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The "coho" or silver salmon planting program is on again at Lake Oroville.
All of the major reservoirs around the Sacramento valley are managed for both a cold water and a warm-water fishery. Shasta, Folsom, New Melones, et al., feature both a bass/panfish/catfish warm water component as well as a rainbow/brown trout cold-water fishery. The exception to this rule is Lake Oroville.
The Feather River drainage above Lake Oroville is home to an organism known as Ceratamyxa shasta. This critter afflicts most cold water salmonoid species.
Oroville used to be managed as a rainbow trout fishery, but this was halted years ago. The problem that fisheries' biologists are working to control is the effect of Ceratamyxa shasta on the dense populations of salmon and steelhead in the Feather River hatchery below the dam.
Biologists have found that when there are few, if any, trout serving as hosts in the lake, the parasite is not a problem at the hatchery downstream.
In the search for a cold water species to fill this niche at Oroville, many species and subspecies were considered. In the end, the silver salmon was found to be a cold-water sport fish that is resistant to the parasite. The silver salmon is endangered in California and there are no stocks currently available from the hatcheries at the top of the Klamath or the Trinity rivers.
The solution was to purchase stock form "Aqua Seed," a private aquaculture company in Washington state. During the 1970s and '80s, when the Department of Fish & Game was in charge of the lake fishery, there were numerous coho plants when supplies of these fish were readily available.
In recent years, the lake fishery management has been the purview of the Department of Water Resources. In 2002 and '03, DWR planted 170,000 cohos per year. This year the quantity will be 55,000 to 60,000. The difference was that for the first two years eggs and smolts were available. This year the plantings will be 8-inch fish.
The 8-inch fish are more difficult to transport and more expensive to purchase. The transport truck only carries 6,300 per load and the third truck load was delivered Monday. The plan is to have all of this year's cohos planted by mid-December.
There is a definite void in the cold water component in Lake Oroville. The main forage fish is the pond smelt. It is a plankton feeder that spends much of its life cycle in open water, where the bass are not looking for food.
The silver salmon is well suited to open water predator role. The cohos planted in 2002 and '03 showed excellent growth rates. This past summer a 9.9 pound became the new lake record. It is believed that this fish is a holdover from 2002.
Eric See, fisheries biologist for the DWR, estimates that the 8-inch fish planted this fall will reach 16 inches by next May and could be 3 to 5 pounds a year from now.
There was no silver salmon plant in 2004. The fish available from Aqua Seed that year, did not meet the strict standards the DF&G has set for importing fish from out of state. This was a disappointment for anglers at the time, but it is my guess that the stocks of pond smelt will be more abundant for this years plant.
The silver salmon is a great sport fish. It is an aggressive feeder, it fights well and it provides excellent table fare. By next spring the bite will be good, like it was 2003 and '04. The more popular fishing techniques involve lures in chrome/blue. They can be cast, trolled or jigged. Live minnows are also popular. This winter I am going to tie up some white trolling flies with ultraviolet and blue highlights, pond smelt colors.
ooo
Denis Peirce writes a weekly fishing column for The Union and is host of "The KNCO Fishing & Outdoor Report," which airs 6-7 p.m. Fridays and 5-6 a.m. Saturdays on 830-AM radio. He may be reached via e-mail at denisp@theunion.com.
All of the major reservoirs around the Sacramento valley are managed for both a cold water and a warm-water fishery. Shasta, Folsom, New Melones, et al., feature both a bass/panfish/catfish warm water component as well as a rainbow/brown trout cold-water fishery. The exception to this rule is Lake Oroville.
The Feather River drainage above Lake Oroville is home to an organism known as Ceratamyxa shasta. This critter afflicts most cold water salmonoid species.
Oroville used to be managed as a rainbow trout fishery, but this was halted years ago. The problem that fisheries' biologists are working to control is the effect of Ceratamyxa shasta on the dense populations of salmon and steelhead in the Feather River hatchery below the dam.
Biologists have found that when there are few, if any, trout serving as hosts in the lake, the parasite is not a problem at the hatchery downstream.
In the search for a cold water species to fill this niche at Oroville, many species and subspecies were considered. In the end, the silver salmon was found to be a cold-water sport fish that is resistant to the parasite. The silver salmon is endangered in California and there are no stocks currently available from the hatcheries at the top of the Klamath or the Trinity rivers.
The solution was to purchase stock form "Aqua Seed," a private aquaculture company in Washington state. During the 1970s and '80s, when the Department of Fish & Game was in charge of the lake fishery, there were numerous coho plants when supplies of these fish were readily available.
In recent years, the lake fishery management has been the purview of the Department of Water Resources. In 2002 and '03, DWR planted 170,000 cohos per year. This year the quantity will be 55,000 to 60,000. The difference was that for the first two years eggs and smolts were available. This year the plantings will be 8-inch fish.
The 8-inch fish are more difficult to transport and more expensive to purchase. The transport truck only carries 6,300 per load and the third truck load was delivered Monday. The plan is to have all of this year's cohos planted by mid-December.
There is a definite void in the cold water component in Lake Oroville. The main forage fish is the pond smelt. It is a plankton feeder that spends much of its life cycle in open water, where the bass are not looking for food.
The silver salmon is well suited to open water predator role. The cohos planted in 2002 and '03 showed excellent growth rates. This past summer a 9.9 pound became the new lake record. It is believed that this fish is a holdover from 2002.
Eric See, fisheries biologist for the DWR, estimates that the 8-inch fish planted this fall will reach 16 inches by next May and could be 3 to 5 pounds a year from now.
There was no silver salmon plant in 2004. The fish available from Aqua Seed that year, did not meet the strict standards the DF&G has set for importing fish from out of state. This was a disappointment for anglers at the time, but it is my guess that the stocks of pond smelt will be more abundant for this years plant.
The silver salmon is a great sport fish. It is an aggressive feeder, it fights well and it provides excellent table fare. By next spring the bite will be good, like it was 2003 and '04. The more popular fishing techniques involve lures in chrome/blue. They can be cast, trolled or jigged. Live minnows are also popular. This winter I am going to tie up some white trolling flies with ultraviolet and blue highlights, pond smelt colors.
ooo
Denis Peirce writes a weekly fishing column for The Union and is host of "The KNCO Fishing & Outdoor Report," which airs 6-7 p.m. Fridays and 5-6 a.m. Saturdays on 830-AM radio. He may be reached via e-mail at denisp@theunion.com.
