Chinook observed in Klamath River tributary above Iron Gate

RRSmith

RRSmith

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I still receive weekly Klamath River video weir updates from CA DFW and this notice showed up a few days ago. Jenny Creek drains out of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument in Southern Oregon and used to flow into Iron Gate Reservoir. This is outstanding news!

Hello all,

I wanted to reach out and share a non-weir yet salmon related update from Jenny Creek. Today a crew surveyed Jenny Creek and observed two live Chinook Salmon, one redd and one spawned out female Chinook Salmon carcass in the lower portion of Jenny Creek (within the reservoir footprint). Normal video updates will resume Friday.

Thanks,

Domenic Giudice

Klamath River Project

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

1625 South Main Street

Yreka, CA 96097
 
Wade Rivers said:
Help me out with the timeline...it's been how long since a salmon made it up Jenny Creek? 100 years?
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Iron Gate was built in 1964 so about 60 years. Copco 1 and 2 dams (just above Iron Gate) were built between 1912 and 1925.

The river is very turbid but slowly clearing. The current thinking is that the turbidity has slowed the fall chinook run. Fish are finally starting to show (over 1000 this past week moving into the Shasta River).

I just traded messages with Domenic (the biologist who's email I shared) and he said more chinook were seen yesterday in Jenny Creek.
 
RRSmith said:
I still receive weekly Klamath River video weir updates from CA DFW and this notice showed up a few days ago. Jenny Creek drains out of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument in Southern Oregon and used to flow into Iron Gate Reservoir. This is outstanding news!

Hello all,

I wanted to reach out and share a non-weir yet salmon related update from Jenny Creek. Today a crew surveyed Jenny Creek and observed two live Chinook Salmon, one redd and one spawned out female Chinook Salmon carcass in the lower portion of Jenny Creek (within the reservoir footprint). Normal video updates will resume Friday.

Thanks,

Domenic Giudice

Klamath River Project

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

1625 South Main Street

Yreka, CA 96097
Click to expand...
Amazing news! Nature finds a way.

There is a thread on Speypages about this project. Would you be willing to share it there, or do you mind if I cut-n-paste and post it? People will be pretty excited there...
 
Yard Sale said:
Amazing news! Nature finds a way.

There is a thread on Speypages about this project. Would you be willing to share it there, or do you mind if I cut-n-paste and post it? People will be pretty excited there...
Click to expand...
I'm not active on Speypages so please feel free to share/cut-n-paste!
 
RRSmith said:
Iron Gate was built in 1964 so about 60 years. Copco 1 and 2 dams (just above Iron Gate) were built between 1912 and 1925.

The river is very turbid but slowly clearing. The current thinking is that the turbidity has slowed the fall chinook run. Fish are finally starting to show (over 1000 this past week moving into the Shasta River).

I just traded messages with Domenic (the biologist who's email I shared) and he said more chinook were seen yesterday in Jenny Creek.
Click to expand...
can you provide me with the link to the post where you provided Domenic's email or provide the email again? I was search for it and could not find it. Thanks in advance.
 
RRSmith said:
Here’s a screen shot from Shane Anderson’s post for those that don’t have access to Facebook. The flood gates are opening up now - YIPPEE!
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I'm super impressed they made it up past where JC Boyle was, I figured it would take a couple of years. Has me wondering if we'll see photos of them passing through the Keno and Link River fish ladders soon, although I read somewhere they weren't sure that one of the ladders could pass larger-bodied fish.
 
More, this time from Mark Hereford. Salmon above JC Boyle.
www.facebook.com

Oregon Field Guide

Yesterday, officials documented the first salmon to return to Oregon’s Klamath Basin since 1912. Mark Hereford with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife was the first to spot the fish on a...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
offensivename said:
I assume Iron Gate was unpassable before? Pretty interesting that they so quickly moved into the new water
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Yes... PacifiCorp owned the dams and they were up against FERC license renewal where they would have had to provide fish passage. Among all of the other reasons for dam removal, adding fish passage penciled out to be cost prohibitive.

My theory on why the fish have moved so quickly into the upper sections: Much of the main stem spawning habitat below Iron Gate for many miles is now covered in thick, fine silt. It's really unfortunate but something that was anticipated once the reservoirs were drawn down and the dams removed. These mainstem spawners (and perhaps fish bound for Iron Gate Fish Hatchery) have continued upstream until they encountered suitable spawning habitat.

We saw something similar back in the 1990's when Shasta Valley ranchers shut down water extractions out of the Little Shasta River a month earlier than usual due to an unusually wet fall. The river (really just a creek) returned to it's base flow and fall chinook flooded out of the Shasta River into the Little Shasta to spawn. Some of the old time ranchers in the valley said there hadn't been chinook in there since the 1930's.
 
Upper Klamath Video Weir Update: Through October 18th, 50 chinook and one adult lamprey have now been seen moving through the recently installed video weir on Jenny Creek and the Shasta River adult chinook counts are nearing 4,000 fish. Even though it's below Iron Gate, the Shasta is probably the most important fall chinook tributary above the confluence of the Trinity River.

Fish are really spreading out above the old reservoir footprints and have also made it into Shovel Creek which drains out of the California side of the South Cascades (1 so far). There's also active spawning occurring in Spencer Creek near Keno in Oregon. With this upcoming active weather pattern, one to two inches of much needed precip are forecast for the Upper Klamath Watershed. This will be important for bumping up flows in tributaries such as Shovel. I am going to try to hook up with Domenic in November and go on a redd survey.
 
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RRSmith said:
Upper Klamath Video Weir Update: Through October 18th, 50 chinook and one adult lamprey have now been seen moving through the recently installed video weir on Jenny Creek and the Shasta River adult chinook counts are nearing 4,000 fish. Even though it's below Iron Gate, the Shasta is probably the most important fall chinook tributary above the confluence of the Trinity River.

Fish are really spreading out above the old reservoir footprints and have also made it into Shovel Creek which drains out of the California side of the South Cascades (1 so far). There's also active spawning occurring in Spencer Creek near Keno in Oregon. With this upcoming active weather pattern, one to two inches of much needed precip are forecast for the Upper Klamath Watershed. This will be important for bumping up flows in tributaries such as Shovel. I am going to try to hook up with Domenic in November and go on a redd survey.
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This is really exciting to read and see pictures of salmon in the Klamath and its tribs. Salmon swimming above JC Boyle and moving towards Keno! HUH!

I think I might have shared this story: I was fishing below Keno Dam (I lived in Klamath Falls from '75 - June, '78) one morning and visited with an elderly gentleman who told me about "the old days" when he saw tribal fishermen catching Chinook in the area where we were fishing. He described how the fish were split open and fastened to trees facing the sun (my memory might be a bit shakey here).

I think it is incredible (wonderful) that Chinook (and a lamprey!) are moving up the river. Going to stop and take a look when we drive to LA in December).
 
justme2024 said:
Photos from Shane Anderson on Facebook of fish spawning in one of the creeks above Iron Gate. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/c7EF9bL9GKzJ2mMP/
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Thanks for the pics.
This does not surprise me at all, get the damn dam out of the way and life will go now.
As a kid I went with my folks to Iron Gate one summer to picnic with friends.
The pics of that creek look just like that creek that drained into the lake.
 
Of course you take obstacles out of the way the fish will show up..
The question is how effectively will they reproduce and how good is the habitats they will encounter throughout their lives. Great first step but the goal is increasing the population

Fingers crossed
 
I copy and pasted the latest video weir summary for the Upper Klamath. Jenny and Shovel Creeks are both newly accessible tributaries. There is also significant mainstem spawning underway above the Copco Reservoir footprint which will be tallied when fall spawner surveys are completed. Coho are just beginning to show in the upper basin. The Scott has always had the largest run while the Shasta generally has just a few hundred fish in a good year.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife annually operates adult fish counting facilities on the Shasta River, Scott River, Bogus Creek, Jenny Creek and Shovel Creek. This in-season update provides preliminary 2024 returns of Fall-run Chinook Salmon and Coho Salmon to each counting facility. Preliminary in-season updates will be provided as data becomes available throughout the season. The Shasta River station was operational on August 29, 2024 and 4,869 adult Chinook Salmon and 9 adult Coho Salmon have been observed through November 13, 2024. The Bogus Creek station was operational on September 5, 2024 and 340 adult Chinook Salmon and 0 adult Coho Salmon have been observed through November 12, 2024. The Scott River station was operational on September 13, 2024 and 557 adult Chinook Salmon and 142 adult Coho Salmon have been observed through November 13, 2024. Jenny Creek weir began operating on September 26, 2024 and 310 Chinook Salmon, 0 Coho Salmon have been observed as of November 11, 2024. Shovel Creek weir began operating on October 16, 2024 and 198 Chinook Salmon and 0 Coho Salmon have been observed as of November 8, 2024.

The Shasta River station is located roughly 600 feet from the confluence with the Klamath River and serves as a census for the entire Shasta River. The Scott River station is 18 miles upstream of the confluence with the Klamath River and the Bogus Creek station is 0.25 miles upstream of the confluence with the Klamath River. Depending on the year significant fractions of the adult salmonid populations in the Scott River and Bogus Creek spawn downstream of the counting stations. This in-season update doesn’t report the spawning escapement that is observed downstream of these stations. Final reports detailing the total escapement to each river will be available after the data is finalized.
 
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