Steelhead Run ‘Alarming’

The number of adult steelhead returning to spawn in the Snake and Columbia river systems is down substantially this year, causing some experts to worry about the run.

Some biologists believe warm water is causing the oceangoing trout to delay their upstream migration. Others say the numbers may be indicative of a poor run in general.

Steve Pettit, a biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said temperatures at Bonneville Dam in late July and early August were abnormally high, running from the low 70s to as high as 74 degrees.

Prolonged exposure of steelhead to temperatures of 72 degrees or warmer could kill the fish, Pettit said. So steelhead that do not detour up a cooler tributary or delay their entry into the Columbia until the warm temperatures subside could succumb to bacterial infections.

Counts of A-run steelhead crossing Bonneville Dam normally rise this time of year. They are headed for the Grande Ronde River, the Snake River in Hells Canyon and the Salmon River drainage, where they will spawn next spring.

Historically, 5,000 to 7,000 fish per day climb the Bonneville fish ladders at this point in the run, Pettit said. Last Monday, only 2,341 steelhead were counted at the dam.

The water temperature was 74 degrees.

Monday, only 1,158 steelhead moved over the dam. The temperature was still 74 degrees.

In the first week of August this year, 58,780 steelhead passed over Bonneville Dam. That compares to 103,460 at the same time last year.

The comparable figure in 1996 was 67,367; in 1995, 49,779; in 1994, 49,286; in 1993, 61,751; and in 1992, 96,280.

“We’re 51 percent behind last year and last year’s run was not that strong of a run, so we’re in a huge hole steelheadwise,” Pettit said. “Taken at face value, it’s pretty damn alarming.”

If the fish are simply waiting for cooler water - the best-case scenario - steelhead fishing in the Lewiston area may be delayed by about a month.

“Instead of fishing picking up the first of October, it could be the first of November, even for Snake and Grande Ronde fish,” Pettit said.

“The other possibility is that they are not there at all,” said Dan Rawling, a fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “I don’t think we’re going to have a good understanding of that until the end of the month or things cool off.”

Dutch Meier, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Walla Walla, said high water temperatures are not uncommon this time of year.

“Frankly, this is really a historic problem, a historic natural problem that some authorities have noted existed before the construction of dams,” Meier said.

But the Corps has been spilling 48-degree water from behind Dworshak Dam on the North Fork of the Clearwater River to help cool temperatures in the Snake and Columbia river pools.

In any case, there is no talk of adjusting the coming steelhead fishing season, which opens Sept. 1 in the Salmon River in Idaho and in the Snake in both Idaho and Washington. The catch-and-release season on the Clearwater River begins Oct. 15.

Washington raffle permits drawn

Winners were drawn in Wenatchee Friday in a special hunting permit raffle that raised $45,350 for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife big-game management.

The winners are as follows:

Deer: Lacey Ledbetter of Malaga, Wash. Permit allows one additional buck deer to be taken statewide using any weapon during the appropriate season. Deer raffle ticket sales totaled $7,403.

Elk: Michael Sherer of Belleuve. Permit allows one additional bull elk to be taken statewide using any weapon during the appropriate season. Elk ticket sales totaled $18,905.

Bighorn sheep: Louis White of Belle Mead, N.J. Permit is good for the season Sept. 1 - Oct. 31 in the Selah Butte, Umtanum, Cleman Mountain, or Lincoln Cliffs sheep units. Bighorn ticket sales totaled $10,900.

Moose: John Jutte of Seattle. Permit is good for the either-sex hunt Oct. 1-Nov. 30 in any open moose unit. Moose ticket sales totaled $8,505.

Alternates also were drawn in case the winners do not claim their permits within 30 days.

Neah Bay salmon fishing closed

Sport salmon fishing in Neah Bay (Marine Area 4 east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh Line) will close tonight, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday.

The Neah Bay fishery is being closed because fish managers expect anglers to catch the area’s quota of 8,000 coho by today.

The Columbia River’s Buoy 10 sport salmon fishery remains open until Aug.23.

Westport and Ilwaco reopen for a one-day sport salmon fishery on Sept. 3. Marine Areas 5 and 6 also remain open.

Portaging required on Salmon

Salmon have started spawning in Idaho’s upper main Salmon River, triggering a requirement to carry rafts and kayaks around spawning areas.

Boats must portage around Indian Riffles, a historic spawning area about 3 miles downriver from Sunbeam Dam.

Boats must also be removed from the river about 1-1/2 miles upriver from the normal take-out at Torrey’s Hole.

The same requirements were in effect last year during spawning.

Two sections of the river remain open for floating. They are from Stanley to Indian Riffles to about 1-1/2 miles above Torrey’s Hole, with the portage around Indian Riffles.

Floaters violating the portage rule accumulate points.

If the limit of acquired points is exceeded, the river could be closed to floating. Violations by floaters resulted in an Aug. 25 closure last year.