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135 Posts
North Santiam River-hope everyone is aware that the recycling program was almost totally aborted and most steelhead have been removed out of the river. Complaints to F & W led to a small last minute recycling of a "FEW" steelhead. Steelheaders were cheated again. If we don't voice strongly our concerns and complaints, nothing will change.
The North Santiam once had winter steelhead, summer steelhead, springers, and trout smolts and the NF Santiam had 25,000 summer steelhead smolts. What we ended up with was a token amount of springers and summers. Fishing most years has really has been low.
Core of Engineers has hurt us yearly. Not just this summer's malfunction at the dam and the release of warm water causing springers to arrive a month or so early, but the constant inadequate release of water below the dam. Mehama has 2'6"-3'1" most of the summer. Then, the first bus day after the Sept holiday, flood gates open. All the water is held for Detroit, not the fish or people enjoying the river below the dam. There is not one concern for steelhead.
Some greedy guides come up on springer good years and split. Nothing is put back. No efforts towards improving the water levels or flows and nothing voice for the poor excuse of recycling.
Guess we are heading for the same outcome of the NF Nehalem and its poor recycling downriver. They just truck to ponds/lakes. Better yet, the coho program there. Now, weren't they all sold to a WA cat food company (allegedly-but probably munched/sold the nice fish and bet someone cured those killer eggs and sold them...).
If we don't stand up for our pristine steelhead rivers local or close to the Valley, then "eggheads unite, all you have to lose is your yolk" or in this case, the steelhead our tags/licenses paid for.
thanks and just my opinion based on a couple decades of fishing these two rivers and watching the substantial declines and policies and practices of F & W, or lack of effort to get off their behinds and hop in the tanks and net out the hatchery fish and truck down river.
The North Santiam once had winter steelhead, summer steelhead, springers, and trout smolts and the NF Santiam had 25,000 summer steelhead smolts. What we ended up with was a token amount of springers and summers. Fishing most years has really has been low.
Core of Engineers has hurt us yearly. Not just this summer's malfunction at the dam and the release of warm water causing springers to arrive a month or so early, but the constant inadequate release of water below the dam. Mehama has 2'6"-3'1" most of the summer. Then, the first bus day after the Sept holiday, flood gates open. All the water is held for Detroit, not the fish or people enjoying the river below the dam. There is not one concern for steelhead.
Some greedy guides come up on springer good years and split. Nothing is put back. No efforts towards improving the water levels or flows and nothing voice for the poor excuse of recycling.
Guess we are heading for the same outcome of the NF Nehalem and its poor recycling downriver. They just truck to ponds/lakes. Better yet, the coho program there. Now, weren't they all sold to a WA cat food company (allegedly-but probably munched/sold the nice fish and bet someone cured those killer eggs and sold them...).
If we don't stand up for our pristine steelhead rivers local or close to the Valley, then "eggheads unite, all you have to lose is your yolk" or in this case, the steelhead our tags/licenses paid for.
thanks and just my opinion based on a couple decades of fishing these two rivers and watching the substantial declines and policies and practices of F & W, or lack of effort to get off their behinds and hop in the tanks and net out the hatchery fish and truck down river.
