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[Dave]

Thanks for your thoughts Dan, they are comparable to the findings of Washington State conservationist Bill McMillan, who is doing steelhead monitoring of Skagit River tributaries.  More on this later.

[Dave]

Trip # 7 seven was made on Tuesday, May 23 by Buck and I - after last week’s fish bone incident I  reluctantly decided to leave Emmathedog at home.   As expected Chilliwack Lake was higher than last week, making viewing in the staging area impossible, but we did see 18 fish on the gravel.  This is the second latest we have counted this site so there are not many comparable years; in 2012 we saw 8 fish; in 2013 we saw 1. Water temperature was 11° C                                                   
Centennial Channel had 5 fish, a single male and a group of 4 (1 female, 3 males).  Conditions for observations were poor so no doubt we missed a few.  In 2011 we saw 19; in 2012 we saw 7; in 2013 we saw 1; in 2014 we saw 0.  Water temperature here was 9° C
The Middle Creek site was too high for counting, and only 2 were seen at the Chilliwack Hatchery overflow.

[Dave]

Buck, Emmathedog, and I made our 8th and final trip into the upper river on Monday, May 29th  but in hindsight we should have stayed home.  Chilliwack Lake was about 2’ higher than last trip and visibility was very poor.  4 fish on the gravel were seen, however, and most likely there were more.  This is the latest we have counted at this site so there are no past year comparisons.  Water temperature was 13° C.

We decided not to bother with Centennial Channel because we knew from last week’s observations any fish present would be extremely difficult to see because of the increased streamside foliage and shadows caused by sunlight.  Again, we have no past data for this site at this approximate date. The Middle Creek bridge site was far too high for observations.

All in all we feel this year’s count of early run wild fish are comparable and in some cases higher than previous years, leading us to think the poor returns of hatchery fish were not just a product of poor ocean survivals, but probably the result of the release of smaller than optimum, and disease compromised, juveniles.

We are shocked with the recent announcement DFO’s habitat restoration unit is being curtailed. The work they have done on Centennial Channel, the Middle Creek bridge site, and especially the huge gravel augmentation at the outlet of Chilliwack Lake is to be commended and is a factor in why wild steelhead still exist in this system.  Sadly, without this group maintaining these sites we fear for the future of these fish, and the other salmonids that use them.  Shame on DFO’s senior management people for making this shortsighted and ridiculous decision.

One can only hope social media and the power of the people will overturn this ... I urge all readers to get involved; talk to others about this, sign petitions, contact your MLA's.  The future of wild salmonids is on the balance.

[wildmanyeah]

Dave thanks for all the work you have done with these reports incredibly value information.


I also have been using this report over the years when i want to do some out of the way steelhead fishing. In it it references Chilliwack rivers float counts but i could not seem to find it would be intresting to see how the float counts compare to what u are now seeing these days.

http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/acat/documents/r1555/Alouette,Coquitlam,Chehalis,KanakaSnorkelFloats2002_1096923066994_acb6ef35b3924711b238f1fd186c107d.pdf

[Dave]

I used to have all the data from the Vedder-Chilliwack float counts, starting in the 70’s, but can't find it now.  The information is still available however ... I was involved in a few of the earlier counts and I remember one when over 750 were seen.  Considering only a portion of the total population would have been observed, that number is impressive.  Having said that, comparing what Pete and I see now to those past float count numbers would be very misleading as the entire river was floated back then … we only count 3 spots.

[firebird]

I used to have all the data from the Vedder-Chilliwack float counts, starting in the 70’s, but can't find it now. 

Trade ya for a cane rod rebuild 

This should suffice http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/acat/documents/r2210/chilliwack_adult_2001_1106349746675_e5c96f8eb41e4f4b8c1eb5150a80e5f7.pdf

[Dave]

Thanks Firebird, thought you'd come through   Let's talk about that rebuild ...

[Dave]

Was told the other day the recently resurrected Habitat Restoration unit of DFO will be placing more (lots more) spawning gravel in the upper river this summer ... good news.  Also, they plan to extend and improve the Peach Creek channel in the lower river.  Thank goodness Ottawa listened to the people who spoke out about the plan to disband the most important group working to improve wild salmonid habitat  

[bigsnag]

Fascinating read. Thank you.