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[Chum Slayer]

After talking to a friend about steelhead fishing in BC, he told me about fishing for summer runs on the Chehalis River and a few other spots. Are there summer runs on the Chehalis? or was it an old stocking program that stopped like other fisheries, but the fish kept coming back. If so would I have any chance of hooking one on the fly while fishing for coho?

Chum Slayer

[Darko]

After talking to a friend about steelhead fishing in BC, he told me about fishing for summer runs on the Chehalis River and a few other spots. Are there summer runs on the Chehalis? or was it an old stocking program that stopped like other fisheries, but the fish kept coming back. If so would I have any chance of hooking one on the fly while fishing for coho?

Chum Slayer

I asked this back in summer and the response was that it was an old stocking that stopped. Though I do not have much more information, usually summer steelhead runs end around end of September or mid October for my knowledge. If there is any probably very few. Though I know there are some chehalis veterans here which can share more. People tend to treat this river as a bit more secretive and may not be as willing to share much info. Which is understandable.

[avid angler]

All that’s left is whatever offspring recruited from the hatchery fish that spawned. The last one I saw was 2 years ago I doubt there’s many left

[SuperBobby]

There is still some natural recruitment but not much. I occasionally hike into a couple of spots in the canyon where they hold in August. I ask respectfully that no one asks me where those spots are.

[Spoonman]

......there is a thread from 2018 about closing cutthroat hatcheries that contains info on the summer runs and the ending of that stocking program if anyone Interested wants to search for it....

[Darko]

......there is a thread from 2018 about closing cutthroat hatcheries that contains info on the summer runs and the ending of that stocking program if anyone Interested wants to search for it....

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=42375.0
oh you bet there is. Just read through it all, pretty long but lots of great information I did not know before.

[Darko]

https://www.gofishbc.com/Blog/Science-and-Research/Coquihalla-Calling-Dynamite-to-the-rescue-for-a-s.aspx
This is also a great article about the summer steelhead in the coquihalla which was used before for the chehalis hatchery. Summer steelhead sounds like a dream fishery to me. With only a handful in the capilano and no other oppurtunities closeby it really does suck. I wonder if in the next 10-20 years if gene editing can get to a level where maybe fish stocks can be replenished using hatchery fish with changed genes for diversity. Though seemingly short timeframe it can probably be done with due time.

[roeman]

In 20  years you can forget about salmon and steelhead.. It will be all about Bass in Cultas Lake. 

[sbc hris]

https://www.gofishbc.com/Blog/Science-and-Research/Coquihalla-Calling-Dynamite-to-the-rescue-for-a-s.aspx
This is also a great article about the summer steelhead in the coquihalla which was used before for the chehalis hatchery. Summer steelhead sounds like a dream fishery to me. With only a handful in the capilano and no other oppurtunities closeby it really does suck. I wonder if in the next 10-20 years if gene editing can get to a level where maybe fish stocks can be replenished using hatchery fish with changed genes for diversity. Though seemingly short timeframe it can probably be done with due time.

They show up in surprising places sometimes. And they inhabit more streams than people think. Don't be afraid to go exploring if you're able to 
They're certainly not around in the numbers that they used to be, but you should be able to find some with a little homework and a sense of adventure.

[RalphH]

when rainbow trout and steelhead migrate or spawn may not be a simple matter of genetics or a gene. When rainbows were introduced into the southern hemisphere  they quickly switched their spawning time from March to June to Sept to November. No gene splicing required.

[Roderick]

The run timing is strongly associated with the photoperiod, ie. the length of the daylight and how it changes during the year. So the same genes work in the same way in the southern hemisphere.  A run that spawns when the days are longest here, spawns when the days are longest in the southern hemisphere. 

Gene editing is all very well and might produce some variation, but successful spawning requires the right amount of water at the right place at the right time.  And the runs already have quite a lot of variation in timing (they don't all show up on the same day or even the same week), which increases the chance that at least part of the run will be able to spawn successfully. 

[RalphH]

A great point, animals that follow a migration pattern seem to have a biological clock that tell them when it's time! Changes in daily light patterns may be the major factor but there are likely others such as water temperature for fish. Also important to note that genetic dispositions may be turned off or on in response to a variety of factors. Reproductive success is another factor and likely for the timing of the bulk a salmon or steelhead run. Summer runs migrate earlier than 'winter runs' because it allows them to access spawning and rearing areas that they otherwise might not if they tried to migrate in winter or early spring.

All these ideas must also run up against the question of who is going to pay for such programs and where will the money come from?

[Roderick]

Certainly the water conditions, both the temp and the water level, are quite different for summer and winter runs. I think you will find that because of the differences, each run will spawn in different places that optimize survival for the conditions at that time of year. Gravel that provides for successful spawning in June may be dry in December.  There is probably some overlap in the locations but because of the different timing they don't end up competing with each other for the best spawning areas.

If you look at what is happening at Vedder right now, those fish are risking the shallow warm water, which they would normally avoid, because their biological clock is driving them to go upstream. 

[RalphH]

Not sure what June and December have to do with it... Winter and summer runs generally spawn in the same time frame or roughly from Feb to May. Summer runs, which may actually begin their fresh water migration any time from spring through late fall depending on the watershed, usually enter earlier as that's when temperature and stream levels are most favorable. You can look back at the link Darko provided for the example of the Coquihalla fish which are best able to make it through the canyon in summer as water levels drop when they find ideal conditions for jumping obstructions. Thompson fish migrate in fall then hold in-stream until spring to spawn and so avoid a cold temperature migration through the canyon in winter. That's the difference between summer and winter runs; summer fish arrive early and hold over to spawn in the following year.

there is more detail available at this link including one aspect I didn't mention - summer runs are not mature when they return - they are in an immature state and develop to sexual maturity during their long freshwater layover. Winter runs are always in a state of sexual maturity.


https://www.tu.org/magazine/uncategorized/summer-versus-winter-steelhead/

[Morty]

when rainbow trout and steelhead migrate or spawn may not be a simple matter of genetics or a gene. When rainbows were introduced into the southern hemisphere  they quickly switched their spawning time from March to June to Sept to November. No gene splicing required.

Makes sense.  September to November is Spring in the southern hemisphere -  winter is waning and weather warming up.