By Dylan J. Darling / The Bulletin Published: February 16. 2012 4:00AM PST
The state, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and other collaborators are close to finalizing a plan for the historic return of adult salmon and steelhead to the upper Deschutes River this year.
Those involved are being tight-lipped about the specifics of the plan, which they said could be complete Friday but likely won't be immediately available.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Service, prompted by a public records request by The Bulletin, late Tuesday released a Jan. 27 draft of the “2012 Pelton Round Butte Adult Passage Strategy.”
Some of this year's returning adult spring-run chinook and sockeye salmon, as well as summer steelhead, will be trapped below the dam complex on the Deschutes River near Madras and released upstream of the dams, according to the 10-page draft strategy.
Still up for debate is what percentage of fish that return will go upstream and what percent will go to the Round Butte Hatchery.
The fish released upstream will be the first adult salmon and steelhead to swim in the river and its tributaries since 1968.
“The Department is advocating for a measured conservative approach in implementing the reintroduction effort,” according to the draft.
Earlier in the week, Brett Hodgson, ODFW's district fisheries biologist, said there had been changes made to the strategy since the Jan. 27 draft but declined to release an updated version, saying it was a “joint document” with the tribes.
By Duffie Taylor / The Bulletin Published: February 09. 2012 4:00AM PST
CULVER — Reintroduced salmon and steelhead could be headed to spawning waters above the Pelton Round Butte dam complex as early as this year. But those that head into the Crooked River won't get far - yet, anyway - thanks to a small hydroelectric dam owned by the Deschutes Valley Water District.
The dam at Opal Springs stands between migrating fish and 108 miles of upstream habitat along the Crooked River. The water district, however, is spearheading a $7 million project designed to ease their passage.
To that end, the district seeks to amend its federal license to create a bypass system for the steelhead, chinook, bull trout and resident trout populations that could migrate up the river. The project would include installing a fish ladder, adding other features to route fish away from the facility's turbines, and raising the dam 6 feet.
By Mark Morical / The Bulletin Published: February 02. 2012 4:00AM PST
Even in the dead of winter, parents can find places to take their children fishing.
Central Oregon is home to four ponds that are designed specifically for youth and family fishing and offer decent wintertime opportunity: Shevlin Pond and Pine Nursery Pond in Bend, Prineville Youth Pond, and Jefferson County Youth Pond in Madras.
These ponds are not blue-ribbon fisheries. But they are places where kids can throw out a worm or some PowerBait and experience the thrill of a fish on the end of their line. And while the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stocks the ponds only in the spring and fall, many autumn holdovers can be landed by winter anglers.
“We stop stocking them in the fall, but if there's leftover trout, they will still bite,” says Jen Luke, a Bend-based fish biologist for the ODFW.
The ponds that should offer the best chances to catch fish this time of year are the Jefferson County Pond, located on the west side of the county's fairgrounds, and Shevlin Pond, located in Shevlin Park west of Bend.
“Those ponds received the greatest number of (stocked) trout in the fall,” says Brett Hodgson, the Deschutes District fish biologist for ODFW.
Since the Jefferson County Pond opened late last summer, it has become a popular spot for young anglers and their parents.
“I would say, just in terms of number of angler days of use, Shevlin and Jefferson County are probably getting the most use of ponds in the area,” Hodgson reports.
Fishing ponds in Central Oregon
Shevlin Pond: Located in Bend's Shevlin Park; open to anglers 17 and younger
Bend Pine Nursery Pond: Located in Pine Nursery Park in northeast Bend; open to all ages
Prineville Youth Pond: Located on south Main Street just past Lynn Boulevard; open to anglers 17 and younger
Jefferson County Youth Pond: Located on the west side of the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Madras; open to anglers 17 and younger
Fireman's Pond: Located on Sisters Avenue and Lake Road in Redmond; open to anglers 17 and younger
By Dylan J. Darling / The Bulletin Published: January 29. 2012 4:00AM PST
After an absence of more than 40 years, adult salmon could be swimming in the upper reaches of the Deschutes River system this year.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are finalizing a plan for seagoing fish in the river that may include the trapping and hauling of spring-run chinook salmon around the three dams in the Pelton Round Butte complex, said Bobby Brunoe, general manager of the tribes’ natural resources branch.
“I think we are really excited about adults getting above the project,” he said. “It’s been one of the goals of all this.”
For more than a decade, the tribes have worked with Portland General Electric, which co-owns the power-producing dams, as well as state and federal agencies, water users and conservation groups to restore the Deschutes runs. Once above the dams, the fish will swim into the Upper Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked rivers, as well as Whychus Creek.
The partners and collaborators in the fish committee have the “common goal of reintroducing the fish” to the rivers above the dams, said Brett Hodgson, ODFW district biologist in Bend.
He declined to go into any details of the plan under consideration by the state.
“We are real close to coming up with a strategy as how to handle the adults that show up in 2012,” he said. “But we are not quite there yet.”
The fish committee meets monthly, Brunoe said, so it has two or three more meetings before the spring-run chinook likely start arriving in late April.
By Mark Morical / The Bulletin Published: January 26. 2012 4:00AM PST
2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour
What: A traveling spectacle that serves as a stage for some of the best fly-fishing filmmakers in the country, an avenue for supporting conservation groups, and an expo for local retailers and outfitters. This year’s tour will make stops in 125 cities across the United States and Canada Where: Bend’s Tower Theatre, 835 N.W. Wall St. When: Wednesday, Feb. 1; show starts at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $13 at Bend’s Fly and Field Outfitters or at www.towertheatre.org Website: www.thef3t.com
Central Oregon is widely renowned as a fly-fishing hot spot. It could soon become known as a fly-fishing FILM hot spot as well.
The 125-stop Fly Fishing Film Tour — billed as F3T for short — is returning to Bend for the seventh consecutive year on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Tower Theatre.
But that’s not the only local connection.
Of the 11 films being shown on the tour, three are by filmmakers who either live in Central Oregon or grew up here. Those films include “Clearly B.C., Part One: Fall Bullies,” by Todd Moen, of Sisters; “Doc of the Drakes,” by Bryan Huskey, who grew up in Bend and now lives in Idaho; and “The Arctic,” by R.A. Beattie, who moved to Bend last year.
The tour showcases some of the most prolific fly-fishing filmmakers in the country and provides anglers a chance to support local conservation groups. Most tour stops feature a party atmosphere with audience giveaways and valuable coupons.
“Our goal in doing this is to share our passion and support the sport we love,” says F3T producer Chris Keig.
Keig says the tour this year will donate more than $30,000 to filmmakers and give away more than $350,000 in prizes to spectators who attend the shows.
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