Non-yak spawner watching

This is my 10th year of documenting fish, redds, and carcasses on a favorite creek of mine in the Eel River drainage.  I saw 21 live fish, 2 carcasses, and several redds today in a short stretch of the creek viewable from the bank - I don't walk in the creek like DFG does...  I've not confirmed anything but kings in this particular creek, and they average around 8-12# with some very small ones (mini-jacks?) and the occassional toad.  Two different years I've photoed and videoed individuals around 40-50# in barely enough water to cover their backs.  Today the big carcass was 40" long and the big red spawner looked to be around 25#.

Question for the board expert, Sean:  the smaller, darker fish with yellowing on the nose and fins was doing the digging while the big red one was coming along side and doing a "quiver" - was that the male getting ready to fertilize?  I've seen lots of redd-digging activity over the years, but this quivering was unique to my experience.  The red coloring was also unique as almost all of the fish I see up there are usually either bright, dark, or yellowing.  It's a cool trip that I always look forward to.

Nice pics,  (of the live fish) and area. I use to watch them spawn under the Knights Ferry and the La Grange Bridges.

Craigh

super cool photos abking! thanks!

J

No chance the smaller fish were Steelhead...?

Awesome...the quiver is "the moment"  check out this fish porn of Atlantics...http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/manuesteve/atlanticsalmonspawning1.mpg

that was some hot action

Chinook jacks are part of the program and can be quite dinky.  I have seen them as small as 2-3 pounds.  Other fish will pour out of the woodwork however to get in on the free meal so it isn't uncommon to see steelies, cutts, or resident rainbows downstream of the action.  If you carefully watch that video I posted, you'll see a small trout dive in from the side...brutal.

BTW-great pics!

Spent the better part of an hour in Woodbridge looking down some 20-plus feet from the bridge over the Mokelumne watching a few chinooks trying to spawn.  Awesome.

Happy holidays everyone.

Sweet pics.  I spent a lot of time snorkeling creeks everywhere on the Eel looking for coho juveniles.  That first picture looks almost like a coho male with that kype but you probably saw the mouth.  What tributary was that? send me a pm.  Sometimes the male salmon will quiver before spawning, usually while the female is digging the red.  We watched a male coho do this on Lagunitas Creek below Kent Dam last Friday.  Also saw some pretty cool behavior I've never seen before, two female coho fighting going around in circle after circle.

Very nice! Thanks for sharing!