Community, Outdoors

The Angler’s Log: Biologist shares fish forecast for Willamette Valley region

 Jeremy Romer is the assistant managing fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s southern Willamette district, and the Office is in Springfield.  

A graduate of Eastern Oregon University, Romer, pictured at left, went on to achieve his Master’s in fisheries biology at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He has been with the ODFW for over a decade. 

His research paper, “Adfluvial Life History in Spring Chinook Salmon from Quartzville Creek, in Oregon,” was published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management in April 2014. It has helped the scientific community better understand the spawning potential of land-locked Willamette Basin spring Chinook. His research spreads across other species, including steelhead, lamprey, trout, and invasive species like bass.

I spoke with Romer last week, and here is a summary of that conversation…..

Trout

As reported last spring, water quality issues are generally related to water temperatures.  Local hatchery trout production moved from the Leaburg Hatchery to the Willamette River Hatchery near Oakridge, which is quite the trek back to Leaburg, where, on some days, I drive to Blue River.  However, besides the extra expense of running the hatchery trucks on a 140-160 mile round trip, employees’ time was lost from other projects. Romer tells me, “The process went smoothly; no deliveries were missed.”  

It’s unclear whether the Leaburg Hatchery will be ready soon, so this remains an issue. 

Steelhead

Wow! What a year it has been! The October fishing remains good, with close to 19,000 summer steelhead in the Willamette system! With glee, Romer said, “It has been the best run in a couple of decades,” and “more than 4,000 steelheads have passed over Leaburg Dam.”

He added that the McKenzie Run appears firmer compared to other Willamette River tributaries after several years when summer steelhead coming home to the McKenzie River bumped along in the three-digit range.  Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers has declined to continue funding the summer steelhead program, but Romer did suggest the ODFW is currently exploring funding options. I’ll keep you posted.

Spring Chinook

As I transitioned, the exuberance in Romer’s voice while talking steelhead faded.“The run in the Willamette system was low across the drainage but was particularly poor in the McKenzie River.”  

In late June, the entire McKenzie was closed to salmon fishing.  A river-wide closure that I don’t recall has ever happened. But both wild and hatchery salmon came home to the McKenzie in alarmingly low numbers.  It was so low that at the end of September, the McKenzie River Salmon Hatchery management still hoped that a few more female salmon would appear in the hatchery trap.  I

asked Romer why the hatchery steelhead ran so strong and the hatchery salmon ran so weak. He explained, “The Pacific is a vast ocean, and this year, the steelhead found a much more nurturing place to feed and grow.” 

Coho Salmon

Never in my life would I have thought I would be reporting about Coho salmon fishing in the Middle Fork of the Willamette or the McKenzie, but here we go. 

At press time, coho salmon have been streaming over the Willamette Falls in Oregon City at about 2,200 fish per day.  Close to 31,000 (yes, you read that correctly) are already headed to “who knows where” in the Willamette basin. It surprised the ODFW last season when several hundred of the 40,000 fish run made their way above Leaburg Dam. 

As baffling as where they will go is where they came from.

I’ll look deeper into this developing fall fishery in future editions. 

Last week the ODFW did announce new coho salmon regulations specifically for the Willamette River and all the tributaries…. Two coho per day, ten per season, and with an endorsement, you can use two rods throughout the entire Willamette basin. Kids under 12 can fish two rods for free. 

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