04/25/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Friday, 4/25, was a busy day. I met Kevin Bastien at ODF&W and we proceeded to the Logsden store where we picked up Casey. The 3 of us went to the Palmer trap. Bill and Kathy Furgason were "smolt sitting" and had spent the night in Frank's camp trailer. Things had not gone the best for them. The generator was not putting any power into the trailer and the 12 volt battery had died. There was no onboard water due to lack of juice for the water pump, no heat for the same reason and only flashlights for light. I think they were glad to see daylight come and things start to warm up. Bill told us there were fish in the trap. He was soooo right. We did the crowd, net, sort routine and ended up with 24 bucks, 18 hens and 4 jacks.

The Siletz trap had 2 wild hens, 2 wild bucks and 1 hatchery hen. The wild fish were transported across the river to the truck using the small tubes. The large transport box has not been certified yet by the engineer so is not in service. Kevin was going to take the 2 pair to the Alsea hatchery for brood stock. We went back down the gorge road and they dropped me off at Moonshine Park where Barbara was waiting for me. The 2 of us then went back to "Camp Palmer". We unloaded and set our stuff up. I went off to check the smolts, screens and general conditions. Frank came in about 3pm. He found a tripped breaker in the trailer that was preventing 110 volt power from working. He also had a battery to replace the dead one. We fired up the generator and a battery charger for the dead battery. The furnace kicked on in the trailer and it looked like we were all set. Frank and I toured the ponds and noticed there were very few fish left. Most had headed downstream. I fed the remaining fish at 5:30 pm and cleaned the trap face. Barb and I had dinner by the fire and read till around 7pm. The generator quit when the gas ran out but everything was functioning on the 12 volt system. The furnace quit during the night and it was a bit cool this morning. Air temp was 40 and the water temp was 45. Saturday morning there were only a few fish in each pond. I fed them and we broke camp. Did not see a reason to babysit any longer. We got back to Newport about 11:30am.

Wayde

04/22/08 and 4/23/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

NO FISH! NO ELK! Oh well, it was still a beautiful morning up there. As an additional note. Paul Katen and his wife went to the trap on Wednesday and were happy to discover a pair of wild fish in the trap. I think it was his first encounter with fish in the trap so it was nice to hear. They released one male and one female.

Good luck on Monday.

Mike

04/21/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

Barb and I visited the Schooner trap this morning. It was cool with snow/rain showers and a little snow on the ground. No fish in the trap and it was clean. We took the Lincoln City fork on the way back to try and see Mike's elk herd but they were not there.
Wayde

04/18/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:
Made the trap trip with Kevin Bastian. The Palmer trap had no fish in it. We cleaned debris from the trap face that came from the beaver dam area upstream. The ponds are full and ready for the smolt planting of Tuesday 4/22.

The Siletz trap had 5 fish. 4 steelhead and 1 cutthroat trout. The steelhead consisted of 1 hatchery female, 1 hatchery male, 1 wild female and 1 wild male. The trap was clean except for a silty bottom.

The cable anchors for the tram box have been repaired. The cables need to be adjusted but I think the equipment is close to going back in service. The repairman used a 24 foot extension ladder leaning against the cliff to work from. I think I would have passed on that assignment and an OSHA guy would have fainted.

The Bohanan trap had 1 wild male. We saw 8 elk at the 9 mile mark on the 1000 line road, three vultures roosting in a tree and a pair of osprey on a nest. We were back in town by 1145.
Wayde

04/18/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

Good morning everyone,

We had another wonderful day at Schooner Creek. We had a pair of wild Steelhead this morning. The buck was fat strong and about 10lbs. The hen was fat strong and around 7lbs. Both fish shot out of my hands when they touched the water. I think I saw the buck wink at the hen so, we may have some little ones in the future. The water
was low and the trap was clean. I wasn't expecting to find fish with the low water but there they were. The elk were grazing just east of the 1 mile marker on Schooner Creek Road in the big field on the South side of the road. Have a great weekend.

Mike

(Note from First Lady: Mike is such a romantic)

04/16/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

HI

I met with Casey & Derek at the ODFW. Kevin had left already for the trap. We went there with him, there was some hold over fish in the trap to be transported to the hatchery. Kevin had the tank full of water. We transported about a dozen fish to the tank. One was a real large male probaly about 30 pounds. Kevin went to check the other traps & on to the hatchery. We stayed to do some repairs to the trap. Derek stayed to meet with some other people. Casey & I went to Palmer to get the ponds ready for the smolts. We had to remove a large, about 4 feet high, beaver dam from the one. Casey tore the dam apart & I kept the trap open below him. It was a long day. We were back to the office about 4:15. A long but rewarding day.

Butch

04/11/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Hi Everyone

I met with Kevin at ODFW this morning and we headed for the Siletz trap. After stopping by the storage unit and picking up some tools, and then fueling up we were off. Our first stop was the Palmer trap where we cleared out a bunch of blackberries and brush so that the stocking truck would be able to get down to the pond and stock the pond. We then checked out Palmer trap which was empty, and cleared some debris from the front gate.

Then we were off to the Siletz trap. After arriving at the trap we stopped a moment to see what, and how they were doing at repairing the Cable way, not so well. After looking at the problem and seeing where 2 of the 3 cable securing points broke off it was scary. We could have lost one of our wonderful members so very easily if the last point had broken also. When the trap is repaired and up and running again we all need to pay extremely close attention to all safety aspects of moving the bucket. Upon going into the trap we found that we had fish, as it turned out we had 5. There were 3 native bucks, and 1 native hen which we turned around and put back into the ladder. There was 1 hatchery hen which was given last rites, and dispatched then placed back into the river. We buttoned up the Siletz trap and headed back, at the 10 1/2 mile mark as we came around a corner there were 6 deer crossing the road, 3 does and 3 fawns. This was our major game sighting for the day. I did see a very fast ground squirrel. There was also an eagle in a tree at south beach on the way back.

After we left the Siletz trap we went to the Bohanon trap. The trap was empty as it has been recently. Kevin and another volunteer dug and set some posts going down into Bohanon. This will help when the rails are installed getting into and out of the trap. We had a 6 1/2 hour day today, pretty light duty for a change.

Electric Bill

04/11/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

What a beautiful day at the creek. Once again we had success on Schooner Creek. There was only one but, she was a nice fish. This hen was still very bright and weighed in at around 10 pounds. I wish we had 100 of those fish. Fortunately, she was a native fish so she was gently released above the trap. Good luck on Monday.

Mike

04/09/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

A big thank you to the Monday Schooner Creek crew. You got the ball rolling again with the two fish you had in the trap. This morning when I got into the trap I didn't think we had anything, then, not one, not two, but three Steelhead in the trap. We had a wild male and a wild female that we released upstream with a gentle kiss on the snout. Both fish were heavily into their spawning colors but in good shape. The third fish was a stray hatchery male that we dispatched and returned to the creek. We cleaned the trap and are now looking forward to Friday.

Mike

04/07/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

WE-GOT-FISH! Finally there were fish in the trap today. I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice buck steelhead in the trap this morning. While climbing out of the trap to release the buck I felt something on my leg which turned out to be a very nice looking steelhead hen. Both were released upstream with orders to propagate with great vigor. The hen was ripe as she left a few eggs behind as being released. Saw some quail between the gate and the trap.
Take care, Frank

04/04/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Went on the trap run with Kevin Friday, 4/4. We had rain and snow showers all day. No fish at Palmer. 10 fish at Siletz. & were new fish with 3 holdovers for brood stock with the new Alsea program. The new group consisted of 5 wild hens, 1 wild buck and 1 clipped hen. We left them in the trap to be transported to Alsea on Monday the 7th. Did not see any critters of note.

Wayde

04/04/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Good day all,

No fish in Schooner Creek trap yesterday. I didn't replace the winch yesterday because I had too much on my plate for the day. I went this morning and replaced the winch. The new one is up and running and barring any future trees crashing into the trap we shouldn't have to replace any more winches in our lifetime. Have a great weekend.

Mike

04/02/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

After completing our trap duty, Casey requested that we start digging post holes for the installation of a hand railing adjacent to the fish ladder at the Bohannan Fish Trap. We therefore loaded up the gear to accomplish that including concrete mix. We then proceeded to Palmer Creek where we dispatched 3 steelhead that have been in the trap for several days. We then proceeded to the Siletz Trap where we released 3 wild steelhead back down the ladder (2 hens and a buck). There were also 3 hen hatchery fish that we left inside the trap for possible brood stock. We then headed for the Bohannan trap but were cut off from reaching the trap by logging operations that had felled trees across the road. There were trees across several hundred feet of the roadway. We were not able to find a way to detour around the logging operation and therefore returned to Newport and arrived around 3:00 pm. Nice day to be out in the woods. Great weather. Didn't see any elk today.
Frank

04/02/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAPS:

Good morning,

As you might imagine, the trip Schooner Creek this morning was beautiful. No fish again this morning. We cleaned the trap although there was very little debris. One interesting note. There were Elk tracks everywhere on the road past the gate to the trap. You could
see where they either came down to the road or left the road on the hillside. Nice touch.

Excellent job as usual on removing the tree from the road. I saw Butch yesterday and he said it went pretty smooth. Hope everyone can absorb a big dose of vitamin D with all of this sunshine.

Mike

03/31/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

Butch and I visited Schooner today and spent most of the time clearing the road. With Butch's handy chainsaw, we removed the tree blocking the trap road, and then did a little brush clearing the rest of the way in. There wasn't much sap in the branches, so most snapped off easily, but give it all about 3 weeks and the brush will be in full bloom. No fish in the trap and it only needed minor clearing. Didn't rain, but most things were frozen everywhere in the shade.

Brian

Hi

I have a heavy duty winch with new bolts. We may need to drill new holes. The total cost was only about 22.00 with my store discounts. I may have been able to have gotten it for less but Dean was with other customers & out in the shop. This one has a rating against salt water even. I will bring it to the breakfast meeting. If everyone likes it we can keep it or I'll exchange it.

Butch

03/31/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

Butch and I visited Schooner today and spent most of the time clearing the road. With Butch's handy chainsaw, we removed the tree blocking the trap road, and then did a little brush clearing the rest of the way in. There wasn't much sap in the branches, so most snapped off easily, but give it all about 3 weeks and the brush will be in full bloom. No fish in the trap and it only needed minor clearing. Didn't rain, but most things were frozen everywhere in the shade.

Brian