Some North Coast Rivers Closed to Fishing Because of Drought Conditions

There are no flow targets after Jan 31, right?  So technically, it opened up with the rest of them.

It opened Friday due to flow, like I said.

Yeah, but they can't close it anymore due to low flow.  It other words, it would have opened up on Saturday regardless of the flows.

But we're kind of getting sidetracked.  Should any of the rivers be open right now, regardless of current flows?

-Allen

I dontknow about regardless of current flows, but I dont think they should open until they get some water. There was a guide on the elk/rogue/chetco that canceled most of his fall salmon trips because there was "no way to ethically catch fish. Thays a good model to me.

Or maybe look at it another way, close it down now, and don't open it until the hatcheries get their quotas?

So again, I'm not judging the choices we make as individual anglers.  I make my own choices (and question them sometimes) and try to refrain from judging the choices others make as long as they are within the regs.

-Allen

Should any of the rivers be open right now, regardless of current flows?

-Allen

In the past several weeks I've paddled everything from tidewater up well past the forks on the Eel, about 40 miles upstream of the mouth.  As is true for nearly all streams in California, the salmon have spawned in the main stems - there is no creek spawning because they never got enough water to allow fish passage.  The good news is that there are plenty of areas of suitable habitat for spawning and there are hundreds of salmon redds that have been worked by thousands of fish.  The bad news is that the river has gotten so low that people have driven up and down the streambed.  We started seeing more vehicle crossings through redds up around the forks, and the farther downstream you go toward town, the more the redds are driven through.  I'm working with Eel River Recovery Project and have placed some signs near Fortuna asking the public to watch out for salmon and please do not drive in the river, but I feel like I'm up against a brick wall.  Access is there because even if a few access points are locked to protect the river, people have other places to get on the bar and they drive through the river to work their way up and downstream.  I've seen literally dozens of redds driven through, and the most discouraging ones aren't just a river crossing at the tailout - there are actually criss-crossed tracks and donuts in complexes of redds where dozens of salmon spawned.  I have more to offer on this and some of the info I've gathered has made its way to the local media.

The question of whether the rivers should be closed is a complex issue.  I don't want to limit the public's access, but there is obviously a problem - at least when the river is low enough to drive through it.  The answer is definitely rain, but there need to be measures in place in the meantime.  Regarding fishing, I feel they should extend low flow closure protocol as it's enforced from October through the end of January.

Awesome effort on the signs Eric!

-Allen

There are no flow targets after Jan 31, right?  So technically, it opened up with the rest of them.

It opened Friday due to flow, like I said.

Yeah, but they can't close it anymore due to low flow.  It other words, it would have opened up on Saturday regardless of the flows.

But we're kind of getting sidetracked.  Should any of the rivers be open right now, regardless of current flows?

-Allen

I dontknow about regardless of current flows, but I dont think they should open until they get some water. There was a guide on the elk/rogue/chetco that canceled most of his fall salmon trips because there was "no way to ethically catch fish. Thays a good model to me.

Or maybe look at it another way, close it down now, and don't open it until the hatcheries get their quotas?

So again, I'm not judging the choices we make as individual anglers.  I make my own choices (and question them sometimes) and try to refrain from judging the choices others make as long as they are within the regs.

-Allen

What about the wild fish, they need the most protection. Hatchery quotas have nothing to do with them.

There are no flow targets after Jan 31, right?  So technically, it opened up with the rest of them.

It opened Friday due to flow, like I said.

Yeah, but they can't close it anymore due to low flow.  It other words, it would have opened up on Saturday regardless of the flows.

But we're kind of getting sidetracked.  Should any of the rivers be open right now, regardless of current flows?

-Allen

I dontknow about regardless of current flows, but I dont think they should open until they get some water. There was a guide on the elk/rogue/chetco that canceled most of his fall salmon trips because there was "no way to ethically catch fish. Thays a good model to me.

Or maybe look at it another way, close it down now, and don't open it until the hatcheries get their quotas?

So again, I'm not judging the choices we make as individual anglers.  I make my own choices (and question them sometimes) and try to refrain from judging the choices others make as long as they are within the regs.

-Allen

What about the wild fish, they need the most protection. Hatchery quotas have nothing to do with them.

If the hatchery fish can get up to the hatcheries, the wilds can get up on their spawning beds.  That's my thought process at least, don't really have the expertise to know if it is true.

It's a never ending tension to balance the desire to harvest hatchery fish (that's what they are there for, right?) against the needs of the wild fish.

-Allen

Most hatcheries are at the base of dams and the fish usually have a pretty good flow. I have seen natives stacked in the river waiting for their home creeks to have enough flow, makes them sitting ducks in low flow years. This will be the 1st year I probably won't put a fish on my card and I'm not happy about it but I say shut her down. 

Most hatcheries are at the base of dams and the fish usually have a pretty good flow.

Except this year ... no flows anywhere.  In a more normal year, yeah, what you said.

-Allen

Flow at H-Town 30cfs  Sonoma is releasing 120cfs so at least they have a shot or would if the SCWA at Wholer pumps weren't taking half of that

Flow at H-Town 30cfs  Sonoma is releasing 120cfs so at least they have a shot or would if the SCWA at Wholer pumps weren't taking half of that

Yeah, understood.  Thanks.

-Allen