Fanno Creek

HeavyMetal BankFisherman · 12-26-2003, 05:48 PM

I have a friend that live along Fanno creek in Beaverton and swears that he has seen several fish that were either salmon or steelhead in the creek. Is that possible or is he pulling my leg. He is a serious person that does not normally joke around. That would be great if there was still fish in the creek.

skrimmy · 12-26-2003, 05:51 PM

Dang, the latest zipper lip spot has been discovered! :grin:

Riverkeeper · 12-26-2003, 05:58 PM

HMBF,

I grew up and now work in and around Fanno, and it is certainly possible. I believe some steelhead and coho still run up the tualatin tributaries, and there is no reason there couldn't still be a few in Fanno, although I think the higher up the stream you get, the worse the chances. A family friend that grew up in the fifies on the creek remembers seeing salmon spawning as high up as raleigh hills, but there are now some pretty major culverts that probably prohibit that. A bunch of public agencies and non profit groups are trying hard to make these creeks more hospitable to these fish, so maybe we'll see a few more around.

That said, there are lots of other things that now may exist in Fanno that your friend could have seen, like nutria, carp, bass, alligators, mermaids, TUNA!, browntrout (the boneless kind), etc.

steel_beaver · 12-26-2003, 06:04 PM

i have a friend that said they he caught trout in the creek about two years ago, and he wanted to show me where but i never got the time to go..... so its possible..... but unlikely

HeavyMetal BankFisherman · 12-26-2003, 06:19 PM

Riverkeeper,

My first thought was that my friend saw a large carp but he swears that he knows the difference. I once fished from the deck of an apartment on Olsen rd along fanno that had a pond connected. I caught several bullhead and a few carp. I was told that there were carp going over two feet in length coming in from the creek at times. I am sstill sceptical of that story.

I remember catching crawdads in fanno under the railroad tracks by Denney rd in the early seventies. A slice of bologna and a piece of string. Thats all we used. We would catch hundreds of them. We didn't eat them though. I do remember seeing large fish swimming in the creek back then. It was pretty polluted but there was most likely still fish spawning. Maybe we should have been jig fishing.

There is a pond by St Mary's home for boys. They made some nature trails there. I remember catching bluegill and the occasional trout there back in the seventies. I think beaverton creek and a couple others meet up there.

It is possible that there are salmonoids spawning in fanno creek. I hope so.

Riverkeeper · 12-26-2003, 06:32 PM

A few years later and a few miles upstream, I was catching crawdads with chicken skin on a string and a pair of barbeque tongs. I'd drop the bait into the water and when the dads came a sniffin, I'd slowly pull the bait closer and closer, then TONG!

If you decide to look into the salmon steelhead thing more (not for fishing of course :grin: ) let me know and I'll point you towards some people that will have some current data.

Norski · 12-26-2003, 06:39 PM

I grew up in Tigard back when there were no people like today no appartments NO ONE!!!!
We would go down to fano and catch crawdads by the bucket full, and back in the late 50's we would catch some trout, I want to say 20 inchers but they may have been 12 to 14 inches long, run home and Dad would put them into the bath tub and he would say wate untell mom comes home she will scream, and she did.
These were the good old days,
Fanno starts up by 45 & Vermount st, as my ex wife grandparents had a place there, and the water just came out from a hole in the back yard, and flowed west.
Over by progress north past the Progress Downs golf corse there was a creek just like fanno, and my grandparents live 2 blocks away and I would go down and sit on the dam, and catch trout,carp,crawdads, and some times pearch.
Now this was back when I was 10 years old.

Now today I steal think it's a sewer hole, dam gone, and fanno well I would'nt eat anything from it now, but back than it was great.
Tight lines, and good luck to the mighty FANN-O
RIVER-RAT.

HeavyMetal BankFisherman · 12-26-2003, 07:07 PM

I think that there is already an organization doing restorastion on fanno. If anyone has any information lets hear it. I would be willing through my company to donate man hours and some funds to a legitimate organaization doing restoration on this creek.

Otolith · 12-26-2003, 07:31 PM

Fanno is just down the street from me. They are building (I think have completed major portions) a greenway trail the runs the entire length of the creek.

Fanno Creek Greenway Trail

driftphish · 12-26-2003, 07:38 PM

I have heard old stories of steelies and salmon at marshall park on tryon creek in sw portland.

Perfect Drift · 12-26-2003, 07:48 PM

Friends of Fanno Creek, is the group. May try City of Beaverton or Tigard for more info.
PD

Riverkeeper · 12-26-2003, 08:43 PM

Actually I think it's Fans of Fanno Creek . Also, get in touch with Cleanwater Services (formerly Unified Sewerage Agency, the sewer utility for Wash co.) as they fund a lot of restoration work and organize volunteer projects like riparian tree planting and trash pickup. For Fanno and Tryon within the Portland city limits, shoot me a PM.

drhall99 · 12-26-2003, 11:24 PM

Fanno Creek was my back yard for four years (Until last year) and I spent alot of time looking for and identifying the fish I saw there. First, lots of carp, young and old. Next, goldfish. I know they are carp, too.
After those there weren't too many. A few sad looking cutthroat and bullheads but I never saw any Steelhead or Salmon. I would guess that any spotted in that stream are lost/wandering. Also, in my opinion, people should not be fishing in that stream, unless they are targeting the carp. The few Trout and (maybe someday) Salmon and Steelhead do not need any more pressure from us.

D.