South Santiam

[Slow and Low]

Anyone know if fish move above the dam. PM's welcome.

[Don't fish e nuff]

Water is at almost summer lows today and I saw three rigs at the Guardrail hole.

[BlackBass]

If your talking about Foster damn then no they dont move above the damn! If your talking about the Lebanon "damn" then yes they move above it! I wouldnt bother fishing for winters until the end of Febuary at the earliest! The winter "native" fishery is a real tuff one! I usualy catch my winter Steelhead , while fishing for early summers! I have done fairly well in march, but april is good for a mixed bag as well!.....

[Slow and Low]

Thx, that answers my question.

[Skunked]

I saw a nate washed up on the beach of the foster reservoir one spring a few years ago. Maybe they let the wild fish go above?

[BlackBass]

I saw a nate washed up on the beach of the foster reservoir one spring a few years ago. Maybe they let the wild fish go above?

They truck the winter steelhead above the Damn and put them into the S Santiam ! They let the winters spawn naturaly in the wild! I have been there and helped them do this!

[FishNstinct]

There is or used to be a fish ladder at Foster.
I've seen quite a few steelhead in Foster.
And yes springers and steelhead can be found on the upper S. Santiam.
They are pretty nasty though...
The majority of winters(nates) go up Wiley Creek. It's closed to fishing.

[BlackBass]

There is or used to be a fish ladder at Foster.
I've seen quite a few steelhead in Foster.
And yes springers and steelhead can be found on the upper S. Santiam.
They are pretty nasty though...
The majority of winters(nates) go up Wiley Creek. It's closed to fishing.

There is a fish ladder that leads them straight into a holding pen, where they then transfer the wild steelhead above the damn! You may of seen spawned out winters in foster, but i realy doubt any numbers of them ! Springers dont go above the hatchery at all, unless they are trucked!

[FishNstinct]

There is a fish ladder that leads them straight into a holding pen, where they then transfer the wild steelhead above the damn! You may of seen spawned out winters in foster, but i realy doubt any numbers of them ! Springers dont go above the hatchery at all, unless they are trucked!

Nope I seen hatchery summer fish in Foster that were'nt too bad.
Also at Dan Dee Sales theres a pic of a monster summer fish that someone caught out of Foster on Powerbait. He bonked it and kept it.
Man I've seen some nice trout in that holding tank too!

[Ty]

Nope I seen hatchery summer fish in Foster that were'nt too bad.
Also at Dan Dee Sales theres a pic of a monster summer fish that someone caught out of Foster on Powerbait. He bonked it and kept it.
Man I've seen some nice trout in that holding tank too!


I know that they release the brooder resident trout in foster, but doubt they are hatchery summer steelhead... As Blackbass said wild winters are allowed above the dam and they spawn really late in the year due to the very cold temperatures up their... These where very very large fish.

[BlackBass]

Nope I seen hatchery summer fish in Foster that were'nt too bad.
Also at Dan Dee Sales theres a pic of a monster summer fish that someone caught out of Foster on Powerbait. He bonked it and kept it.
Man I've seen some nice trout in that holding tank too!

I understand you think you have your facts straight, however there is no summer steelhead in Foster reservoir, that got there on there own free will! Please get your facts straight before responding to my post in a "No" mannor :D

[FishNstinct]

I understand you think you have your facts straight, however there is no summer steelhead in Foster reservoir, that got there on there own free will! Please get your facts straight before responding to my post in a "No" mannor :D

Go see for yourself the pic at DanDees.

[Slow and Low]

OK. So they truck the fish above the dam (foster). So there are steelhead in the upper river?

[Two Fister]

Sam,
There's no fish passage at Foster. How they built that sucker in the 1970's without fish passage has always been a mystery to me. They've talked about trucking fish around it to take advantage of the decent habitat above, but I've never heard of them actually doing it. So there could be fish above the dam, but I would guess that they are pretty fusty. Some decent trout fishing in the upper watershed if you can get away from the roads.
Dan

[SSPey]

from ODFW:
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/HGMP/docs/2006/06-upper-willamette-summer-steelead.pdf

Wild winter steelhead adults are trapped at Foster Dam for transport and release upstream for spawning. The fish are anaesthetized, loaded onto trucks, and hauled above the reservoir for release. This collection period runs from November through June each year. Collection of winter steelhead is completed each year prior to the start of hatchery summer steelhead and spring chinook collections. Foster Dam does not have a ladder that allows upstream passage without transport. Thus, there is no other way for fish to pass above the Foster Dam site than to come into the trap and be lifted or hauled above. Operation of this trapping facility has a high potential to take listed winter steelhead through delay, capture, handling, transportation and upstream release, during trapping operations. Trapping and handling devices may lead to injury to listed fish through confinement, delayed migration and spawning, or delayed mortality as a result of injury.


The proportion of hatchery summer steelhead that spawn naturally in the North and South Santiam rivers is believed to be very low, but studies are currently underway to evaluate the accuracy of that assumption. Since summer steelhead are not passed above Foster Dam, on the South Santiam River, or Minto Dam, on the North Santiam River, any natural spawning by hatchery steelhead would occur below those dams.

[BlackBass]

from ODFW:

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/HGMP/docs/2006/06-upper-willamette-summer-steelead.pdf

Wild winter steelhead adults are trapped at Foster Dam for transport and release upstream for spawning. The fish are anaesthetized, loaded onto trucks, and hauled above the reservoir for release. This collection period runs from November through June each year. Collection of winter steelhead is completed each year prior to the start of hatchery summer steelhead and spring chinook collections. Foster Dam does not have a ladder that allows upstream passage without transport. Thus, there is no other way for fish to pass above the Foster Dam site than to come into the trap and be lifted or hauled above. Operation of this trapping facility has a high potential to take listed winter steelhead through delay, capture, handling, transportation and upstream release, during trapping operations. Trapping and handling devices may lead to injury to listed fish through confinement, delayed migration and spawning, or delayed mortality as a result of injury.


The proportion of hatchery summer steelhead that spawn naturally in the North and South Santiam rivers is believed to be very low, but studies are currently underway to evaluate the accuracy of that assumption. Since summer steelhead are not passed above Foster Dam, on the South Santiam River, or Minto Dam, on the North Santiam River, any natural spawning by hatchery steelhead would occur below those dams.



:yeahthat: