Dead fish everywhere. :(

[JoshH]

Hello crew,
Kooked it today with a morning trip to Big Creek/Knappa Rd area (steep learning curve here). Didn't realize that the season was closed there in September until I called the authorities to report a really weird scene. Anyway, no fish no foul but what a shocker to rock up there and see dead fish everywhere. Kings, Steelhead, juvenile salmon, fingerling trout, even the little bottom fish all dead. I checked gills and eyes of a bunch and most were super fresh (dead for less than 24 hours I'd say). The officer I spoke with said that gill netters have been known to poison the water to draw fish out but that it didn't sound like that sort of thing. Said he'd go check it out with a biologist from the hatchery.

[Spade]

crazy odd.....keep us informed. I'm curious.

[Troutier bassier]

That is really strange.

[Twise95]

WHat the heck... Whereabouts exactly were you? At the hatchery? Downriver??

That sounds like gillnetters went and dumped fish there if they were fresh...

[bait dunker]

If he was below tge log jam I could understand tge dead fish, as there were many dying from stress unable to get through the maze of logs. Maybe tge "steelhead" was a Coho? I don't believe that creek gets any summer steelhead, and it's pretty early for winter runs???????

[Twise95]

Well Todd, I can pretty much assure you that those fish were getting through, either at night or during the tidal exchanges because I went Tuesday and the tidewater holes around and below the logjam were pretty empty... I was told that the logjam was there last year as well so I'm assuming that this isn't anything new. But I'm very interested to hear what the real deal was, hopefully they found out.

[Chinook SSSF]

It isnt anything new, Todd just saw it at low tide 2 times....the high tide mark is almost a full 100 yards above the jam. I also talked to friends who saw fish blasting in every location of the creek at certain times over the last 2 days it was open... Looked like Saturday was the largest push, that came at night but continued through the day untill about noon, so no, the jam is not holding them up any...If there was stress, it was caused by the mantality of the local anglers working those 2 holes, and yes we saw it (*_*) I tried to talk to them but they had attitude problems clearly showing...

The "dead" fish where not there when we arrived on Tuesday....and we worked most of the good spots....

We did find some very nice fish as well but they where scattered through the creek. We found a very good number of jacks. I think next year will be good!

May have some pics later but I didnt take many that day since it was not a barn burner the day we arrived..

[JoshH]

Hey crew,
The log jam was definitely not holding them back. Every now and then you could hear/see some monsters rushing up the creek.
It was definitely a steelhead I saw as well as juvenile salmon, fingerling trout and like I said, plenty of dead teeny bottom fish (sculpins?). It was clear that it was some sort of serious event. Looked to me like the dynamite fishing I have seen in Asia that is totally non-discriminating but poison is surely the most likely culprit. Probably some night time marauders. The officer I talked to on the phone said that last year they wrote 16 to 18 tickets between 1 and 4 in the morning. Guys with dip nets and pitchforks.

[Chinook SSSF]

Thats just crazy......That place brings out the best in people...

[JoshH]

Thats just crazy......That place brings out the best in people...

Yeah, no kidding.
This is where the solution begins though. If we are concerned about this as a group then we can also more easily fight the problem. Knowing that others are outraged as well is a big help in taking the step towards action. On my first trip there last week I watched a kid/guy of no more than 18 stick a 10 inch buck knife into a 30lb'er that was gathering it's strength for the next set of rapids. It was just resting in less than a foot of water between some logs. He missed his mark and it went sprinting up river, blood pouring out of it. I said, "hey, don't you think that's a bit illegal?" He replied in a Borat-esque accent, "Oh, I don't know." Next time I'll just buzz the warden.