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Yakima Steelhead run breaks 6000

4K views 31 replies 16 participants last post by  rainbow 
#1 ·
I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but the steelhead count at Prosser Dam has gone over 6000 again this season. http://ykfp.org/yakindex.htm
 
#4 ·
Where exactly are those steelhead going? Passage numbers at Roza are awful, and are every year. Do they spawn in the lower yak? I can't imagine there are that many fish headed up the Naches or the other creeks. Are they just hanging out in the Yak temporarily, because the Columbia is warm?
 
#10 ·
Don't know about the Steelhead in the Yak specifically, but its common for steelhead to utilize feeder rivers more so than the main stem. Especially when the main stem has a big run of SPring CHinook as those fish are almost always main stem spawners and they create quite a bit of competition. In the Quinault river where I live we see a lot of spawning steelhead in tributary creeks but not many in the main stem, where as all the kings spawn in the upper main stem.
 
#12 ·
Interesting. Were they actually taking steelhead, or were they just targeting "whitefish?"

So, I was curious about whether it was legal to target the wild Yakima steelhead. Looking at the regs, it looks like there's a general stream opener from Parker Dam to 3500' below Roza from first sat. in June until Oct. 31, and then a whitefish season during the winter. It says a Columbia River salmon/steelhead endorsement required, but no salmon fishing. Therefore, to me it indicates that targeting steelhead is legal during the general stream opener. Kind of makes sense, I guess.

But from 3500 feet below Roza to 400 below Roza, there's only a winter whitefish season. However, for this small stretch, it says you need a Columbia River salmon/steelhead endorsement. Doesn't make much sense to make people pay for the endorsement if they can only target whitefish. Kinda looks like the WDFW knows and condones of fishing for "whitefish" in this section and possibly in the rest of the system in those winter "whitefish" season months. So do people legitimately fish for whitefish in the yak and other steelhead streams, or is it just a way to get around ESA and let people fish for "whitefish?"
 
#6 ·
Since the Columbia is too cold for spring chinook to want to come in, no the Columbia is not too warm. Prosser is quite a ways up the Yakima for them to "dip" into anyway. I think you would be surprised how many steelhead utilize the Naches and it's many tributaries.
 
#7 ·
Since the Columbia is too cold for spring chinook to want to come in, no the Columbia is not too warm. Prosser is quite a ways up the Yakima for them to "dip" into anyway. I think you would be surprised how many steelhead utilize the Naches and it's many tributaries.
iv'e always known about steel in that river but have never really seen any "official" numbers though i'd be interested. dunno bout the numbers or regs back then but my uncle and great grandpa used to fly fish steelhead in there a looong time ago
 
#15 ·
Whitefish rules require size 14 hooks, so swinging big flies is pointless. Besides, big flies aren't the only things steelhead hit. It is ILLEGAL to target steelhead and if you get checked by a gamey with anything other than a size 14 fly during whitefish season, be prepared for the hammer. Fair warning...
 
#16 ·
If the ESA checkers start noticing that people are poaching as heavily as they are, then they are going to close down the Yakima for ALL fishing during the sensitive run times.

I consider this to be a foregone conclusion and am just waiting for the day when it happens. This is going to be really bad news for a great winter trout fishery and the shops that rely on winter fishermen.

Poaching steelhead in the yakima is about as low as it gets.
 
#17 ·
Until the 2009 regs, the reach 3500 ft. below Roza to Parker Dam was open June 1-Mar. 31 for trout, year-round for "Other Game Fish". I used to really like to fish down there. No westsiders or guides in their boats. BWO in November, and Skwala in March was my best trout fishing for the year. But there was too much concern about the impact on steelhead. Strange that there could be much impact, because I didn't see much fishing at all down there. But I did hook a steelhead there one March on a tiny PT.
 
#30 ·
Cool info Paul. Do you think any of those fish over Prosser could be dip ins that drop back out and head to other tribs?

Sg
That's another question that the radio tags can help answer. If you go to DART, you'll find quite a few hatchery steelhead counted at Prosser, even a few at Roza, and none of these fish would have originated in the Yakima Basin, except for the few accidentally occurring adipose clips. From PIT tags, we occasionally see amazing wanderings, like way up the Yakima or Klickitat, then ending up in Idaho. Kinda makes you wonder why ESA is so interested in preserving distinct genetic population segments when the steelhead are mixing it up on their own.

One of the radio tags this spring was detected in an alley in a small lower valley town. There's an amazing migration for you!
 
#25 ·
Thanks for the education Paul! great info.
 
#26 ·
This could be evidence of progress for steelhead in the drainage below Roza. Alot of steelhead are unacounted for and I'd assume most will/did spawn. I doubt many out of basin fish would "stray" above Prosser...maybe there's good stuff happening in the Yakima, I hope so.
 
#29 ·
I am pretty sure that they (WDFW employees) are still counting redds inthe NF Stilly, and will continue doing so into the month of June.
 
#31 ·
I thought the difference between dip ins and strays is that dip ins eventually leave to migrate to their natal stream, which it appears your Yakima and Klickitat PIT tagged fish did. Strays originally from one river end up spawning in a different river. The ESA plans aren't trying to prevent straying of NOR fish. Hatchery strays are another matter, although in the UCR even the most logical explanations make only limited sense.

Sg
 
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