Lots of fly fishing links this morning:
Buster clubs Chinook
Buster Wants to Fish is clubbing the first Chinook of the fall season somewhere on the Pacific NW Coast.
TU Bull Trout Rendezvous VIII
The Oregon State Council of TU has annoucned details of its state project — Oct 10-12, the Bull Trout Rendezvous on the Metolius. TU volunteers will be helping out with the rehabilitation and planting of the culvert crossing on Lake Creek in the Metolius preserve. Join in the work, BBQ and fishing.
Stop Pebble Mine
Alaskans vote today on Ballot Measure 4 which will partially determine the fate of the Pebble Mine nightmare. FlyTalk urges Alaskans to vote to preserve North America’s last great salmon run.
Half-Pounders all over the Rogue
Links Via Moldy Chum, going on an Oregon rampage. The Rogue is exploding with Half-Pounder steelhead! According to the Seattle PI: After seven years of glaringly sub-par halfpounder runs, the lower Rogue is experiencing a resurgence in these smaller, immature steelhead, an indicator that adult steelhead returns should be on the upswing the rest of this decade or more.
The ODFW Recreation Report says “We are currently experiencing the largest run of steelhead half-pounders since 2000. As of Aug. 15, 179,364 fish have entered the river. Half-pounders are young steelhead returning to the river in the late summer of their first year in the ocean. So-named because of their size, they stay in the Rogue through the winter, providing a popular fishery before returning to the ocean in spring. The run is especially popular with fly anglers, though spinners and worms will produce as well.”
Deschutes Fish Passage
Moldy also links you to info on the Deschutes River Dams fish passage project. “For the first time in 40 years, salmon and steelhead could soon be swimming their way down the Metolius, Crooked and upper Deschutes Rivers as a result of new equipment now in advanced stages of construction.” Image of the apparatus below:
Willamette Chinook Situation
Last but not least, The Register-Guard has an excellent article today by Susan Palmer about the salmon situation in the Willamette Basin. Willamette Riverkeeper, a nonprofit conservation group filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service for failing to adequately oversee the Army Corps of Engineers’ salmon mitigation efforts on 13 dams in the Willamette Basin. That lawsuit was settled in July, and the result is a lengthy list of improvements and alterations to the Willamette dams on a timeline that runs through 2023. Among the most challenging requirements: getting fish around the dams.
High Sierra Trout is back
Our blog pal Ignacio is back in business at High Sierra Trout after a hiatus this summer. He’s been working for the Nevada Dept. of Wildlife — getting paid to fish! Check out some of the slabs and a nice native Lahontan Cutt he’s got posted on his summer wrap up.
