02/22/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Went to Schooner Creek today. NO FISH. I think we will have to wait for the next significant rain fall before we will see anymore fish in the trip. Always a beautiful day up in that gorge anyway.

Mike

02/22/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Headed out to the Siletz traps with Roger this morning in a light rain; by the time we stopped at Palmer Creek to clean the trap and fill the truck tank, the rain was heavy and getting heavier. The river hasn't been high enough lately, so no fish at Palmer. We wrung out our rain gear and headed up to the Siletz trap, where we found one fine looking hen and that was it. We scrambled around in the four steps below the trap and found one hatchery hen, but nothing else. After that, it was off to Alsea Hatchery with the hen for broodstock, then back to the ODFW shop to give the truck a wash down. Other than the loose oxygen bottle held in by a light rope!!!(what's a little 3000psi among friends!) we were able to keep our image up as we made our way through the MASSIVE parking lot maze around the Wine and Cheese Festival. All in all, had a great day with Roger. He parted with a lot of good advice on steelheading which will be put to use in the near future (maybe Brian will share that advice with the rest of us).

Brian Hudson

02/20/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Wednesday, 2/20/2008

Bill Furgason, Roger Wilson and Wayde Dudley went to the Palmer and Siletz traps today. The weather was great, river was down and pretty clear. A herd of about 20 elk were seen on the north side of the road half a mile west of the Logsden store. A large group of Canadian geese were in the same area.

Palmer had 1 hatchery male. We filled the tank with water in anticipation of wild fish at Siletz. Many fishermen on the river today and the logging activity was busy.

Siletz had 7 steelhead. 2 wild hens and 1 wild buck, 4 hatchery hens and 3 hatchery bucks. The wild fish were transported across the river and into the truck tank. Roger will take them to Alsea for brood stock.

The big news for me was I found the knife I lost last Friday. It was in the upper chamber of the Siletz trap.

Wayde

02/18/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

The Coho team went to Schooner on Monday. Unfortunately, no fish were in the trap and it needed was clearing of a little debris. Brian, Wayde and Barb were accompanied by Parker Ogburn (OSU Extension Service), and three members of the Mid-Coast Watershed District on an orientation tour. Parker was invited specifically to survey the site and develop a plan for supporting a student visit on Apr 24th (part of the ODFW Aquatic and Angler Program that angler instructors in the Club will be presenting at Newport Middle School). After viewing the site, Parker has some exciting plans including wet suits, snorkels, and waders.

Brian Hudson

02/15/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Went to Palmer and Siletz today. No fish in the Palmer trap but 1 was below and 1 above. We put water in the tank then headed up-river to the Siletz trap. There were 5 in the trap, 2 from Wednesday and 3 new ones. 2 wild hens and 1 buck were transported across the river to the truck. Roger took them to Alsea Hatchery for brood stock. Weather was great and the trap was clean and quite clear. The day started off with a flat tire on the truck and I lost my Spyderco clip knife somewhere so it wasn't all good. I plan to go back next Wed.,2/20, and see if I can find the knife.

Wayde

02/15/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

What a beautiful day it was today up in the Schooner Creek gorge. It would have been even better had there been any fish in the trap. Oh well, probably after the next rain. I walked in today and broke most of the branches that were hitting our vehicles. I don't think there are any that we can't miss now. Have a great warm weekend.

Mike

02/13/08

SILETZ FISH TRAP:

Roger and I went directly to the Siletz Trap this morning where there were a total of 5 fish. There were a pair of wild steelhead which were left in the trap and will be taken for brood stock on Friday. The 3 clipped fish (2 male and 1 hen) were dispatched back down the river. We then went to Palmer Creek. Upon arrival we discovered that the right rear outside dual tire was flat. We had a very difficult time with some of the lug nuts but were finally able to get it changed. We then loaded up 19 steelhead (13 male and 6 hens) and took the to lake Ollala for release. We then proceeded to Bohannan where we released on wild steelhead hen up stream. Got home about 4:30. (Damn AAA doesn't go to Palmer Creek.). Take care, Frank

(Doesn't Logsden have a AAA????)

02/13/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Good afternoon,

The Wednesday group servicing Schooner Creek was unable to put together a team today so I was asked to go to the trap. It was a beautiful day at the trap or for that matter anywhere. There was one male wild Steelhead in the trap. What a beautiful fish with pink gill plates and just a bright as could be. He was released into the
creek. The trap was cleaned and is running very well.

Mike

02/11/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

Bill Furgason, Dave Dinsmoor, Bob Abbott, and Wayne Hill (Wayne drove) did the Schooner Cr. trap duty today. JACKPOT: There were 4 Steelhead in the trap, ALL WILD, 3 males and 1 female. All were released upstream. There was a lot of debris at the top of the trap, mostly from beavers working up stream. The grates were all cleaned. After cleaning the water level in the trap increased nearly a foot. It was a beautiful day for the journey and having the 4 wild fish was the frosting on the cake.

02/08/08

SILETZ AND PALMER FISH TRAPS:

I went with Roger to the Siletz trap and the Palmer trap. Casey checked the Bohanan trap because they knew we had a lot of work at Palmer.

Siletz:

Most of the snow is gone and we were able to drive down to the trap. The last few visits they walked down from the main road. The water was high and just 3 feet below the concrete front wall of the trap. Roger had the collar to install on the drive nut to raise and lower the gate. He put that on and we checked the trap. There were 2 hatchery female Steelhead. The trap has a build-up of sand and silt. Will have to be cleaned soon. Lots of traffic on the road.

Palmer:

Trap had many Steelhead in it and some were quite large. We filled the truck tank with water and then crowded the fish to the west end of the trap. We checked all the fish and had 2 major groups, bright fish that got a tag and put upstream of the pen divider and dark fish that got tossed out to be hauled away. 2 wild males were packed over to the weir and placed upstream of it. I noticed 3 fish upstream of the trap in the beaver pond. I guess they remembered that spot?? After all the fish were sorted we again crowded the tagged fish to the end and loaded them into the truck tank. Roger would hand me the net and I would put them in the tank and record the info. That got to be work with the larger fish and more than 1 in the net. We then loaded all the dark fish that were culled into the back of the truck. Those fish were taken back up river and deposited in the river at 2 different locations.

The numbers were:

56 hatchery males

59 hatchery females

2 wild males

Total of 117.

56 were taken to the Illahee ramp in Siletz and released for another run up the river.

13 had seal bite marks, 1 had net marks and 6 were repeat fish that had been tagged before.

We were back in town at 1534 and I was tired.

Wayde

02/08/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Just returned from Schooner Creek. We had one wild female Steelhead this morning. The trap was pretty well blocked but there was sufficient water to handle the fish. We cleaned the trap and everything is running well. My partner, Duane is planning to check the trap on Sunday just as a precautionary measure. He won't remove fish unless there is some problem with the trap. There has been so much debris that we don't want to take a chance on mortality. Good luck on Monday.

Mike

02/04/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

Tom Roederer and I checked the trap today (Monday) and found 1 dead wild female coho and 1 wild hen steelhead. We released the steelhead upstream and returned the dead coho downstream. The trap had some buildup of debris but the water was still about 18" deep upon arrival so I'm not sure what caused the coho's demise.

Frank Stout

02/01/08

SCHOONER CREEK FISH TRAP:

No fish today. The creek is up quite a bit and full of debris. The trap was almost completely blocked by debris with only about six inches of water in the trap. The upper gate was so full the difference between the bottom of the trap and the water level in the upper gate was about five or six feet. I really don't think the fish
would climb the ladder with such a small amount of water running through it. Anyway, we cleared and cleaned the trap and it is flowing well. If I were a betting man I would bet there will be fish in the trap for the Monday team. I hope so. Good luck on Monday.

Mike

01/30/08

SCHOONER FISH TRAP:

Today was another pretty day at Schooner Creek. The crew scheduled
for Wednesdays had prior commitments today and asked if I would stand
in for them. There were no fish in the trap. I cleaned the trap
and removed quite a bit of beaver chewed branches. It looks like our
little friend is getting busy during this cold weather. As I was
driving down to the trap on the switch back there was a fresh set of
coyote foot prints in the new dusting of snow on the road. I also saw
the herd of Elk on Schooner Creek road on the way to the trap (seems
to be almost every week lately) again today. All in all it was worth
just getting out in the fresh air.

Mike