Deschutes River to Remain Open for Summer 2024 Steelhead Fishing

Thanks to more than 21,000 unmarked summer steelhead passing Oregon’s Bonneville Dam, the Lower Deschutes River will remain open for steelhead fishing under permanent regulations according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

While still well below the 20-year average, the run to date at the beginning of August was still the highest in nearly 10 years. And after years of the annual upriver summer steelhead run being at historically low levels, fisheries managers will smile with a bit of relief for now.

“It is still early in the year, but if this year’s Columbia Basin overall summer steelhead run comes in above forecast, as it is currently tracking, that would be a welcome uptick from the very low levels we have been at,” said Tucker Jones, ODFW Columbia River Program Manager, in the ODFW news release. 

“It would show us that these populations are resilient and still possess inherent productivity that will allow them to bounce back to truly healthy and abundant levels if we give them a chance.”

Jones noted that the news doesn’t give ODFW and others a chance to “take our feet off the gas pedal,” but certainly encourages them to go even harder as the current uptick provides a little more breathing room.

With summer steelhead returning to these rivers later on in the year, the John Day, Umatilla, Grand Ronde and Imnaha Rivers could also on track to be open under permanent regulations according to ODFW. Be aware that a few regulation updates involving bag limits, thermal sanctuaries, and other things, so check ODFW regs before heading out for some summer steelheading. 

And when you do head out, be sure and follow best practices, including: fishing earlier in the day under cooler conditions; landing fish quickly; supporting the fish when they are brought in; using barbless hooks; reviving the fish prior to release; using appropriate gear; and keeping handling to a minimum and the fish in the water if you do try to snap a quick photograph.

ASGA/Cheeky Announce Tunny Tourney

There’s plenty of great autumn angling action around New England, including the annual run of false albacore, a saltwater species that will attack flies and then sound for the bottom in a drag melting run.

To celebrate the albie and to contribute to the research by biologists that seeks to discover and reveal crucial information concerning this incredible fishery along the Atlantic Seaboard, the American Saltwater Guides Association (ASGA) and Cheeky Fishing have teamed up for the Tunny Tournament, a one-day event that will start with a Captain’s Meeting on Friday, September 20 and be followed by the single-day tourney on September 21.

Held at The West End in Hyannis, Mass., the tournament is a catch and release format event with points awarded for releasing recorded fish. There are two team divisions for the event, the Shore Team (two anglers) and the Boat Team (two to four anglers) according to event organizers. A Shore Champion, a Boat Champion, a Blitz Champion, and The Albie Cup (all anglers who record an albie will be entered into this sweepstakes drawing with plenty of gear offered up as prizes).

While The Tunny Tournament will crown champions in 4 categories, the real winner of this event is false albacore,” says the ASGA Instagram account. “100% of proceeds from the Tunny will go towards albie science to better understand their movoements and lifecycle of an understudied fish–including acoustic and traditional tagging fish from Massachusetts to North Carolina & Florida, as well as genetics and aging research.”

To enter the event or to find out more information, visit the ASGA website or e-mail the ASGA at info@saltwaterguidesassociation.org.

Zebra Mussels Discovered in Colorado River

Since arriving in the Great Lakes via ballast water that was discharged in the 1980s, the invasive zebra mussel has spread across the U.S. into nearly three dozen states.

That includes Colorado, a fact that was underscored by the announcement last week that zebra mussel veligers were discovered in the Colorado River and Government Highline Canal on July 1 after regular testing made the initial discovery and subsequent testing confirmed the results.

With a veliger being the free-floating (planktonic) larval stage of the zebra mussel, this waterway near Grand Junction now becomes “suspect” for the presence of the invasive species that can multiply quickly, cause ecosystem problems, and befoul boats, infrastructure, and even water intake equipment.

“This challenging discovery has ecological and economic impacts not only on the Grand Valley but potential statewide impacts as well,” said Colorado Parks and Wildlife director Jeff Davis, in a news release. “CPW is committed to working with all of our partners as we work to better understand the extent of this discovery and the next steps in protecting the natural resources and infrastructure.”

Others echoed the disappointment from news of zebra mussels being discovered in the Colorado River and noted that now is the time for anyone boating, floating, paddling, or fishing in the Colorado River to clean, drain, and dry in hopes that the pesky little critters don’t spread to other Colorado lakes, streams, and rivers.

Bushkill Creek Dewatering Leads to Fish Kill

There’s troublesome news to report out of Pennsylvania’s trout country where a fish kill has once again occurred at Bushkill Creek thanks to a dewatering that left portions of the stream high and dry and trout dying in the aftermath. 

Most troubling of all? That this drying up and subsequent fish kill isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened on the stream.

News outlets in the region covered the recent dewatering and fish kill—similar events happened in 2020 and in 2023—as did the Facebook page of the Forks of the Delaware Chapter #482 Trout Unlimited.

“Please contact the PA DEP NORTHEAST HOTLINE at (570) 826-2511 to report that the Bushkill Creek was dewatered in Tatamy (on the) morning (of) Monday, July 8th,” read the social media post.

‘”We were emailed by Buzzi at 6 am that there was a pump shutdown and that the pumps would be operating on emergency power generators,” the post continued. “However, a TU observer at 5:50 am already noticed that the creek was already dewatered prior to receiving the email. We need as many people to call so that DEP investigates and ensures that the quarry has an adequate backup plan. There was a fish kill.”

According to a LehighValleyLive.com report, Joe Baylog, local TU chapter president, there once was no better place to fish than Bushkill. But according to Baylog, his chapter has seen numerous dewatering episodes in the past two decades, a number he says is 15 since 1999. In 2020, Baylog says one dewatering incident left 2,000 fish dead in the stream.

He believes that the dewatering episodes is connected to the nearby Hercules Cement quarry, which is tapping deeper and deeper into the groundwater pool. And as the company goes deeper, Baylog says that the dewatering episodes continue to happen and increase in frequency.

“They’re destroying a natural resource,” the news site quotes Baylog as saying in the news report. 

While the plant’s manager disagrees and says that the plant is actually saving the creek rather than destroying it, conservationists are saying something else according to the paper’s website. In fact, they says that while the stream flowed freely for hundreds of years, each of the 15 Bushkill Creek fish kills in the past two decades have come along with power outages or pump failures at the quarry.

As pressure mounts, the news site says that Buzzi is installing backup generators this month worth some $3 million dollars. And reportedly, if the power goes out again in the future, the pumps will continue running.

American Falls Fish Kill

It might not have been the biggest fish kill ever seen in Idaho, but even the 250 dead trout that were observed recently at the American Falls Reservoir near Idaho Falls still brought calls of concern from the public according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG).

IDFG fisheries biologists investigated a region that was observable from south of the boat dock to the dam at the reservoir, also noting that it was difficult to estimate how many total dead fish might be found throughout the reservoir. But water quality tests by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) shows that the most likely culprit behind the dead trout is low dissolved oxygen levels according to the IDFG press release on the matter.

On Tuesday, July 23, tests by the DEQ found that dissolved oxygen levels were at 9 mg/L at the surface. By Friday morning, however, those same levels had dropped to 4 mg/L, well below the DEQ state standard of 6 mg/L. Biologists say that high winds from a Thursday evening storm may have resulted in the reservoir turning over and bringing water up to the surface from the  bottom, oxygen depleted water that was lethal to the trout that encountered it.

While bass anglers in the south are familiar with the summertime thermocline (a term used to describe the stratification of oxygen rich and oxygen poor water that sets up annually during the warm months on big reservoirs prior to an autumn flip of those layers as surface water cools), some anglers in the northern Rocky Mountains might not be familiar with the natural process if their angling is typically confined to streams and rivers.

In other words, as tragic as the small fish kill might be, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

“The winds acted like a giant spoon, mixing the reservoir so to speak,” said Ryan Hillyard, an IDFG biologist, in the agency’s news release. “And that mixing action brought stressfully-low levels of dissolved oxygen to some parts of the reservoir occupied  by fish.”

Most of the fish affected by the phenomenon were rainbow trout according to Hillyard, and that wasn’t surprising.

“Trout are more sensitive to low dissolved oxygen levels than are other fish species like bass or perch,” he said. “Though we did see a dead bass while at the reservoir, the majority of dead fish were trout.”

The biologist also noted that while concerning, the fish kill was “…a small drop in a very large bucket” that is made up by the 56,000-acre reservoir (when full). Most other fish were likely able to find refuge from the quick turnover event and long-term impacts to the reservoir’s fishery aren’t likely to be significant according to the biologist.

USFS Trying to Acquire Land on upper Gros Ventre in Wyoming

Back in 2015, the late Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc. donated a 990-acre portion of his Red Hills Ranch to the Trust for Public Land in the Gros Ventre River Basin of the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. 

The land was then sold to the Bridger-Teton National Forest for $3 million dollars, the donation and sale protecting the parcel of prime ground from residential development in perpetuity. But the late senator kept a 160-acre parcel for himself a little farther up the Gros Ventre River.

According to the Jackson Hole News and Guide newspaper, U.S. Forest Service officials wanted to acquire the 160-acre ranch at the time, but decided to hold off due to logistical complications. But with the senator’s death this past December at the age of 88, that desire was brought back to front and center as the Kohl estate explores options for the potential sale of Red Hills Ranch.

While the newspaper reports that the ranch has not been listed yet and that USFS officials have had no official discussions with the estate, the Trust for Public Land is looking at options to secure funding for the deal, hopefully delivering it into public ownership and preserving the final piece to this puzzle for wildlife and the wild landscape for the rest of time.

“It’s right in the river corridor,” said Todd Stiles, the district ranger for the Bridger-Teton, in the News and Guide story. “Right adjacent to the wilderness. It’d be a fantastic property to keep in an open space, conservation-type setting so we’re not seeing anything happening back there fundamentally different from the quiet and open space back there currently.”

What will happen in the months ahead is subject to speculation from many, particularly given the slow as molasses nature of Congress, not to mention a contentious election cycle currently underway that probably ensures even slower progress. But the paper chronicles the hopes of eventual public acquisition of the property and how all of that might occur. Stay tuned, there’s more to come on this story and we’ll keep you informed here at Fly Fisherman.

Raising Canes Partners with Louisiana CCA to Install "Cajun Reefs”

Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves recently partnered with Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Louisiana to help restore vital fisheries habitat for spotted sea trout and other game fish species that saw vital habitat destroyed in the Grand Isle, La. area when an oil rig was decommissioned and removed.

The partnership saw to it that a number of 3D printed concrete modules—known as Cajun Coral—were made and sunk to create an artificial reef in the same area the rig was removed, allowing marine organisms to attach to the modules and keep the food-chain going strong from microorganisms all the way up to game fish species that provide so much angling culture in Louisiana.

Expected to help make a big impact in both economic benefits to the region, as well as an impact in the ecosystem that speckled trout and other game fish in coastal Louisiana depend on, the creation of the artificial reef was celebrated on August 14 as Graves, CCA Louisiana executive vice president Rad Rascher and others gathered for a boat ride to witness the dropping of the artificial reef structures into the coastal water.

It's a significant project for many reasons and one that will benefit Louisiana saltwater anglers for many years to come. And after another great day of fishing on the Bayou Country salt, those same anglers can pull through the Raising Cane’s drive-through and celebrate with a box of Baton Rouge inspired chicken fingers!

Wretched Mess Fest Prepping for West Yellowstone

The Wretched Mess Fest is slated for September 6-7 at the Union Pacific Dining Lodge & Bob Jacklin Casting Pond in West Yellowstone. With the arrival of the festival, expect good food, drinks and craft beers, arts, history, and of course, a whole lot of fly fishing.

According to organizers, the event will bring an artist market, a Woolly Bugger Kids Fly Tying, casting demonstrations at the Bob Jacklin Casting pond, casting presentations and instructional troubleshooting, spey fishing lessons, and the Fly Fishing Film Tour on Friday night at 8 p.m., among other things.

There will be other popular items like a Ro Drift Boats display, and the Patagonia Wader Testing Station where anglers can get any brand of waders tested for pin-hole leaks and repaired, with the entire inspection and repair service being offered free of charge. 

And, of course, the fly-fishing industry will be at this West Yellowstone event in full force with booths being manned by representatives of Simms, Winston, Orvis, Sage, Rio, Grundens, Ross Reels, Scientific Anglers, Able Reels, Umpqua, and many more.

The Henry's Fork Foundation, Madison River Foundation, Montana FWP, Gallatin National Forest, Medicine Fish and others will also be on hand in the Mammoth Room to educate about their conservation and natural resource management operations, along with how they work to enhance, protect, preserve, and manage those natural resources each year in a region rich with wild trout and native fisheries.

For more details on the Wretched Mess Fest, see the event's webpage.

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