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Title: Steelhead boom at Bonneville
Post by: Big D on August 18, 2009, 02:53:37 AM
Last Thursday 10,000 more fish passed the dam than the day before.

By Erik Robinson
The Columbian
Posted August 17, 2009

VANCOUVER — When Joe Hymer first saw the figure, he thought it must have been a typo. The veteran fishery biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife was reviewing the daily count of steelhead passing Bonneville Dam. Tuesday's figure didn't seem right: 18,671. Because that was a full 10,000 more than the day before, Hymer figured someone must have inadvertently punched in an extra digit on the calculator. He had good reason to believe so. In the 71 years since fish counting began at Bonneville, the previous record for the daily steelhead count amounted to 14,432. Then came Wednesday's count: 28,314. On Thursday, the number spiked at 34,054. The incredible steelhead counts weren't typos. At the dam, fish counters recorded as many as 1,700 silvery flashes zipping past in a single hour on Thursday a rate that equates to a new fish every couple of seconds. "We're in uncharted waters now," Hymer said. "We haven't seen this magnitude before." Biologists attribute this week's bulging daily counts at Bonneville largely to the searing heat wave two weeks ago. Several days of triple-digit heat warmed the river to as high as 75 degrees at Bonneville, well above the comfort level for cold-water fish. "When you get up to 74, 75 degrees, fish just don't move," Hymer said. "In sport fisheries below Bonneville, we saw steelhead duck into tributaries like the Cowlitz, Lewis, even to some degree the Kalama. Fish are trying to cool off as much as possible." Meanwhile, steelhead continued entering the river from the ocean. Biologists had projected an overall steelhead run of about 350,000 this year, and Hymer said sportfishermen in the lower river have reported a successful summer so far. As the river cooled down after the heat wave ended, the theory goes, a burgeoning stockpile of steelhead were waiting to head upriver to spawn. The big run above Bonneville is a bonanza for tribal fishermen. "This is a big boost for those fishermen that are fishing off of their platforms, especially in the Cascade Locks area," said Stuart Ellis, biologist for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. Tribal members are allowed to make over-the-bank sales of fish to the public, although they hadn't expected major interest until the bulk of the fall chinook salmon run in a few weeks. Most of the steelhead entering the Columbia were raised in hatcheries — and, therefore, are intended to be caught — although tribal members have treaty rights to harvest endangered wild-spawning steelhead, as well. "With this abundance, it allows them the opportunity to make it available to a wider audience," said Les Brown, salmon marketing specialist for CRITFC in Portland. Ellis said it's too early to know whether this year's run will come anywhere near the gargantuan run of 630,000 steelhead in 2001 — the year when the previous daily record of 14,432 was recorded at Bonneville. But he's not ruling out the possibility. "We've got a long way to go," he said. "The counts will continue through September and into October, so anything's possible at this stage," said Ellis.

"We could be looking at a very large steelhead run."

Title: Re: Steelhead boom at Bonneville
Post by: ICEMAN on August 18, 2009, 06:42:22 AM
Wow.  :yike:
Title: Re: Steelhead boom at Bonneville
Post by: BLKBEARKLR on August 18, 2009, 06:44:56 AM
woohoo time to go fishing
Title: Re: Steelhead boom at Bonneville
Post by: LongTatLaw on August 18, 2009, 12:34:53 PM
Well..me and CoHo were there for the boom and didnt catch a single steelie..although we only gave it a half arse attempt..were too interested in the sturgeon!
Title: Re: Steelhead boom at Bonneville
Post by: cohoho on August 18, 2009, 04:23:52 PM
My thoughts if the fishing is red hot up there, where are the people and boats.  There was only three boats at the launch we utilized and a total of boats on the river was pretty weak and lacking, unless they limited out before we got there at daylight through darkness...??????  Cause I know when they said the fishing at Astoria is red hot you wait in launch lines for a long time and play bumper boats while trolling...???  Any body been up fishing exclusively for Steelheads, I know has previously but haven't been able to get a hold of him in the past two weeks, heck i willing to pay him for a trip to learn about these intriguing Steelheads, but never got a return response...????
Title: Re: Steelhead boom at Bonneville
Post by: fishcrazy on August 18, 2009, 06:08:31 PM
No boats at Bonnie because they are all after the HOT salmon bites in the Ocean. Steelhead take a back seat about this time of year.


I wounder if we are thinking of the same person when you say he hasn't responded to youre messages. I bet he is in the lower river putting customers into salmon. He is probably staying in the erea he is fishing and not able to check the compooter. ;) Alot of guides do that this time of year.



Kris
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