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Thread: American River

  1. #21
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    The American and Feather river have had great salmon runs last year. Everybody was expecting the same with the steelhead run but so far it hasn't been the case.......we still have a couple of months left over, let's hope for the best.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fishtopher View Post
    It's not just the American. The entire West Coast is having a down steelhead year. Along with the poorer than expected salmon runs throughout the West, its pretty obvious that the warmwater blob off the West Coast has negatively affected our salmonid populations.



    Its not just as simple as releasing more hatchery fish into the river. Hatchery juveniles can have a significant impact on other salmonids both hatchery and wild. This can be a problem on systems with listed species such as Central Valley Steelhead on the American. I don't know if this is the reasoning for doing this on the American, but it is on other systems in CA. Here's a link to a student's Master thesis on the subject on the Trinity:
    http://humboldt-dspace.calstate.edu/...pdf?sequence=3
    As a result of this, the Trinity hatchery has greatly reduced its Steelhead production.

    Unfortunately, hatchery impacts are much simpler to quantify than impacts due to water management. Again, the fish get the short end of the stick.
    Yes, I know of the complexities of population dynamics of salmonids on a river. I do know that adding more hatchery juveniles does not necessarily guarantee a greater, future return of adults but it sure has on Mokelumne River so I bet it would on the AR as well.

    I also know that releasing greater numbers of hatchery steelhead can have a negative effect on wild populations both within a river system and outside of it due to straying. In fact, a USFWS biologist stated that as a concern when CDFW was considering replacing the Eel R. strain of steelhead (in the Lower American R.) with Coleman Hatchery steelhead. It was later determined that straying of the Coleman strain of mykiss would likely have no deleterious effect on other races of central valley steelhead. And besides, it's all a moot point because Coleman fish are a summer run and would never return to the AR at a time when their sexual maturity coincides with cold enough temperatures to ensure survival of their offspring anyhow.

    There are no true wild salmon nor steelhead on the American River and even very few adults of natural origin return each year... so that is a moot point as well.

    CDFW should at least meet (if not increase) its annual quota for salmon and steelhead smolt production. And by failing to do that - whether intentionally or otherwise and failure to make this information available to the public - is tantamount to lying to its 'stakeholders'.

    It actually begs the question, "Is CDFW trying to systematically eliminate fishing and hunting?

    FWIW... I am all for eliminating hatcheries and hatchery fish on watersheds in OR, WA and even CA whereby to do so would save/protect/enhance healthy populations of TRULY WILD salmon and steelhead.

    Thanks for your input. Glad we could keep it civil this time

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by mogaru View Post
    The American and Feather river have had great salmon runs last year. Everybody was expecting the same with the steelhead run but so far it hasn't been the case.......we still have a couple of months left over, let's hope for the best.
    GREAT is a relative term...

    The Feather did have a good return of kings and a lot of 2 year steelhead because a repair to the hatchery was made by some engineers to rectify a bad situation caused when the spillway failed in 2017. That repair actually reduced mortality by a large percentage because it removed even more sediments from the water intakes than the methods and equipment used prior to the spillway failure.

    And I know this because I met the guy who worked on the project there as a contractor for CDFW at RALEYS lol... go figure.

    Steelhead season the AR was pretty good but salmon returns were only 21,000. I wish we could see numbers one the American like the first 3 millennial years (164,000 in 2003)

  4. #24
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    This is a good article which describes how recently the American was dewatered for 24 h and probably destroyed many of the salmon reds.

    http://redgreenandblue.org/2020/01/1...n-river-flows/

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by mogaru View Post
    This is a good article which describes how recently the American was dewatered for 24 h and probably destroyed many of the salmon reds.

    http://redgreenandblue.org/2020/01/1...n-river-flows/
    Yep my nickname for Department of Water resources is D W R = De Watered Regularly and I have fished most days before and after the drop so yep was aware. It wasn't just 24 hours either... It dropped from 2400 to 2000 to 1800 and is currently back at 2000. This can't be good for eggs, alevin or fry... but it is something BOR and DWR do on a regular basis.

  6. #26
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    I've heard it plenty of times..........the enemy is always at home......although they always point with their fingers somewhere else, so you look far away from them.

  7. #27
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    You can't go Steelheading once a year.....you have to go at least 6 times to get any odds going for you and pay your dues.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  8. #28
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    That's is very true Bill. I usually go once or twice during the week, besides if you are a true "steelheader" we live for this time of the year. I'm thinking of the Russian or the Eel....or maybe the Garcia or Gualala.

  9. #29
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    Mitigation hatcheries put in place to offset severe spawning habitat degradation that are not producing hatchery fish are an absolute travesty IMO. Where are these so called "wild" salmon and steelhead on the American spawning? Nimbus basin? I am all for the propagation of "native" salmonids. But without the habitat for them to spawn,you wither mitigate with hatcheries,or you have nothing. That's the reality of it. The Trinity has a couple major un-dammed tribs for spawning to take place. That said it lost all that upper habitat. That habitat will never come back. The reality. I am so hopeful that the Klamath dam removal project will help to restore that river. We will likely never get runs back to historical rivers anywhere. Water diversions and habitat degradation will only increase as the population does. Man I am getting sad now.

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by avidangler View Post
    Mitigation hatcheries put in place to offset severe spawning habitat degradation that are not producing hatchery fish are an absolute travesty IMO. Where are these so called "wild" salmon and steelhead on the American spawning? Nimbus basin? I am all for the propagation of "native" salmonids. But without the habitat for them to spawn,you wither mitigate with hatcheries,or you have nothing. That's the reality of it. The Trinity has a couple major un-dammed tribs for spawning to take place. That said it lost all that upper habitat. That habitat will never come back. The reality. I am so hopeful that the Klamath dam removal project will help to restore that river. We will likely never get runs back to historical rivers anywhere. Water diversions and habitat degradation will only increase as the population does. Man I am getting sad now.
    I’ve witnessed steelhead spawning on the American last weekend and they were no where near the basin. Salmon spawning throughout the American.

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