Eel

[trinity]

Does anyone know if the Eel river ever got any spring salmon, or still does? Thanks

[Covelo]

I remember Wendy Jones, the retired DFG biologist for upper Eel region, telling me they had seen a couple stray spring salmon during the steelhead snorkel surveys. Nothing that would constitute a semblance of a run though. Are there any coastal streams, not counting NF Umpqua, south of Tilamook Bay that get spring salmon? Seems like they require decent summer flows which the Eel does not have anywhere in the system.

[Seamus]

The Klamath system has springers. They enter the system in May and are in the Tritnity by June. The flows on the Trinity will be ideal for spring salmon fishing this season. The Klamath and Trinity are two of the three rivers a person will be able to fish for salmon this year in California.

[shawn kempkes]

There are several zipperlip rivers on the oregon coast that get springers plus the rogue gets a good run. The Sac also has a decent run or use to.

[dpentoney]

In years past there were always decent numbers of salmon in the upper reaches of the Smith by 4th of July.

[trinity]

Hey Covelo, if the Eel gets a small run of summer steelhead, wouldn't it be reasonable to also see springer chinook? Just wondering. Is a springer life cycle similar to a summer steelhead, or are they sexually mature when they come in the river?

[Covelo]

Springers definitely have a life cycle similar to the summer steelhead on the Eel. Typically though, springers are found in the larger inland rivers like the Sac, Klamath, Rogue, and Columbia. The Umpqua is about the smallest sized river that they utilize to the south and the only reason I can come up with is that the north fork Umpqua has higher cool flows throughout the summer. The SF Umpqua is much more similar to the Eel and other coastal streams and it does not have springers. The smaller coastal streams just do not supply enough cool water until you get up to northern Oregon. If the Smith River historically had a spring run, that would be interesting to note. Certainly has the cool water and I have often wondered why it does not have a summer run of steelhead. Seems ideal for one with all the deep pools in the upper river.

The summer steelhead on the Eel literally sit all summer in deep pools with little or no flow. One pool had over 40 fish in it with no outflow. The water went subsurface at the end of the pool. This seems atypical for what I know of springers. Compared to other summer runs, the one on the Eel is unique or at least at the extreme for water conditions. Historically they are believed to have numbered over 5000 fish.

[trinity]

Thanks for the info Covelo