Deschute Potential

Curious to know if this little river can sustain a larger run of salmon and Steel.
I fished it 5 times with good success when they're in, but it could be alot better.
I don't know much about this river.
It is very strange that other river of similiar size have a much larger run of fish.

Experts please fill me in.
Whats up with the old brewery?
Any plans for better fish management?

Thanks.

There is a plan to build a new hatchery up river a couple miles from where the curent one is. I have talked to the lady that runs that hatchery, and they are about as stumped as everyone else? Basically that river used to have a decent run of steelhead, a god to very good run of silvers. But both have almost dissapeared? One thing they are thinking is it has a virus in teh water that is fatal to salmon and trout, and they are doing more testing now to see what they can do. Hopefully with the new hatchery things will get better!
Buck

The Deschutes (Thurston Co.), like McAllister Creek, contains a parisite that is really rough on chinook and trout. I think it's less deadly to coho. The Deschutes historically had no anadromous fish due to Tumwater Falls, only native cutthroat trout. The cutthroat are affected by the parisite, but not so much as the introduced chinook and Chambers Creek steelhead. Consequently, it's just about impossible to develop a wild run of steelhead in this river, and hatchery returns are dependent in part on the smolts rapidly migrating out of the system in the spring before the parisite gets them. So it doesn't seem like the steelhead run will ever amount to much, and besides, the hatchery smolt release is pretty small.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

there's great trout fishing in the deschutes...it's considered one of the best streams in western washington by some. you can catch dozens of nice cutts in a day on a little mepps or spoon

i'd be interested in a salmon hatchery upstream of the falls, since it would give us a shot at some decent kings before they turn dark(they keep them in a holding tank now). the only problem with this is that it would turn into a snagfest of unbelievable proportion if there were nice salmon coming up this little river. it's very low and clear in the fall...it would look like the quilcene. the other thing that concerns me is that the hatchery would be located right below pioneer park. some of my favorite water would most definitely be off limits to fishing if this happened.

That's my river man..... I'll never forget that morning in February when I was 10 years old camping with my scout troop when I landed my first steelhead. Talk about planting a seed. I love the deschutes. However, I blame a large portion of the fish mortality on Capitol Lake. Coincidentally, the Deschutes gets an enormous amount of kings back each year though. This year they received over 5000 back to the hatchery. While unlikely to restore other runs, I'm guessing that it still may be possible. We did water testing on the Deschutes when I was in high school and were surprised to find relatively clean water. Sounds like Salmo has more info than I do though. If the steelhead run were to come back can you picture a better jig stream?

About the virus, where is it from?
What is it's host?

Ahhhh.......the ol' Deschutes. I grew up fishing this river and will give you my 2 cents worth. I don't think the issue of steelhead returning is a virus thing.......it's a "number of smolts planted" thing. In the 80's, this was a gem of a river high and low because 1) WDFW planted more steelhead smolts back then and 2) You ALSO had some Olympia area fishing organizations planting smolts.....lots of smolts! as enhancement projects. Those plants have since been discontinued except for a puny effort by WDFW.

Same goes for the silvers. They used to be planted in Johnson creek in the upper river for a period of years so a self-sustaining run could be estbalished. It worked for awhile but over time, the run faded. Maybe this is where the virus issue comes into play....I don't know. I do remember alot of years where there were just as many silvers as kings in the holding ponds at Tumwater Falls.

As to Capitol Lake influencing returns, it's possible but it can't kill fish if there are no fish planted. The lake's always been a cesspool but it's filled in bad over the years thus making smolts more vulnerable to predators and warm water temperatures. They used to dredge the lake but gave up on the effort. I know it was alot deeper 20 years ago and that it didn't have the gross weed problem it does now. Smolts migrate before temps. get dangerously high and they pass through the lake fairly fast. (according to old studies I recall) The worst culprit actually used to be the Olympia Brewery causing thermal pollution(hot water released from brewery tanks) but the brewery's not a factor anymore and I think they cleaned up there act years ago when they were in operation.

Whatever the case, it was a cool river to fish. If you have good fishing now, it will be due to local knowledge and good timing to catch the few that do return.

Percivil creek had fish atleast thats what the catch records say.

Eric,
I agree with you totally.
I too question the blame of a viral infestation.
This river has no netting pressure so I would think that it could and should sustain a very healthy population of fish.
Also, since it is located directly in the capital, it should deserve top priority to prove that F&W can resurect a once healthy river.
Don't you agree.

olympia is too worried about keeping crapitol lake as a "reflecting pool" i wonder if they even bother looking at it in the summer, it gets so full of scum

it'd be nice to have a river like the deschutes for decent salmon fishing so close to home, especially in a year like this when the nisqually was a total bust. the fish come in, but they keep them in that holding tank at the falls until they turn into boots before they let them upriver

Iron:

I do agree. I would love to have the river be one worth pursuing on a regular basis again like the old days.

Chum: Keep in mind the entire deschutes chinook run is artificial and has never been designed to provide an upriver sport fishery. The holding ponds at the falls are there to collect eggs and ripen fish. Excess bucks are sometimes released upriver for sport........at least that's what they used to do. Actually, the entire chinook run exists to provide saltwater fisheries and act as an egg source for other hatcheries in the region that may fall short on their own egg take.

Again, this is what they used to do. I've been out of the loop for awhile and in this day of wild stock assessments, maintaining genetic purity and just overall being more careful they may do things differently now.

Iron:

I do agree. I would love to have the river be one worth pursuing on a regular basis again like the old days.

Chum: Keep in mind the entire deschutes chinook run is artificial and has never been designed to provide an upriver sport fishery. The holding ponds at the falls are there to collect eggs and ripen fish. Excess bucks are sometimes released upriver for sport........at least that's what they used to do. Actually, the entire chinook run exists to provide saltwater fisheries and act as an egg source for other hatcheries in the region that may fall short on their own egg take.

Again, this is what they used to do. I've been out of the loop for awhile and in this day of wild stock assessments, maintaining genetic purity and just overall being more careful they may do things differently now.

I, too, spent a lot of time on the river in my youth- Clear Lake area. I can viviidly recall the Kings and Silvers spawning right in front of our place... I never knew how they made it past the falls..

My understanding is the same as Eric's. Capitol Lake has a lot to do with it. Same as Percival Cove.. Pollution and algae bloom.
Looking at prior release numbers of Chinook from Percival and McAllister (25% of the total for the Puget Sound)) seems our BM program is going to go awash quickly in the next couple years. Especially down south.

Salmo... I am curious to know why the hatchery on McAllister closed- budget? This was my impression. Also, I further understand that major stream restoration was conducted in the immediate vincinity of the hatchery in hopes of producing a wild run of Kings (???). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well I basically grew up on this river also, just a couple of blocks away. I don't now the specifics on the fish plants back then, all I can say is there used to be some good runs of fish. I am talking about steelhead and silvers. This year the hatchery had the most silvers return they have ahd in over 10 years. The strange thing to me aobut the steelhead, is they realease about 25 thou smolts, but when they return, they just let them go right on by. So they have NO idea on how many steelhead they even have return. They know they had 2 but that was just because they came in while they were stil dealing with the kings. Also they get there steelhead smolts from diferent hatcheries. Why not stay with the same stock?? Any how they are trying to blame the virus thing right now. I don't think that is actually the case?? I am just hopin the new hatchery will help.
Buck

Here is an interesting artical about this fluke (if in fact it is all about the flukes); http://www.krisweb.com/krisweb_kt/biblio/trinity/foott/97reni.pdf

Snails are easy to terminate.

Salmo G. I don't think the deschutes could sustain a natural silver run, or a natural steelhead run for that matter. I son't see why the hatchery doesn't just plant more fish? I remember back in the mid 70's and all through the 80's that the river had good runs of both silvers and steelhead. It just seems like if they were able to get decent returns back then why not now? One thing i found interesting when I volunteered at teh Tum. Falls hatchery? Is that they silvers that did come back, all were of hatchery origin, buth they still had all of their fins intact??? The state is trying to make that a natrual silver run, when it never was? So why not just up the smolt release and do like the past? I realise that there were other parties involved back then, but it seems like there is enough egg take through out the rest of the state, to make up for that short fall?

Also on the Hatchery thing, I talked to Mary the lady that runs the Falls hatchery, and she said that the new one is slated to produce steelhead, they just aren't sure about how the parasite thing will affect that?

As for a king fishery on this river? there is No way. I wouldn't even think about taking one of those home for anything besides fertilizer. They start turnig greeen way out by Johson point, by the time they hit Capital lake, they aren't table fare at all. The kings are mainly for the black mouth seasons, and some fall oportunity throughout puget sound.
Buck

Buck,

I don't know why they don't just plant more smolts, but it probably comes down to cost. Puyallup can only raise so many steelhead smolts, and they are all allocated for release somewhere. Increasing the Deschutes plant means reducing it somewhere else.

Remember, the ocean survival was about 3 times greater in the 70s and 80s, so a given smolt plant produced 3 times as many returning adults then as now. With the present low survival, it would take a lot of smolts to get a fishable run size to return. Where would they come from?

If they build the new hatchery and raise steelhead also, there might be a decent run. But the focus is chinook, from what I've heard.

Marking all hatchery silvers just started a few years ago, so most of the hatchery silvers you saw at Tumwater Falls would have been unmarked in all years until quite recently.

I used to fish the Deschutes when I was a kid, too. But that was probably before you. I only fished for the cutthroat. I didn't know what steelhead were back then. In the 60s in high school, my buddy and I would float an 8' pram from the old Weyerhauser day use park at Military Rd bridge down to the brewery. We thought we were in "A River Runs Through It", but of course that was before the book was even written. It was fun, and the most dangerous thing seemed to be getting the pram hung up on a barb wire fence that stretched across the river, but we managed.

I hope the future of the D includes good fishing for more species. I'll drink to that!

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Any idea why this is the case?

is there anywhere you can access the river besides pioneer and the bridge on 507? i've driven over the river on military and i think i've seen people parked there, but i'm not too sure if i can get in there.

Salmo G. First the silvers that I saw were after the mass marking of hatchery fish started. All the silvers had those littel chip things in their head? But they weren't clipped. Basically they told me that they didn't clip them so they could study the run and they wouldn't be able to be caught? I thougth that was a little strange.

Also why doesn't the hatchery just capture a few of the silvers, and teh steelhead and get their egss? I would think that if the fish that returned survived the parasite, amybe their ofspring would be mor imune to it also? I know they can't raise the smolts there, but Maybe some place could until the new hatchery is built.

As for poor ocean survival, how is it that over the last several years we have had godd or very good ocean conditions, but we still don't get any fish back? Maybe it is the puget sound survival, not the ocean?

Yes you have a few years on me, but I have had basically the same fun you did fishing for cuts on that river. While I was a kid. I also didn't know what I was doing back tehn, I didn't even know what a steelehad was until a guy I new caught one. That is when I found out it had a good run of steelhead. That is over now! I will give a toast for hope that the river will again soon have a decent fishery in it again.

Rich G. Yes percival creek used to have some steelhead in it, I don't think there is anymore?

Chum Man, there really isn't a lot of access for the river. Even if you put a pontoon boat in it you have to be carefull where you float by as some of the property owners now have successfully had peole arested for tresspassing !!! I have basically stoped fishing tis river for a while, but tehre are a few places left for access you just need to really find them.
Buck

i know...i would fight it in court since i always stay below the high water mark on this river

the people that own the land right off rich road look pretty hostile, with the rope strung across the river covered in no tresspassing signs and all...

Dan,

Ocean survival rates vary from year to year and also in cycles, as has been described here in threads about Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Ocean survival varies in response to feeding conditions and predator abundance in the migration zones of each species. We've had good chinook and coho returns the last 3 years on the Columbia due to an increase in ocean survival. Survival rates were much lower in the 90s, especially for chinook. It's a natural phenomenon as far as we know, and we so far can't do anything about it.

Buck,

We've had improved survival rates for chinook and coho the last few years, but not for Puget Sound steelhead. I don't know why there hasn't been much of a coho or steelhead program on this river. Just not a priority I guess.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

With no Native runs of adromonous species and being so close to a large population area and being in Olympia for that matter it seems like a no brainer that this is the perfect opportunity for a brat fractory like cook creek or the salmon.

The Dechutes blood bath bonkorama !

Id participate just to watch the circus.

Not to mention it would bring alot of income to the area.

WDFW does it for Coho on the Quilicene and they do it for Chinook on the Skoke why not do it for steelhead on the Dechutes.