03/30/09

Monday, March 30th
Wayde, Lee and Wayne made the morning drive to Schooner Creek to check the trap. Nice clear and mild day. There were no fish in the trap but we did see some wildlife. A pair of ducks were swimming in the pond by the trap. We did not recognize what they were but hope Frank will look at the photos and identify them for us.
Two herds of elk were seen on the way out. The first on was on the south side of the road near the junction of Drift Creek Road and the road to the landfill. (Also near the natural gas switching facility). The other herd was on the south side of the Drift Creek Meadow. We were back by 11:00 PM
Wayde

Note from Frank "Ducks":
Mystery solved by Frank...............

I checked out the photo and the only duck I can see in the photo is a drake common merganser.

The drakes have a white body, green head but usually looks dark from a distance, and a long narrow orange bill. The hens have a reddish brown head with scraggly looking crest feathers as if it was having a bad hair day. They are a fish eating duck and usually ingest around 10 fish per day. They have been known to swallow a trout weighing 4 lbs. Thanks for sharing. Frank

03/27/09

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

John Spangler and I joined Casey on the trap run today. We had an enjoyable trip and spotted a herd of approx. 15 to 20 elk about a mile west of Logsdon. Casey also pointed out a new landmark on the way up the Siletz at approximately the 101/2 mile post called "stump rock". It is a large rock that apparently fell from the sky and is now balanced on top of a tree stump. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so will have to photograph the new landmark on my next trip up.

There were 9 hatchery fish in the Siletz trap ( 4 male and 5 female). 7 of the fish were placed into the holding tank and 3 were dispatched. There were 9 wild fish (5 female and 4 male) that had their tales punched and sent back down the ladder. We then proceeded to the Palmer Creek trap where we found 1 hatchery male and 1 hatchery female. The beaver have been busy so there was a lot of debris to clear from the trap grate but all is running clear now. Casey proceeded on to the Schooner Creek trap on his own as I had a doctors appointment. It was a very enjoyable day. Frank

03/26/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Good afternoon,

I just returned from Schooner Creek. We had fish today. There were two wild male Steelhead in the trap. Both were released in mid stream and headed for the dam (not back to the trap). The trap was clean and the flow was close to 30". Yes, I saw the Elk again today just West of the two mile marker. They were bedded down in the grove of trees in the middle of the field. None of the herd seemed to mind my being there because I stopped and looked at them for a while through binoculars. I had a nice surprise when I returned to my truck. Bill Ferguson and his wife Cathy were on a drive up Schooner Creek Road and wondered who the goof ball was partially blocking the road at the gate. They found out when I came walking down the road. We chatted for a while and then parted company, me back home and the two of them on their trip up Schooner Creek Road. Very nice day at the trap.

Mike

03/23/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Bill Furgason and Hank left at 8;00 am, found the trap to be in good shape, lots of water in it but no fish!

03/16/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

We had one wild buck steelhead. We also saw the elk herd on the way out. It was a very nice day. Take care,
Frank

03/13/09

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Matt and Wayde made the trap run with Casey. The first trap was Schooner Creek. No fish and the trap was clean with moderate flows. Tracks from 2 motorcycles were on the access road. They had been to the trap site but we did not find anything wrong. Hope it does not become a habit.
The Siletz trap reached by following the Siletz river from Hwy 101 to the trap. 4 fish today. 2 very large steelhead that Casey estimated would weigh 20#. Matt was quite impressed, especially when he had 1 in the net.

Wild 1 male
Hatchery 1 male 2 female

Leaving the Siletz trap at noon we went back down the gorge, through Toledo then on to the Bohanan trap on Drift Creek. No fish here today. Went back to Newport along Beaver Creek to Hwy 101 at Ona Beach then on to the "Pighouse" in Newport.
The only wildlife encountered were 4 urban deer seen in Toledo between Pig Feathers restaurant and the GP mill. 2 of them had hair loss disease and looked bad.
The weather was great but I found another leak in my boots. May have to start thinking replacement.
Wayde

03/09/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Wayde, Barb and Wayne went to the Schooner trap Monday morning. It was snowing hard most of the time along Schooner Creek. There was 1 to 2 inches of snow at the trap site but piling up. There were no fish in the trap with good flow and clean. The road out was a bit slick but Wayne handled it well and got us back safe. No critters to report.
Wayde

08/11/09

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Good afternoon,

Schooner Creek was a serene setting on Wednesday afternoon. Although there were no fish in the trap, the flow was very good and the weather was great. No wildlife on this trip but I did see a beautiful Steelhead holding down river waiting for the next freshet.

Mike

03/06/09

SILETZ RIVER FISH TRAP:

This in from Wayde on Friday...............Looks like Wayde must be taking lessons from Barb on camera operation....................

Lee Fries and Wayde spent the day checking fish traps with Casey Deckard from ODF&W. We went to the Bohanan trap first. We traveled there by taking Hwy 101 to Ona Beach then east along Beaver Creek till we topped out at the "1000 line" road then south along Drift Creek to the trap. Drift Creek is in the Alsea River drainage. It was a nice sunny day with 1 wild male steelhead in the trap. The trap sits just above some nice falls that you can see in the pictures.
Leaving Bohanan we went north to Toledo then on to Siletz then northeast up the gorge to the Siletz trap located at Siletz falls which are 13 miles upriver from Moonshine park. Water was up from the recent rains and fish decided to move. There were 30 steelhead in the trap. These were the biggest average fish I have seen. 10 of the 30 were 15# to 20#. Very nice group of fish.
30 total
wild 8 males 6 females
hatchery 7 males 9 females
Most of these fish will be taken to the Alsea hatchery and spawned on Monday 3-9-09.
We saw 1 spike deer on the way in.
Drove back down the gorge and on to Siletz where we turned north and followed the Siletz River to Hwy 101 at Kernville. We followed Schooner Creek upstream to the trap site. There were no fish in the trap but as you can see from the pictures it was pleasant and sunny.
A good day in all respects.
Wayde

Note: See website for photos

03/04/09

SCHOONER CREEK TRAP REPORT:

This from Mike Samples 03/06/09:
Good morning all,

I didn't go to Schooner Creek on Wednesday as I was still under the weather. I did go however late yesterday. There were no fish in the trap. The water level and flow were good with trap water level at approx. two feet. I did see Elk in my usual place, a herd of about 40 with three bulls in the herd. At least the Elk herds are healthy unlike our Steelhead returns. Not much else to report.

MIKE

03/02/09

Matt Matheney and I checked the Schooner Creek trap this morning. No fish. Water was knee deep in the trap and very clean. We were joined by the attached group of elk. As Matt said, they made the trip. We estimated 25 to 30 in the herd. Frank

02/27/09

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Strange day. Went up to the Siletz and Palmer traps Friday with Derek, and we were both anticipating many fish. The river looked great, but we found zero in both traps. The water was cold due to some snow runoff, but Derek was quite surprised there were no fish. I bailed out at Wildcat Bridge and fished the area for awhile, but came up with nothing. There were a few boats in the water and about a dozen bank anglers, but didn't see any fish. Derek went on to Bohannan where he found over a dozen fish, but I don't know what brand. Steelheaders will be doing a Broodstock drift on the Alsea Sunday, so maybe we'll round a few up.

Brian