Bigdog
03-06-2002, 02:03 PM
An enormous band of oily smelt is making its way toward the Sandy River, raising hopes among biologists and fish fans of a sequel to last year’s smelt-dipping spectacle.
Mild ocean conditions have sent a “huge concentration” of the tiny fish slipping upriver, said Jimmy Watts, a state biologist who studies Columbia River sports fisheries. Gulls and sea lions have been feasting on smelt near Portland International Airport – just a few miles from the mouth of the Sandy.
For decades, the Sandy River smelt run was a signature event of east Multnomah County. But in 1988, the smelt disappeared for 12 years from the scenic river that winds through Troutdale. Their surprise return last year packed the banks with elated smelt-dippers.
“The smelt run is even stronger this year than last year,” said Steve King, a fisheries manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “I’m optimistic they’ll be heading for the Sandy.
“But the smelt are in charge of their own fate.”
Smelt look something like overgrown guppies the length of a hand. Dippers favor them as fertilizer, as fishing bait and as dinner. In one eating contest, the winner slurped down more than 100 of the slick little fish.
The smelt arrived faithfully in the Sandy River for years, running in schools of thousands that darkened the water late in the winter. Dippers would crowd into Troutdale, shouldering their long smelt nets and often wearing their Sunday best. Women would wade into the river and scoop up smelt with their bloomers.
Nobody knows why the smelt abandoned the river in 1988; but biologists lean toward blaming El Nino. The warm mass of water made the ocean less smelt-friendly, holding down their numbers until last year.
Then the smelt made a triumphant return. Old-time smelt-dippers dug their nets out of attics and closets and hustled to the Sandy River. The smelt filled the river for one giddy weekend, then washed back into the Columbia River.
“It’s like one of those things in the Old West,” said Terry Smoke, a Troutdale shop owner. “Everybody comes running in and says, ‘The smelt are in the Sandy!’”
This year, the smelt began migrating up the Columbia River in January. Commercial fishers in Washington already have netted more than 700,000 pounds of smelt – about 8 million fish.
Biologists would not guess at how many smelt are filling the Columbia River. But they said this year's run appears to be the strongest in more than a decade.
A huge school of smelt spent Wednesday just east of downtown Portland, and Watts said it could reach the Sandy River within a few days. But “the things are real finicky,” he said. They look for clear water that’s not too cold and not too high.
That means the chilly weather and steady rain forecast for the coming days could cancel any smelt predictions. But local fishing guide Jack Glass said the rainfall should warm the river some, and flush out some of the sediment that has clouded it.
“I hope they’re here by the weekend. The conditions will be very favorable,” Glass said. “But they’re smelt. Nobody knows what they’ll do. They’re funny little critters.”
Smelt have been known to fill the Columbia River to Bonneville Dam, but spurn the Sandy River. More often, they make the right turn into the Sandy as their population swells in the Columbia.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has been watching flocks of sea gulls as they follow the smelt up the Columbia River. It has determined that “there’s a good chance they will go in the Sandy shortly,” Watts said.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has begun reminding would-be dippers that state rules allow them to take home 25 pounds of smelt a day. They must use their own buckets but can dip 24 hours a day.
In Troutdale, the phones have already begun ringing with eager smelt-dippers asking whether the fish have arrived. They’ve been told not yet… but to keep checking back.
“It was so many years they didn’t come,” said Diane McKeel, executive director of the Troutdale Chamber of Commerce. “People were thinking last year, Is this just a fluke? Now there’s a lot of excitement that they’re coming back.”
:whazzup:
Mild ocean conditions have sent a “huge concentration” of the tiny fish slipping upriver, said Jimmy Watts, a state biologist who studies Columbia River sports fisheries. Gulls and sea lions have been feasting on smelt near Portland International Airport – just a few miles from the mouth of the Sandy.
For decades, the Sandy River smelt run was a signature event of east Multnomah County. But in 1988, the smelt disappeared for 12 years from the scenic river that winds through Troutdale. Their surprise return last year packed the banks with elated smelt-dippers.
“The smelt run is even stronger this year than last year,” said Steve King, a fisheries manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “I’m optimistic they’ll be heading for the Sandy.
“But the smelt are in charge of their own fate.”
Smelt look something like overgrown guppies the length of a hand. Dippers favor them as fertilizer, as fishing bait and as dinner. In one eating contest, the winner slurped down more than 100 of the slick little fish.
The smelt arrived faithfully in the Sandy River for years, running in schools of thousands that darkened the water late in the winter. Dippers would crowd into Troutdale, shouldering their long smelt nets and often wearing their Sunday best. Women would wade into the river and scoop up smelt with their bloomers.
Nobody knows why the smelt abandoned the river in 1988; but biologists lean toward blaming El Nino. The warm mass of water made the ocean less smelt-friendly, holding down their numbers until last year.
Then the smelt made a triumphant return. Old-time smelt-dippers dug their nets out of attics and closets and hustled to the Sandy River. The smelt filled the river for one giddy weekend, then washed back into the Columbia River.
“It’s like one of those things in the Old West,” said Terry Smoke, a Troutdale shop owner. “Everybody comes running in and says, ‘The smelt are in the Sandy!’”
This year, the smelt began migrating up the Columbia River in January. Commercial fishers in Washington already have netted more than 700,000 pounds of smelt – about 8 million fish.
Biologists would not guess at how many smelt are filling the Columbia River. But they said this year's run appears to be the strongest in more than a decade.
A huge school of smelt spent Wednesday just east of downtown Portland, and Watts said it could reach the Sandy River within a few days. But “the things are real finicky,” he said. They look for clear water that’s not too cold and not too high.
That means the chilly weather and steady rain forecast for the coming days could cancel any smelt predictions. But local fishing guide Jack Glass said the rainfall should warm the river some, and flush out some of the sediment that has clouded it.
“I hope they’re here by the weekend. The conditions will be very favorable,” Glass said. “But they’re smelt. Nobody knows what they’ll do. They’re funny little critters.”
Smelt have been known to fill the Columbia River to Bonneville Dam, but spurn the Sandy River. More often, they make the right turn into the Sandy as their population swells in the Columbia.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has been watching flocks of sea gulls as they follow the smelt up the Columbia River. It has determined that “there’s a good chance they will go in the Sandy shortly,” Watts said.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has begun reminding would-be dippers that state rules allow them to take home 25 pounds of smelt a day. They must use their own buckets but can dip 24 hours a day.
In Troutdale, the phones have already begun ringing with eager smelt-dippers asking whether the fish have arrived. They’ve been told not yet… but to keep checking back.
“It was so many years they didn’t come,” said Diane McKeel, executive director of the Troutdale Chamber of Commerce. “People were thinking last year, Is this just a fluke? Now there’s a lot of excitement that they’re coming back.”
:whazzup: