Alsea fish counts

[yellowjacket]

Matt the Hatchery Manager has agreed to send me the Lower Trap Count sheet(s) so I can post them here on OFF. It is typically updated weekly and I'll post as I receive it.
Update as of 1-7-13

My thanks to Matt, a true gentleman and a "reel" outdoors-person. :clap:

Stay Safe, Enjoy Life & Happy New Year to the OFF members

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

Thanks! I am pretty happy with the start to the season. Lots of things that are happening that are positive down river.

 

[Yogidabear]

Thanks! I am pretty happy with the start to the season. Lots of things that are happening that are positive down river.

You throw out these little hints to get people thinking. How am I suppose to work?

 

[yellowjacket]

Pretty sure I recognize the background in the pics. Have had discussions with Matt on behavior and he says the Alsea fish come in flushes when river levels are on the drop, so being at the right place at the right time is pretty critical on the Alsea compared to other rivers where fish hold throughout the system. Does your experience have the same conclusion? Most days I've gone there it is either combat fishing when fish are in (weekends especially), or 10 to 15 anglers I get to talk to who are skunked using all varieties of set-ups, fly egg simulators, jigs, corkies, roe sack etc after a long day. Unfortunately more so the latter days.

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

Last year and so far this year the fish have still been around once the river starts to drop and even when its getting low. On the slow years it would seem like most fish would come in and be in the hatchery trap when the river was to high to fish and then very few fish would be available to catch once it was dropping and fishable. I also heard of good fishing lower in the river and we kept finding fresh fish even when it got really low meaning that there are fish coming in even when the river is not rising. Hopefully they continue to push in. This is also the first year that fish are returning from being released in various places down river instead of just at the hatchery. That may help slow them down a bit on their way up river. Time will tell.

 

[yellowjacket]

Sounds good, last year on 3 outings I only saw 5 caught & I only had one fish strike. But it was a BIG 28-30" coho that hit one of my homemade spinners, lower end of Clemmons muddy salmon berry trail hole. Was in real good shape for mid Jan. no sores, thought it was a hog steelie when I saw it run up & hit. Didn't even see many that size when I worked at a cannery in Charleston back in the 70's. Damn sad what has happened to our Salmon runs. Or is it DAM sad?!

 

[yellowjacket]

Fish Count Update 01-15-2013

Fish Count Update 01-15-2013

Matt the Hatchery Manager has agreed to send me the Lower Trap Count sheet(s) so I can post them here on OFF. It is typically updated weekly and I'll post as I receive it.
Update as of 1-7-13

My thanks to Matt, a true gentleman and a "reel" outdoors-person. :clap:

Stay Safe, Enjoy Life & Happy New Year to the OFF members

Just got latest update from Matt - 183 fish over last 7 days = AVG of 26/day

 

[DYJ]

BTW, thanks for posting these counts, YellowJacket.

 

[yellowjacket]

Updated count from 1-24-13 - Only 27 fish for the week

Updated count from 1-24-13 - Only 27 fish for the week

Updated count from 1-24-13 - Only 27 fish for the week. Any boaters been in the fish Mill Creek to Tidewater?

 

[JeannaJigs]

crappy coho years usually = crappy steelhead years and it's looking that way unfortunately was the worst year i've seen for coho in many years. Hopefully the counts improve but it's been slow, slow, slow.

 

[hobster]

Yeah those counts are horrible - the worst year on that graph. Man do we need some rain - not these lame showers - but RAIN.

 

[yellowjacket]

Alsea Trap count 1-30-13 - 140 for the week

Alsea Trap count 1-30-13 - 140 for the week

Updated count from 1-24-13 - Only 27 fish for the week. Any boaters been in the fish Mill Creek to Tidewater?

From Matt:
David,

We got 140 new arrivals in the last week. Most of them showed up in the last couple of days. All the reports that I have seen have been slow.

Thanks, Matt

 

[yellowjacket]

Jan 30 Feb 9 Latest Count 70 Fish

Jan 30 Feb 9 Latest Count 70 Fish

From Matt:
David,

We got 140 new arrivals in the last week. Most of them showed up in the last couple of days. All the reports that I have seen have been slow.

Thanks, Matt

Just got the latest count from Matt since 1-30 only 70 fish.

 

[JeannaJigs]

Dismal

 

[yellowjacket]

Slaw seems about the same.

Slaw seems about the same.

Dismal

Been to Whittaker a couple of times, doesn't look much better there either. Talked to a couple STEP members, about a week ago. They had 62 fish in the trap between 1-31 & 2-2 & it was the most fish I've seen in the creek between the trap & bridge so far but it is/was far from the number usually there by this time in the run. One said he had drifted from wildcat to linslaw, saw loads of boats but only one hook-up.

 

[DYJ]

We were spoiled last year... but on a bright side, this could thin some people out for next year.

 

[madasahab]

This is the same story from the Tillamook bay rivers down to the Siletz...not a good year at all...but heck, I have landed four and lost one, so can't really complain...hope it improves...maybe they took the late bus? LOL

 

[yellowjacket]

Week of 2-10_2-16

Week of 2-10_2-16

Just got the latest count from Matt since 1-30 only 70 fish.

We collected 126 fish in our lower trap this week.

Matt

A bit better.

Whittaker had 30 between the 3 days Th-Sat 2-14>16

 

[yellowjacket]

This Week No Count

This Week No Count

We collected 126 fish in our lower trap this week.

Matt

A bit better.

Whittaker had 30 between the 3 days Th-Sat 2-14>16

Week of 2/17 to 2/23 Matt sent notice today that so few fish in the trap that He isn't going to bother to count & process till more arrive/ next week. Counts usually get done mid-week so till then hope for some rain to get fish moving again. ray:

 

[JeannaJigs]

I imagine the nf is a trickle so that's not surprising. Disheartening still.