IN CASE YOU MISSED THE E-MAIL "BLAST" FROM BIG FISH, HERE ARE A FEW OF THE TRAP REPORTS FOR JANUARY:
SCHOONER TRAPJANUARY 3RD:
Hank Bryson and I took the rookie, Phil Reed, by the hand this morning to teach him the duties of monitoring the Schooner fish trap. Unfortunately there were no fish so we will have to continue our training on Friday.It was cold, 27 degrees and the water level was down to 1.3' but the sun was shining brightly. No wildlife observed but had a fun morning. Frank
JANUARY 5TH:
SCHOONER FISH TRAP IS TO BE CONSIDERED OUT OF COMMISSION-Effective Monday 5 January 2K11
Current Trap Conditions:
Suffice to say NO FISH!!! Team Furgason found the Creek Riled/Raging & the Trap Completely Blocked, at the head gate, with about 4 & half feet of Mud/Gravel. There was almost no flow (2 to 4 inches) on the downstream side of the head gate.
When the Creek Flow subsides considerably This is going to require a Substantial Work Party effort to clear the trap & make it operational.
NOTE:We were able to put the New SPOT Device in a cool Waterproof Black Plastic Ammo Box (Compliments of Wayde Dudley). The Ammo Box can be found in front of the wheel barrow.
Road Condition: We experienced some dangerous road surface slip joints on the Coast HWY just before & after the usual Beverly Beach Bridge Locations. It is necessary, because of high water on the Drift Creek Road cut off, to go into Lincoln City & take the Schooner Creek Road into the trap. You will come to a very serious asphalt slip, which has resulted in a one way traffic situation.
We did not experience any serious problems on the gravel section of Schooner Road & the actual Trap Access Road was very passable.
Future Trap Operations: Team Furgason will be Stand By, awaiting further instructions, regarding it’s Friday Trap Commitment ???
JCS for Team Furgason
JANUARY 7TH:
Phil Reed and I checked Schooner this morning and found 1 wild male coho and 1 wild male steelhead. Both were released upstream. The steelhead at first turned and went downstream and hung out just above the dam until he recovered from his ordeal (greenhorn net catcher) and then headed back upstream No wildlife noted. Frank
JANUARY 10TH:
Spent the morning (9 am to 11:30 am) working with Derek Wilson at the ODFW building fish tubes, a job we had started on Friday.
Mike Dale picked me up at 1:40 pm and we headed for the Schooner Creek trap. Weather was clear and the creek was running low and clear. We arrived at the trap at 2:30 pm to find a single wild female steelhead in the trap. When Mike released her, she turned around and headed for the spillway. I couldn't tell if she went over or not, but since she was tail punched, we'll keep an eye out for her on Friday. My staff found a plastic container for the SPOT device, so it should be safe from the weather. We left it in the right rear corner of the shed in the front of the wheelbarrow.
We cleaned both padlocks and shot them with WD-40 so they should be trouble free for a while. We got home about 3:30 pm.
Don Sarver
JANUARY 14TH:
1:00 PM - left with Larry and Mike Dale for the Schooner Creek trap. Arrived there to find the creek running high and dirty at 3' measured at the bridge. We checked the trap and found a dead male hatchery steelhead there. Probably wore himself out in the rough water. Dropped him over the falls for stream enhancement, shoveled some silt out of the trap and closed it up. It was a wet and windy trip, but good to get out and good to have Larry back at the trap again (even though I have enjoyed Mike's company over the last couple of months). Arrived back home at 3:00 PM.
Don Sarver
JANUARY 18TH:
Bill and I had a blast at Schooner – literally! We used a fire hose and high velocity attachment to blow all the sand and gravel out of the upper box and down the ladder. There were two wild male steelhead in the trap, covered with silt and just barely under water. We released them upstream and then got after it. We worked until the pump ran out of gas. The trap is back in working order. Did anyone take pictures of Schooner on Monday? If so, I’d love to see them. Thanks!
Christine Clapp
Mid-Coast STEP Biologist
OR Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
810 SW Alder St. Suite C, Newport, OR 97365
(541) 265-8306 x253
JANUARY 21ST:
EUREKA & GAD ZOOKS!!! We had 2 Beautiful Native Steelies (M & F), Which we sent on their way up stream. Special Thanks to Christine & Bill for doing such a superb job on the Trap. We found the stream with moderate flow & low turbidity, the Water Temp was 47 degrees.
Bill cleared a bit of gravel out of the trap & Bud, with the some help from Elmer Amsden, our Newest FC Member, cleared some debris from the front of the trap grating.
We then closed the trap, leaving it in good order & fully operational.
JCS for Team Furgason
JANUARY 24TH:
Lee, Wayne, & Wayde made the trip to the Schooner Trap. The weather was great. We noted a new tree down just upstream from the bridge. The temp was 41 and the water temp was 45. The gauge was at 1.65'. No fish in the trap. Lee cleaned a small gravel buildup from the trap. Lee drove his truck to Drift Creek road as Wayde was on his way to the Portland Airport pick up Barb after the trap. No wildlife spotted with the exception of a buckskin horse that at first glance Lee yelled "ELK". Of course we had a good laugh about that as Lee is the most avid elk hunter among us. We had to wonder if the elk he has been bringing home might taste like horse.
Wayne for Team Dudley
JANUARY 26TH:
ON WEDNESDAY DON, MIKE, BUD, (THE DOG}, AND MYSELF WENT TO THE SCHOONER TRAP. WE LEFT ABOUT 12:30 ON A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY. THE WATER WAS CLEAR, AND RUNNING AT ABOUT 1.6 FT AT THE BRIDGE. AT FIRST GLANCE THE TRAP LOOKED EMPTY, SO DON WENT IN TO MAKE SURE. THERE WERE 4 STEELHEAD RESTING BEHIND THE PLYWOOD. THE FIRST ONE WAS A MALE HATCHERY FISH THAT WENT TO STREAM ENHANCEMENT. THE SECOND WAS A HEN, AND THE OTHER 2 WERE MALES. THE ONLY OTHER WILD LIFE, WAS A REDTAIL HAWK WITH A SNAKE IN ITS MOUTH. LD
JANUARY 28TH:
Team Dudley left Longview Hills at 0830 to the Schooner Trap today with Barb Dudley, Wayne Hill, and Lee Fries. It was a cloudy day with a light drizzle. The creek was running fairly clear and the water was down a little from when we were there on Monday. There were no fish to be found and the trap was free of debris. The water depth was 1.5'. We were back home at 1030.
Big Fish for Team Dudley
SILETZ TRAPJANUARY 5:
January 5, 2011
Left the Pig Pen at 8:05 am with Bill and headed for the Bohannan trap. A few miles after we left the pavement we saw a pair of bald eagles along side the creek. Bill said they were probably feeding on fish carcasses. We arrived at the trap at 9:15 am and found 2 steelhead there - 2 females and a male. We netted, tail punched and sent them on their way.
We hit the road again and arrived at the Siletz trap at 11:15 am. No fish in the trap and lots of silt, so next time it looks like we have some shoveling to do. We walked all the way down the ladder and found only 2 fish there, so probably won't be too busy there Friday. Left the trap at 11:30 am.
Next stop, Palmer Creek trap. We got there at 12:20 pm and proceeded to put the steel rods in the weir to keep the fish from going further upstream. Then opened the sluice gate to route the water into the trap. Next we went into the trap and set up the bars and the gate entrance so now the trap is officially open for business and it will be checked along with the others every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Left Palmer Creek at 1:00 pm and returned to the P & P at 1:50 pm.
Don Sarver
JANUARY 7TH:
No trap report today. Derek called me yesterday saying that since Siletz trap activity is pretty slow right now, Christine could handle it by herself today. He said my "skills and talent" could be better utilized by helping him build some fish tubes today instead. Yeah, I know my wife laughed too. Still we managed to cut and drill 6 tubes without any major calamities. We're going to finish up on Monday and I'll do the Schooner Creek trap with Mike Dale in the afternoon. I was there from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm today.
Don Sarver
JANUARY 12TH:
I went with Bill to check the Siletz trap today. We left Newport at 0830 and arrived at Palmer Creek about 0920. Bill pulled the boards in the diversion head gate and sent water downstream to the trap. Palmer trap is now open and functional. Air temp was 48 and the water 42. We picked up the Palmer Creek mono recycle station and brought it back. The tube body can be used to repair the Quarry Canyon station. (Frank)
Arrived at the Siletz trap at 1015. No new fish in the trap. Bill worked on repairing the broken connection on the inner gate but the part need some shop work. Went back to Newport and got in at 12:20. Rained all day.
Wayde
JANUARY 14TH:
After a trip to the warehouse for a chainsaw (just in case after all the wind) Phil Reed and I joined Bill Siegler for a trip up to the Siletz Trap. The water was higher than I have ever seen it and was lapping over the top of the wall. After installing a new collar on the inner gate we found the trap very murky and with only 1 hatchery male steelhead. We then spent about 2 hours shoveling gravel to make the trap function again. We transported the steelhead, along with 4 other that were held over from Wednesday, across the river to the truck. It rained heavily all morning and we headed for Palmer Creek at about noon. We found 2 wild male coho in the trap along with 1 hatchery male steelhead. The coho were released upstream above with weir and the steelhead was placed in the tank for transport to Olalla. As we were approaching Olalla we were called by Bob Buckman and instructed to close the Siletz trap as higher water was anticipated over the weekend. We then released the 6 steelhead into Olalla and proceeded back to Siletz. After closing the trap we released the wild fish being held in the pins into the trap area to weather the upcoming high water. We arrived back at the pigpen at 5:00 pm. A long, tiring and wet day but we had a good time.
We saw a bald eagle feasting on some type of meal in the upper Depoe Slough area on our first trip down. As we proceeded back up to the Siletz on our 2nd trip there was an immature bald eagle feasting on the same meal. Frank
JANUARY 19TH:
Bill and I headed straight for the Siletz trap and arrived at approximately 9:00 am. It turned out to be a day of clearing storm damage rather than netting any fish. The trap was totally clogged with gravel and there were only a few small ponds of muddy water here and there. We therefore set up the pump and started blasting out the gravel and debris. Oddly enough there was one fish in the trap and he helped himself out the door and down the ladder to freedom. The water level was still over 8' high and gravel continued to work into the trap as we shoved it out the other end. We left the trap in pretty good shape and hopefully it won't built up too badly between now and Friday.
We then proceeded to the Palmer Creek trap. While I cleaned out the trap Bill headed for the weir. I then joined him after clearing the debris from the trap and was amazed that the storm totally destroyed the weir on the far side of the creek. We proceeded to clear away as much debris and to dig a channel so that the water channeled down the near side of the creek and placed sand bags to prevent the water from flowing down over the top where the weir was down. The metal supports were completely twisted and the force of the water had to be great. It was about 3:30 and we decided to call it a day but there was a problem Houston. Bill and somehow lost the keys to the truck. He radioed Newport and Derek came to our rescue. After showing him the damage to the weir and the work we had done he noticed that the water flowing into the trap was not as high as it should be. We then found out that the inlets to the ponds were all clogged so we went back to work so that the water ran freely. There is more work to do as there was one large piece of log blocking the entrance to one of the culverts that will have to be pulled out by a rope. We got back to Newport at 5:00. I must say that I have not been this tired since my fire fighting days but the weather was great. Frank
JANUARY 21ST:
Left the Pig & Pancake at 8:05 am with Bill and headed to the Bohannan trap. We arrived there at 9:00 am to find one male Coho in the trap. We tail punched him and sent him on his way. While adjusting the flow on the head gate, Bill somehow managed to mess up his back to the point where he was in a lot of pain. He took some medication he happened to have in the truck and pushed on.
We got to the Siletz trap at 11:00 am and found the trap empty so we adjusted the water flow which had slowed down and we were out of there by 11:25 am.
Next stop - Palmer Creek. We got there at 12:15 pm and found 7 hatchery steelhead. 5 males and 2 females that we tagged and put in the tank and took to Illahee Park in Siletz to release.
We then headed back to the P & P to drop me off since Bill had more work to do. Got there at 1:55 pm. Not many fish today, but with Bill's back hurting that was OK. We'll get more next time.
Don Sarver
JANUARY 26TH:
Bill, Frank, and I left the Pig House at 8:00 AM sharp, first stop was the warehouse to off load the pump and other items from the truck, then on to Beaver Creek and to the trap up there, no fish, so off we go to Palmer Creek Trap, but since the trap was down do to the flood, we did not spend much time there. The Siletz Trap had 14 brats that were put into a holding pen for later delivery to either the Siletz River or Ollalla Lake, there was also 14 Natives, seven of the them went for a ride accross the river and into the truck tank for delivery to the Alsea Hatchery. the other Nat's received a tail punch and were sent back down the fish ladder. We then headed out over the hill to Kings Valley, Hwy 20 and Hwy 34 to the Alsea Hatchery were the Nat's received a I D Tag and a shot, they will be live spawned later and returned to the Siletz River. No wildlife other than watching Frank go Super Man on the Palmer Creek Gate, (that story to be told at the next club meeting), it was a long day and we finally made it back to the Pig House at 4:30 PM.
Phil Reed
JANUARY 28TH:
Wayde and Bill did the Siletz trap run Friday. We left town about 0815 and headed to Bohanon via Toledo and the 1000 line road. It was around 0900 when we got to Bohanon. Stream flow was normal and clear. No fish in the trap so we headed for the Siletz trap. There was a lot of activity on the Gorge Road. We encountered empty and loaded log trucks, empty and loaded rock trucks, an excavator in the road, 2 pickups and the grader. We don’t know what the heightened activity means but it keeps you alert watching for trucks and trying to sort out all the CB radio chatter.
We reached the trap site at 1105 and proceeded across the river. The trap had 13 hold-over steelhead destined for Olalla Reservoir and 5 new winter steelhead, 3 wild males, 1 hatchery male and 1 hatchery female. The control box to operate the tram bucket was malfunctioning so we could not transport the fish and had to leave them in the holding pen. Wayde forgot his thermometer so no water or air temps today. Left the falls at 1204 and went back down through the high traffic to Palmer Creek.
Reached Palmer at 1230, stepped over the gate bar that Frank knocked down ( not his fault) checked the weir and water then back to Newport. Got in at 1355. No wildlife of note except for a wood rat that Bill scared out of the equipment room at the Siletz Falls.
Wayde
