Steelhead Safety

Time to Relax (click image for detail)

  This is dedicated to the safety and well being of our Native Summer Steelhead.

I usually take a short float trip down the Lower 30 miles of the Deschutes River to see first hand the conditions of the river, numbers of fish, and to constantly check water temperatures as we proceed downstream to the mouth.

The fishing is SLOW. The simple reason is that the water temperature is ranging in the upper 60s as an average. Our first camp was at Air Strip. That afternoon the air temperature was 104 and no wind. The water temperature was 68 at 4:30pm.
The next morning at 5:30am.the water temp.was 63, which is a good temperature for fishing.
We drifted down and fished a few places (with no results) on the way to our second evenings camp at Lockit. I reached over the side of the boat, grabed the line holding the thermometer and read a toasty reading of 69 degrees.

We all where doing a lot of casting with little hope for any action, which is fine cause fishing is fun in its self. After we finished fishing we settled into another very warm evening at camp and waited a long time for it to cool down so we could turn in for the night.
The next morning I went through the ritual of checking the temperature and that morning the water was 64 degrees, again a good temperature to fish for traveling and resting Steelhead. We did get three hook-ups that were short lived, you know the ol  FISH-ON, and a few seconds latter, OFfff  *@#%&*^@!!#$%!! oh well. As the sun crept up over the canyon walls, it was time to settle for some quick little spots along the way in the slight chance of finding an isolated fish udder some white water pockets where they like to set in these types of conditions, and we were not surprised to find nothing.

We arrived at our last camp early; this put us about 8 miles above the mouth and with most of the day ahead of us, we had the opportunity to try out some of the combinations of sinking tip lines that we brought along. At 3 o’clock I took a water temperature reading of 69 degrees, and by 5pm it had reached the 70 degree mark. We all agreed that the best thing to do was to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. The chance of getting any results from angling efforts would be nothing short of blind luck, and it would be too stressfull on the fish if we hooked one.The next morning we fished for a short spell, and called it good. The temperature of the water was again 64 degrees, but it was apparent to us that these fish were stressed out, and very few and far between.

On a few of the runs I fished, I waded right up to some Steelhead, and I mean they were only 7 or 8 feet away from me. I would start to move their way, and they would reluctantly swim off to the side and up stream to find a safer place to rest.
Obviously the Steelhead are stressed out due to warm water temperatures, which is typical for this time of year.
In early July we usually get some fish moving into the system, and they move up the Deschutes at a fairly normal pace. Then anglers hook some of them, and the word gets out that “ they’re getin-um”, and everybody gets all excited, and then by the time this all takes place its now towards the end of July, and the weather has been hot, and the water gets warm, the fish lay low, and everyone is now singing the blues. This has been happening for tens of years, and it’s called THERMAL BLOCK.

When the water temperature reaches 67 degrees it’s like having a switch go off as far as Steelhead activity is concerned. At that temperature or higher, the parts per million of oxygen particles in a square inch of water is reduced to the point of making it very difficult for Steelhead to gather a satisfactory amount of oxygen to continue normal activity, such as traveling up stream. If the water temperature reaches 69 and above it becomes extremely difficult for them, and when the temperatures get up into the low 70’s, mortality becomes an issue.

This is why when you check the fish counts going over Bonneville Dam, verses the lower numbers of fish going over The Dalles Dam, it’s apparent that the fish are stressed, tired, and are trying to finding the coldest water they can. In the deep channels between the Dams they lay low and wait for the water to cool down to a more suitable temperature for them to advance up river.

I think it’s important that we all understand that if water temperature is 66 degrees or lower, you have a better chance of hooking a Steelhead than if the temperature is 67 and above. The other factor that is key for Wild Steelhead survival, is understanding how stressed the fish become at these higher water temperatures. Sure they might move around a little bit here and there, but think how hard it will be for a Steelhead to recover after being hooked, played, landed, and released, (if you were so fortunate to do so) it might not be able to recuperate the oxygen it needs to live.

So please, the next time you go Summer Steelhead fishing, take an accurate water thermometer with you, and check the temperature before you cast. You could very easily help prevent the unnecessary death of one of our native wild Steelhead!!!

 
Thanks for looking in       John Smeraglio