Salmon in Nevada?

[Grizz]

This is a pretty cool website. Hard to believe there were salmon/steelhead that once made it that far inland...!!!


http://www.inforain.org/useourmaps/

[Siwash]

Yup. The red areas on those maps really highlight the magnitude of some of the major dam projects. Of course there's no real way of knowing, but I'm curious how many of the same trade-offs we'd make if we had those decisions to do over today.

[Grizz]

Love to fish....I have heard about that creek in Nevada! Crazy to think they swam that far!

I'm currently reading a book titled King of Fish . It cronicles the decline of salmon on the West Coast. If your into history of Salmon and fishing I highly suggest it. It's amazing that we have any fish at all!! They truly are survivors. It talks about a species that is now extinct named the Sabertooh Salmon. Apparantly it was up to 6ft long and could weigh 200+ lbs :shocked:

[Ryan Pultz]

I once read and article in the paper or something when I lived in Long beach that stated several of the rivers down there would still have runs of salmon if they did not dam them up. Then I remember hearing a story that they found a salmon a few years back in the Santa Anna river and that the government was going to do something to improve habitat cause it is an endangered fish and so buy law they have to do something but never herd anything else about it.

[lovetofish]

Grizz -- thanks for the suggestion, sounds like an interesting book. 200lb sabertooth salmon, eh?

Do you think we could start a hatch-box program for some of them? :grin:

--steve

[Siwash]

STS had an article a few years back about steelhead way down in Malibu Cr. Last time we were down visiting my Grandma in Camarillo (just a few miles up Hwy 101) I got away to go sneak a look at the creek, but didn't have any fishing gear along. That was around Christmastime, so there was a decent amont of water; it looked surprisingly good. I'd imagine it's mighty grim for the juveniles in the summer, though.

[David Johnson]

Look at all the extinction in California and eastern Oregon/Washington.

The Sacromento was the second largest producer of salmon in the world, only second to the Columbia.

Chums went all the way up the Columbia and there were pinks and chums in California.

[lovetofish]

Thanks for the link!!

I believe that red area going into North-East
Nevada would be Salmon Falls Creek, which flows
out of the Jarbridge mountains. Pretty suggestive
name, huh?

By the way, there's great trout fishing in that area.

--steve

[BuKuBass]

Stinkingwater Pass east of Burns got its name because of the rotting salmon carcesses.

[SKP]

My uncle lives right near a river in Ojai, California, near Oxnard/Ventura. Supposedly years ago, it had a killer run or runs of steelhead. The river now has a dam in it, and the steelhead are gone or nearly gone (I didn't see any steelhead on my hike down the river in 2000 on my last visit, but did see very small fish, possibly smolt). There is much debate about taking out this dam to get the fish going again. I understand that this dam holds back water only for the purpose of irrigating the avacado and citrus orchards below.

If that stream ever had steelhead in it again, it would be a killer stream, much the same size as Three Rivers in width.

SKP :grin:

[GutshotApe]

Until the early 1900s steelhead occured as far south as the Tijuana River...and today, there are still rumored to be a few steelhead produced in southern California rivers. Native trout found high in the soCal mountains produce a few smolts that are washed out to sea during winter floods. Getting back upstream to spawn is a tough trick for most of 'em, however. I believe the feds have declared salmon & steelhead "extinct", for ESA purposes, south of Malibu Creek.

In Nevada, salmon used to ascend the Owyhee River and up the south fork to the vicinity of the ghost town of Tuscarora. I've been there...hard to believe its salmon country. The map shows the species up there to have been coho and not chinook...seems like the fish I read about were chinook, not coho? There is a copy of the Tuscarora newspaper from the 1890s in a local county museum with an ad from the Tuscarora saloon offering "fresh-caught" salmon dinners for $1 a plate. The Owyhee dam wiped out these fish in 1911.

The Nevada steelhead shown on the map were in the Jarbidge River drainage. The steelhead are gone but the headwaters still contain the world's southernmost population of bull trout. I've been there, too...an interesting mountainous area with true-fir forests, no pine. The Hells Canyon dams did these steelhead in.

[Grizz]

GutShotApe....sounds like beautiful country, I'll have to check it out. It's hard to imagine all the creeks and rivers that once had fish. Look at all the water above Grand Coulee that use to hold fish. I would like to have seen the Columbia R. back in "those days". The book I mentioned (see link) is really good I can't put it down if your into fish history you have to check it out.

http://www.outdoorshub.com/King_of_F...813341477.html

[Jeremy]

I dont know if its a better book than mentioned above but "A River Lost - The life and death of the Columbia" by Blaine Harden, is a great book about the river, dams, and salmon from all perspectives.