The McKenzie River from Hendricks Park to Belinger Boat landing has been the site of a mark and recapture study to track the population of trout after the removal of stocked fish. Four years ago that section of river was a sliver of what it is today. Fish populations and fish size have improved mightily!
From Arlen Thomason: Thank you to all who attended the wrap-up meeting Tuesday evening. And to those who weren’t there, sorry that you couldn’t make it. After the presentations we had an interesting and enjoyable discussion about the future directions of efforts to support wild fish.
One of the things that we all agreed upon was to get out the message about the rebound of the wild trout population and the improvement in fishing results after hatchery stocking ended in the study section. Over four fishing seasons, 2010-2013, the trout population and the documented angler catch rate both increased by almost 300%. The anecdotal experience of those who regularly fish it matches the numbers.
So please help spread the word. Every chance you get, tell people about what has happened there. Invite them to fish the study section and see for themselves. Little by little, let’s chip away at the myth that artificial supplementation is necessary for our rivers to provide a quality fishing experience.
The 2013 and whole-study report is on the web now and can be downloaded from this page.
The story told in numbers and words is pretty darned amazing. Maybe most amazing of all is this set of numbers: 108, 2559, and 276.
108 volunteer participants.
2559 recorded hours on the water.
276 trips to tag and recapture fish.
And those numbers substantially understate the actual level of volunteer involvement.
The level of dedication, effort and accomplishment in this implementation of citizen science deserves recognition. I tip my hat to all of you.
Not that it is any way adequate acknowledgement, but we have Certificates of Appreciation and Accomplishment, printed on thick high quality glossy paper, for any study participant. We handed them out to people who were at the meeting, but if you weren’t there and would like to have one, please contact me and I will find a way to get it to you.
Cheers,
Arlen
Arlen did yeoman’s service here. He deserves the thanks of every one of us who are trying to preserve this native fishery. He spent hours on the river, and hours in the literature.
I had not fished this section of the river for a number of years. Most recently, as in last week, I took a buddy out on this section after reading about the efforts to keep the native fish populations just that (native), and was more than amazed at both the quantity of fish that were caught (and released), as well as the size of the cutthroat and rainbows. I truly feel blessed to have this stream right in my back yard, so to say, and realize the only reason there is a re-establishment of these fine fish is because of the efforts of certain key individuals who’s efforts will be appreciated by generations of anglers.
It’s about time the State of Oregon realized that hatchery fish aren’t the answer. Does anyone go to Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, etc. to catch 10 inch hatchery fish for a riverside ‘fish-fry’? We don’t. My wife took me fishing on Father’s Day from Hendricks to Hayden (yes, she can row our Koffler driftboat). We immediately saw the improved fish quality & numbers, with our best fish above Belinger. I’ve been fishing the McKenzie since the 80’s and in the last month we boated the biggest Cutthroat ever and consistently caught more & larger Redsides, battling some of our biggest ever. Thank you for the improved fishery and documenting the facts.
Thanks to all 108 study participants, Dave Thomas and Arlen Thomason, and the Springfield ODFW staff for all of your help!
The population estimate numbers are eye-catching for sure, but the really exciting part is that anglers got to experience the improvement of the fishery first-hand.
Angler success improved during the study period as well, reflecting the growth in the underlying fish population. Average catch per angler hour increased from 0.30 wild trout per hour in 2010 to 1.15 wild trout per hour in 2013.
That’s pretty darn good fishing! Good job, guys and gals!