Spawning salmon - 12/21

I hiked in the redwoods with my uncle on Thursday and a favorite creek was pretty murky still from the heavy rains.  Yesterday I had a chance to jam down there for a run through - no time for tripod shots, but the water was much better.  I saw one nice 20-25# king in one section and 3 others (2 of them large - 20-25#) at a second spot.  The two larger kings in the trio were fighting - chasing back and forth through 8-16" of fast water.  The really blurred shot shows the colors I hope to see.  Usually I just see dark with yellow blotches.  Red is a treat, and so is chrome.     The first shot shows an orange tag that DFG hangs above or adjacent to a redd as they walk right up the streambed.     I was videoing a large king on her redd years ago when she went skirting off quickly as two biologists waded up the creek gathering data.  Training or no, walking in the creek is bad IMO.

cool post!!! i could sit in a spot like that for hours on end just watching the way the fish behave and interact!!! maybe a whole day if i had a good brew and good company to hang with!!

If this Kind of stuff excites you as it does me there is a book Called "Totem Salmon written by Freeman House. It chronicles the fight for Salmon in Humboldt County during the end of the logging days. This book changed the way I think about everything and spurred me on to actually get in those creeks and Fix what Loggers had wrought. Here is a link to a review. http://www.smsys.com/pcbdg/totmsamn.html
Thanks for the post Eric. I think a lot of fisherman lose interest in Salmon once they're in the creeks and out of reach. Guys like you keep it in our face and we love ya for it.

cool post!!! i could sit in a spot like that for hours on end just watching the way the fish behave and interact!!! maybe a whole day if i had a good brew and good company to hang with!!

Amen to that! Cool stuff Abking!

"Totem Salmon" - That's a great read, Hawk.   It inspired me too. 

Eric,
I run spawning surveys on 6 Russian River tributaries.  There are a few reasons that biologists walk in the streams while conducting surveys.  While it might temporarily disturb fish, it is necessary to count them.  If you just hiked along the stream (a lot of streams you can't come close to doing that) you would end up missing a lot of fish.  Salmon and steelhead spawn in very specific spots in the streams, almost all redds are found in the tailouts of pools just above riffles with some gradient to them.  Spawner surveys are also the best way to monitor adults salmonids without trapping them (which delays their migration upstream), believe me.  Crews are specifically told to look for these areas and to not step on redds.

You should also go up to Jacoby Creek or Morrison Gulch to watch the coho salmon spawn.

And yes its hard work (actually it is) but someone has to do it.  I just wish we could carry beer with us.  Although I would probably just stop at the first redd or fish I saw and call it a day!!

Sweet adventure Eric, keep them coming.

Eric, we also do spawning surveys down here Mendocino/Fort Bragg (Pudding Ck, Noyo, etc).  With a trained crew, it really is the least intrusive way to count spawners.  Additionally, we use  a sampling protocol so only about 30% of the creeks are actually walked.

Millions have been spent on stream restoration.  Without some way of quantifying adult spawning populations we have no way of determining if restoration is working or not. Believe me, trapping sucks for fish.

If you're down here, you're welcome to come along and see how they work.

Dave

If you're down here, you're welcome to come along and see how they work.   Dave

  Hey Dave,  I live in Mendocino and volunteer for the Mendocino Land Trust/Big River State Park.   I'd love to learn more.   May I join you folks sometime?   My main interest is the restoration of Big River.  I'll send you a PM later today, as I'm off to yak the river this drizzly morning.    

Sincerely, Matt

Thanks for the replies, bio-guys!  I do feel that the majority of those who have the difficult assignment of gathering data in creeks do so with care, but I also know from my own experience that pool tail-outs are not the only place redds are being built.  While they are the most likely redd-building spots and easiest to see, the swift type of spot where those fish were fighting is actually a very common area for redds as well.  I believe that walking the edges of the streambed and putting as much focus as possible on not disturbing a redd should be the goal of those doing the work.  I once walked with the DFG biologists and stopped one of them as he was about to step in a redd on his way across the stream to grab a carcass.  I just don't want the few spots where access like this is possible to be "studied to death..."

Learning to identify redds over many years of observation, seeing competitive spawning activity and different sizes and colors of fish acting in different ways, seeing how long (weeks!) a big female will stay on a redd if undisturbed - all the while rotting away, and just being where the magic is happening are very special activities.  I know that those lucky enough to have jobs doing these things do have appreciation for it, and that means alot to me and other laymen who also have great appreciation for it.

I think I've seen a few Coho over the years, but anything I've ever zoomed in on (even little guys around a pound) are kings, and I've never found a coho carcass where I go on the S. Fork Eel.  A few years ago I did see the Cohos spawning up at Morrison Gulch, Joe - cool spot!  I also hiked on Mill Creek up on the Smith once.  It was low, and I saw no fish, but the redds were HUGE!  Like 10' wide and 40' long.   

I do feel that the majority of those who have the difficult assignment of gathering data in creeks do so with care, but I also know from my own experience that pool tail-outs are not the only place redds are being built.  While they are the most likely redd-building spots and easiest to see, the swift type of spot where those fish were fighting is actually a very common area for redds as well.  I believe that walking the edges of the streambed and putting as much focus as possible on not disturbing a redd should be the goal of those doing the work.

Agreed.

I think I've seen a few Coho over the years, but anything I've ever zoomed in on (even little guys around a pound) are kings, and I've never found a coho carcass where I go on the S. Fork Eel.  A few years ago I did see the Cohos spawning up at Morrison Gulch, Joe - cool spot!  I also hiked on Mill Creek up on the Smith once.  It was low, and I saw no fish, but the redds were HUGE!  Like 10' wide and 40' long.

On SFE you will not generally see coho spawn in the mainstem, as summertime conditions are too warm for the young to rear out.  In our neck of the woods on SFE (around Branscomb and Piercy), coho will only spawn on the west side tributaries like Indian Ck, Standley Ck, Hollow tree Ck, etc) and in the upper watershed around Branscomb. 

In this area, Chinook generally exhibit the life-history where the young begin downstream migration soon after emergence from the redd, and, loosely, after about 90 days are in the estuary.  That's why you'll find them spawning in areas that get warmer in summer than coho can tolerate.  Coho, on the other hand, generally rear for at least about 18 months in the creek.

Matt, send me a PM and we'll hook up.  I'm on a ski trip this week though.

dave

i could sit in a spot like that for hours on end just watching the way the fish behave and interact!!! maybe a whole day if i had a good brew and good company to hang with!!

Do it! I was drifting the Snohomish river in October w/a friend and came across this shallow w/ about 200 spawning pink salmon. It was so shallow that their backs were all sticking out of the water. We pulled off the river and just watched the action for about an hour. Struggle, battle, conception, death, serious drama... it was heavy.

Great post and pics Abbie. BTW, get an Optio and think of what the good ol' fish hunter would do and you'll have the best pics for sure!

Z

dooot!! why'd I ever move away from the mountains.  I remember as a young teen watching thousands of salmon swim upstream in the shallow stretches of the merced river near where I grew up.  It was amazing.  Nice pics.

Great post and pics Abbie. BTW, get an Optio and think of what the good ol' fish hunter would do and you'll have the best pics for sure!

cool post!!! i could sit in a spot like that for hours on end just watching the way the fish behave and interact!!! maybe a whole day if i had a good brew and good company to hang with!!

I'll be w/Jfish, in his spot,"just watching",  "brainstorming"    on "how-to-market" his new*QWIK-Yak Repair Kits by freeing up some "resourses"     
resulting in "beneficial & more creative, picture-taking-thoughts"
trying to one-up,... A WalkintheWILD! by the POST KING.......AbKing! 
whutsnext?UgonnaSLEEPinaTREEforEAGLEcortingSHOTS?    keepitclickinBro!