Spying On Salmon

Watchable wildlife

In late summer and early fall, boaters and anglers have a chance to see endangered chinook salmon spawning in tributaries of the Snake and Salmon rivers.

At nearly a yard long, they’re difficult to miss, considering that they pair up and mate in streams that sometimes are shallow enough to expose their travel-worn backs above the surface.

The female chinook flips on her side and thrashes the stream bottom with her tail until a pocket forms in the gravel. As she lays her eggs in the nest, the male fertilizes them.

Then the female moves a few feet upstream and thrashes the bottom a second time to cover the fertilized eggs with clean gravel, protecting them from predators.

The adult salmon die soon after.

Should you get the opportunity to observe this remarkable spectacle:

Do it from a distance, preferably downstream so you can see all the behavior without disturbing the fish.

Wading is unnecessary since spawning streams are clear.

Polarizing sunglasses help cut surface glare.

Even if the adult fish are gone, avoid disturbing salmon nests, or “redds,” which appear as light-colored patches of gravel on the stream bottom.