Coho are crazy, leaping freaks. Here are just a few shots I took of them in Alaska this summer…
Good Coho Run for Oregon’s Willamette River
Coho salmon are moving into Oregon’s upper Willamette River in large numbers this year, providing the potential for some very good fishing above Willamette Falls.
Over the past two weeks, ODFW’s fish counting station at Willamette Falls has logged some of the largest daily coho counts of the past 20 years. So far, more than 7,300 adult coho salmon have crossed the falls on their way to spawning grounds in upper Willamette tributaries. The total count includes several days when nearly 1,000 coho were observed.
Kodiak Island: A Multi-Species Fandango!
As promised, I am going to get a little more into last week’s Alaskan adventure here…starting with the awesome diversity of species you can catch armed only with a spinning rod, rental car, a handful of lures and a healthy sense of adventure!
We obviously didn’t get our mitts on everything that swims around the island — not even close — but we did pretty well considering we had no access to a boat! Here’s a look at some of the critters we caught…Click here to read more…
Mexican Salmon!?!?!?
Who's up for some pink meat fish tacos?
Every once in a while, boats off San Diego will catch a salmon or two. Even less frequently, there’s one caught south of the border. Then, you’ve got Thomas D. Bryant, the great Mexican salmon slayer. He caught this hatchery coho while fishing off a jetty 72 KM south of the U.S. Border. And get this…it’s his second one!
This fish was a loooong way from home, too — especially when you consider that California uses maxillary clips — not adipose clips — on coho. Seeing that this chromer is missing his adipose fin, it was at least from an Oregon hatchery…and, who knows…maybe even further north than that! Read the entire story on BLOODY DECKS
Coho salmon slowly returning to California’s Russian River
Scientists working on the recovery of endangered coho salmon in northern California appreciate success even if it comes in small doses. Field biologists from the California Department of Fish and Game recently reported that the fall of 2010 produced the largest number of returning coho in tributaries of the Russian River in more than a decade.
Prior to the launch of a recovery program in 2001, the number of returning adult coho salmon averaged less than four per year. These low numbers were the catalyst for the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program, a recovery effort in which offspring from hatchery-reared adults are released into the river system. This past season, biologists estimate that more than 190 adult coho returned to the Russian River system, beginning with early storms in October and peaking in December. Click here to read more…