Siltcoos bar: 'A feast for seals'

rogerdodger
rogerdodger
after visiting the dam yesterday, we took a hike to where the Siltcoos river meets the ocean. as a result, to quote one of my favorite movies, 'I am depressed'.

here is what I have observed as of Oct20 after visiting the lake almost daily since late September, plus the dam and river bar:

the lake is being held at 'full pond' by the dam. along the sides of the fish ladder the water is right to the top, any higher and it would be pouring over there, so the lake is full, cannot be held any higher.

although a handful of coho have been seen splashing in the lower river, we have seen and caught none in the lake (10 fishing outings on the lake) with the same being reported by everyone we have spoken to.

the river is barely flowing into the ocean, the water that is flowing spreads quickly as it meets the surf. at least a dozen seals were in the surf just off the river, with another dozen to the south and another dozen to the north. I did observe a few (4) coho ride a wave in beside the river and try to get over into the flow but they all failed and shot back out in shallow surf as the wave pulled back, in all cases several seals converged on their location as they reached deeper water...in the 30minutes I was at the bar, no fish made it into the river.

so while the dam does in fact have a 'ladder' which appears easy to pass through, if the coho cannot get into the river and are being slaughtered by seals and probably sea lions, well that seems to make the problem the dam, it is not letting enough water pass through it.

here is my 2 minute video: http://youtu.be/EnjwgrPyx4M

at this point I am totally wizzed OFF, we have tens of thousands of coho swarming up the Siuslaw river but once we tagged 2, that was it. for almost 2 weeks now, since filling our coho tags, we basically stopped fishing the Siuslaw, not because we didn't want to catch more chinooks but to avoid causing unnecessary harm to any coho that would need to be released. But now we face a real dilemma: the wild coho rules allow us each to each tag 3 more coho in Siltcoos. But should we? Where is the run? Will it be a weak run this year? or perhaps being decimated by predators while waiting for some idiot to open a dam? how many Siltcoos coho have just decided to go up the Siuslaw instead or stay in the ocean an extra year? (do coho do that? waiting to hear back from a fisheries biologist on those questions)...

unless we see a huge coho run soon come pouring into Siltcoos, I am going to have a very difficult time harvesting any of those fish. and this after releasing coho in the Siuslaw and avoiding fishing due to an overwhelming numbers of coho moving through...roger
 
E
eugene1
rogerdodger said:
how many Siltcoos coho have just decided to go up the Siuslaw instead or stay in the ocean an extra year? (do coho do that? ...)

I don't think salmon can wait an extra year? Straying happens naturally up to about 10%, depending on the stock in question.

At least the tribs coming into Siltcoos are really good spawning habitat for coho, some of the best in Oregon from what I read. So the ones that do make it home can do well.

Coho in that lake have been making a rebound for quite awhile with the same management and water use plans in place for awhile now. I think they will be fine in spite of the unsavory seaside "harvest". It's kind of sad, but nature is a cruel mistress.

Best,
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
I agree that nature can be cruel but human interference such as this makes it many times worse. What a shame.
 
hobster
hobster
Man, you always have amazing reports.
I Have only fished that lake a few times (and the river), reason being is the dam. I've heard it is privately owned, not sure if it's true but it seems to be opened randomly and the bank fishing on the river sucks if it's closed. Hopefully the incoming rain can help things out and get those fish runnin.
 
F
flocaster
Maybe it's time to toss some spinners in the surf perhaps???
 
C
CoastieFlo
Surf would be illegal, since its OCEAN and thats closed to Coho now.

This is the way Siltcoos is every year.....some times our big rains dont get here till November and then a whole lotta fish are in the lake. Coho are usually a later returning run anyway, so dont worry that nothings happening yet.....if this was December 1st that might be a diff story.....
 
F
flocaster
CoastieFlo said:
Surf would be illegal, since its OCEAN and thats closed to Coho now.

This is the way Siltcoos is every year.....some times our big rains dont get here till November and then a whole lotta fish are in the lake. Coho are usually a later returning run anyway, so dont worry that nothings happening yet.....if this was December 1st that might be a diff story.....

My apologies, i've been out of the salmon game for a few years and not current on the regs. Was just daydreaming of fighting a fat coho in the surf lol
 
C_Run
C_Run
I've seen similar situations with lots of seals crammed in the mouth of some small rivers like Yachats or Sixes. Makes you wonder how the fish get through but , apparently, enough do.

Roger. Who controls the dam and decides how much water to let out?
 
rogerdodger
rogerdodger
C_Run said:
I've seen similar situations with lots of seals crammed in the mouth of some small rivers like Yachats or Sixes. Makes you wonder how the fish get through but , apparently, enough do.

Roger. Who controls the dam and decides how much water to let out?

I think it is a private timber company. I understand the desire to keep the lake within a range of levels for the homeowners. I just do not understand holding it at 'full pond' now. Coho runs have come in early and massive up and down the coast. Let the fish in, they have stuff to do!
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
Flies! Either would be fun.

flocaster said:
Maybe it's time to toss some spinners in the surf perhaps???
 
rogerdodger
rogerdodger
this is what I saw at the dam that confirms the lake is at maximum level:



water is absolutely to the top along the edge of the fish ladder, any higher and it pours over into the ladder, lake cannot be held any higher.
 
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rogerdodger
rogerdodger
Dam is open. Fish on.
 
X
xltom
Roger, I'm waiting on pins and needles for your next siltcoos report. Looking to head over sunday and Monday.
 
rogerdodger
rogerdodger
they opened the dam a little Monday morning, lake dropped about 6" and a nice burp of coho came pouring in, Rachelle and I got the boat in about 11am. I got lucky, hooked up about 1pm just in from the outlet river and boy was it worth the wait. 33" buck, 18" girth, nice and shiny with just a hint of gold starting to show, 14# all day long...



with big rainfall coming the next 2 days, there should be plenty of water flowing out the river now but fishing might be rough for a few days...then hopefully a big coho run will make it in and everyone can get in on the Siltcoos fun...cheers, roger
 
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Reactions: eugene1
F
flocaster
I am so frickin jealous!
 
E
eugene1
Awesome early season lake 'ho, roger!

Congrats,
 
G
getsdwyz
wow way to go NICE FISH ! I'm going to have a hard time working the rest of the week till i can get down there friday
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
Beautiful Roger. Looking forward to getting on the lake this year.
 
C
CoastieFlo
Thanks for the update......yeah the dams on Siltcoos and Tak were built for the Gardiner mill (the big abandoned area between 101 and Umpqua just N of Gardiner)...my Gpa used to work there.
 

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