02/25/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Great news from Mike.................It has been a long, dry spell for sure..................



Good afternoon,

FISH!! FISH!! FISH!! That is correct, we had fish today.
There were two fish in the trap and both were wild. We had one male and one 10lb. female. Both fish were healthy and showing their spawning colors. The creek is up but is running pretty clear. There was approx. 12-14 inches of water in the trap with very little silt. Down stream below the 6 mile marker in a holding lie that I always check, I found fish holding once again. Hopefully with the water level up we will see more fish during the rest of the month. Another fantastic day up at Schooner Creek.

Mike

02/18/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Good afternoon,

It was a nice day at Schooner Creek today. The sun was shining and it was warm. No fish. The trap is clean and good flow considering how low the creek is. The motorhome that was on the road on Monday has either been removed or driven off. At least it was not present today. Nothing much more to report.

Mike

02/16/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Monday Feb.16

Wayde & Lee checked the Schooner trap today. Nice day but a little overcast. Water is low and clear. No fish in trap or ladder & pool below trap. 8" of water flowing through the trap. Casey & Roger Wilson checked the trap on Friday, 2/13 and had the same results. Saw no game during the ride. There is an old RV on the south side of the road about half way in. I think it is abandoned so it might be a good idea to note whether it is still there on the next trip.

Wayde

02/11/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Good afternoon all,

I went to Schooner Creek on Wed. and found no fish. The trap is in good shape with good flow although low as is the creek. Not much to report at this time.

Mike

02/09/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Hank Bryson and I left for the trap at 7:00 am but got held up at Cape Foulweather due to an accident for approximately 40 minutes. I had to keep the truck engine running from time to time to keep Hank warm since the older generation tends to get cold easily. It started to snow just as we arrived at the trap. There were no fish. The water was about 8" deep in the trap with only an inch or two of gravel over the concrete. The water level is just low yet. Began snowing heavily on the return trip and the road conditions were getting a bit slippery but arrived home at 9:35. Saw one unidentified hawk on the way up. Frank

02/06/09

SCHOONER, PALMER AND SILETZ FISH TRAPS:

FISH, FINALLY

Friday 2/6/2009

I went on the trap run with Bill ( his last day ) today. We used a pickup and left from the Pig N' Pancake. The weather was overcast and cool. We went to the Schooner trap first. No fish, no elk, low water and some gravel in the trap. No fish in ladder or below-dam pool. We left Schooner Creek and headed for the Siletz trap via Kernville. High tide and the river was bank full till Cedar Creek (tidewater). Logging still going on in the "gorge" so met some log trucks. The trees on the north side of the river at the Siletz trap have been cut down. ODF&W feared that some were leaning and if they fell it would damage the cables that cross the river. Big change and very open now. The trap actually had FISH in it, 3 steelhead:

2 wild males - winter steelhead

1 hatchery female

The wild fish were put back down the ladder. The logging operation is south of the river and half a mile below the trap.

The Palmer trap had no fish. There is a lot of silt in the trap and very little water is running through it. Bill pulled the boards at the diversion structure and created a little more flow but probably not enough to get fish into the trap. Got back into town at 1:30.

Wayde

02/02/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

SCHOONER CREEK TRAP REPORT ( 2 February 2009 ) (3 Men, 57 Miles, 2 Hours)

Team Chinook, comprised of Bill, Bud & I, had a great run into the Trap. Unfortunately, we did not find any fish, but we did find the Trap in Excellent Condition with an adequate flow of crystal clear water >><<>

The real BIGGIE of our run today occurred on our drive in >><<><>>> What we saw, was a herd of over 25 ELK, out in the pasture, right next to the road. This may well be the same herd that Mike occasionally sees. Be that as it may, it was a Real 1^st Time Treat for us Old Trappers ….. The Sad News is, that we did not have a camera with us, so you will just have to take the "Word" of a couple of Old Trappers ><>

P>S>> On our way home, we decided to do a quick "SOLV Bag Check" up on Big Creek. In the course of our check, we ran into Mike Rosica & between the 2 of us we deposited 8 Bags in the Water Plant Dumpster……..

*** The Weather was Great, the Elk were Great, the Company was Great & We did Good >><<>

JCS for Team Chinook ………

01/26/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Barb, Wayde, Candy & Lee visited the Schooner trap today (Monday 1/26). The water level was down and very clear. There were no fish in the trap nor in the ladder and main pool below the dam. Cool morning with some frost around. There was 12 inches of water flowing through the trap and little silt and gravel in the trap.

Wayde

01/16/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

From: James Ray [mailto:James.Ray@state.or.us]
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 11:00 AM
To: Mike Samples
Cc: The Hook
Subject: RE: Schooner Creek Trap

Mike,

Thanks for the update. I will be heading out there this afternoon with Bill (a displaced fisherman currently working with us on grant money) to try to clear the trap and get it operational. From your description this sounds completely feasible, but it also sound like we should perhaps get a larger group out there in the near future to secure some longer term flow improvements.

I will keep you posted as to how it goes today then will make some suggestions for how and when we might move forward later next week.

Thanks

James

---

From: Mike Samples [mailto:msamples57@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2009 12:42 PM
To: James Ray; DECKARD Casey J
Subject: Re: Schooner Creek Trap

James,

I went up to the trap yesterday to assess the condition. Honestly, I should have gone up ready to work on the trap but based on the information I received I didn't. I simply went to the trap to look .As you have heard there is quite a bit of silt built up above the upper trap gate, approximately 24". This level of silt is no more than what I have been working with over the past couple of weeks. I could have had the trap working in an hour or so yesterday if I would have gone prepared. The work Casey did on the channel above the trap has been washed out with the last high water and the sand bags are gone. The trap itself has silt but nothing that can't be pushed through to the upper end of the ladder. In both resting areas of the ladder there is significant gravel and silt which I think should be removed. I haven't tackled that because I have been by myself this year and didn't want to push things without back up. I also believe there should be more water directed into the trap but as the water hits the gravel bar that has built up on the creek side above the trap it continues to pull additional silt into the trap. We just need a work party during low water to address the existing silt in the ladder and above the trap.

Mike

On Jan 14, 2009, at 9:05 AM, James Ray wrote:

All,

I wanted to let you know that me and a couple of other ODFW staff will be going out to schooner creek on Friday afternoon to address the trap issues and try to reopen it. Mike if you go out there before Friday, could you please let me know the condition it is currently in. My intention, based on what, John said on Monday is to clean the trap completely out and try a second removal of some gravel immediately above the head-gate.

Thanks

James

--------------------------------------------------------

James Ray

Assistant District Fish/STEP Biologist

Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

810 SW Alder St., Suite C,

Newport, OR, 97365

Phone: (541) 265 8306 ext. 253

Fax: (541) 265 9894