon
By Kyle Smith, Oregon Field Coordinator Over 50 wild steelhead advocates turned out last Friday for a meeting of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in support of a petition that would have enacted emergency rules to prohibit harvest of wild steelhead in the southwest corner of the state. After almost five hours of public testimony, with the majority in …
An update on the Skagit steelhead fishery and implications for the Olympic Peninsula
By John McMillan Although winter steelhead season has begun, between the rain and snow those of us living in Washington haven’t had much of a chance to hit the rivers. That is by definition winter steelheading, however, and we wouldn’t love it so much if the weather and river flows were perfect all the time. Whether drifting or banking it, …
ODFW Commission to vote on harvest of wild steelhead in Southwest Zone
By Kyle Smith For almost all steelhead waters up and down the West Coast, harvest of wild steelhead is not permitted. This policy is longstanding for many rivers and is based on a combination of factors (primarily the depletion of many wild stocks). And the prohibition of sport harvest of wild steelhead in Washington, Idaho, California, and much of Oregon …
Science Friday- What Have We Lost?
Imagine going back in time 100 years to the Columbia River. What do you think the steelhead looked like then? How long were they? How much did they weigh? In the early 1900s scientists working with the federal Bureau of Fisheries visited the Columbia River, which was considered the center of steelhead abundance for the Lower 48 – and frankly, …
Remembering Russell Chatham
Renowned landscape painter, writer and fly fisherman Russell Chatham passed away on November 10 at the age of 80. I never knew Chatham, but his book The Anglers Coast and the film Rivers of a Lost Coast – in which he is a main character – are gospel to northern California fly anglers. He was our prophet, spreading …
Steelhead days
Among the many charms of autumn is the advent of steelhead runs in many rivers. Where I live, on the central California coast, most streams aren’t yet connected to the ocean—until the rainy season begins in earnest, the sandbars that have set up over the summer between their mouths and the salt remain intact. That doesn’t mean there aren’t steelhead …
Science Friday: Survival of hatchery and wild steelhead smolts: lots of mortality, just not always where you think
November has arrived, and here on the Olympic Peninsula, the first frost of the year. Further south in steelhead range, however, things are a lot warmer, and not in a good way. We send our best wishes for everyone affected by the recent wildfires. The impact of the extreme fire events we are experiencing over the past few …
Breaching Lower Snake dams could help water temps, say scientists
We’ve talked a lot about the impact four dams on the Lower Snake River have on dwindling populations of salmon and steelhead as they migrate hundreds of miles to and from their natal streams in Idaho. But last week scientists highlighted one more data point in the argument to further prioritize breaching the four dams: warming water temperatures. …
Science Friday: How do steelhead survive in intermittent streams?
It’s the first Friday in October — officially, “Septober” for us steelheaders. Unfortunately, steelhead runs across much of the West Coast have been down this year, and now there is another blob of warm water in the North Pacific. Things don’t look good right now, but wild steelhead have withstood these types of conditions before. As long as we …