Too few Chinook salmon returning to spawn in low, warm Central Valley conditions this fall
SACRAMENTO – The number of fall-run Chinook salmon returning to federal and state fish hatcheries this season confirm what anglers have seen on the Sacramento, Feather and American rivers – relatively low numbers of fish have come back to spawn in the low and warm conditions.
With the exception of some good days at the mouth of the American River and at the Barge Hole on the Sacramento River, fishing has been tough on all three rivers since the salmon season opened on July 16. The one bright spot has been the lower Mokelumne River, where anglers have been catching lots of salmon lately.
The Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek, a Sacramento River tributary, has seen an estimated 5,000-6,000 fish so far this season. In contrast, 10,000-14,000 fish return to Battle Creek in a normal year.
“Staff at the hatchery have been busy,” according to the Coleman Fish Hatchery Facebook Page. “Each adult female Chinook salmon has about 5,000 eggs. Here are some quick hatchery math facts: to collect one million eggs we need to spawn at least 200 females. To get 12 million eggs we need a minimum of 2,400 females (and 2,400 males). “
To make their egg collection goal, the staff will continue to spawn through the end of October and into early November. During the last spawn, the facility took 1.4 million eggs, making for a total of more than 7.235 million eggs to date.
The staff has been spawning salmon for the past three weeks. They hope to get enough eggs to produce 12 million juvenile fall run fish to release in the spring.
In the beginning of the run, the eggs were of poor quality as the fish encountered low, warm conditions on the Sacramento River. The good news is that the water temperature at the hatchery and creek has cooled down from 62 degrees to 52 degrees with the cooler weather. Information: (530) 365-8622.
Feather River Kings
Although fall-run salmon were “super slow” to arrive, the Feather River Fish Hatchery is now seeing improved numbers of fish, said Anna Kastener, hatchery manager.
“We were really worried there for a while, but we have now taken approximately 3500 fall-run Chinooks,” said Kastener. “Our goal is to produce 6 million fall-run fish, but we have been asked to raise 1.7 million additional smolts for the drought. So far this season, we have taken close to 4 million eggs.”
The hatchery is done spawning spring-run Chinook for the year. Kastener said the facility took a total of 1,485 spring-run fish, from which they gathered 3.3 million eggs. “We should have no problem meeting our production goal for spring Chinooks,” noted Kastener.
Salmon fishing remains tough on the Feather. On his latest trip on the Feather River, Justin Leonard of Out Cast Guide Service reported one 18-pound salmon landed out of 3 hook-ups by 2 anglers. The fish hit a K16 Brad’s Killer Fish below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet. Information: (530) 277-6870.
Mokelumne River Salmon
Salmon spawning has just started at the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery below Camanche Dam, with the first spawn of the year taking place last week. Although just 523 salmon have been reported over Woodbridge Dam as of last week, William Smith, hatchery manager, said this week’s dam count should reflect a much higher number of fish.
“The fish have really started to pour in,” said Smith. “The anglers fishing the river near Wimpy’s Marina have been clobbering the kings, mostly while spooning from boats. Many anglers have reported catching limits. We’re about a week behind in our numbers, but we are now expecting above normal numbers at the hatchery.”
Between now and January, Mokelumne River Hatchery staff hope to see thousands of salmon migrate back from the Pacific Ocean to the river. Information: (209) 759-3383.
American River Chinooks
Nimbus Fish Hatchery plans to open its ladder to spawning salmon on October 31. Anglers have reported seeing low numbers of fish — and tough fishing — while fishing on the American to date.
Delta Striped Bass
Striper fishing remains superb on the Lower Delta. The main impediment to fishing has been the wind.
“Spooning, casting Rat-L-Traps and swimbaits and trolling lures - whatever you want to do - is working now for the stripers,” said Justin Leonard. “The Sacramento River from Sherman Island to Broad Slough and the San Joaquin below the Antioch Bridge have been producing the top fishing.” Information: (530) 277-6870.
Contact Stockton Record correspondent Dan Bacher at danielbacher53@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Numbers low for salmon returning to spawn in Central Valley
