Predators on the Creek

Otter · Senior Member

Predators on the Creek

Cole Davis · Senior Member

You gotta quit hooking them in the back Chris. LOL biggrin

hawkeye · Member

Has anyone noticed the diving ducks trolling the spawning areas for alevins? they seem to be keyed in this year.

Xnjb707X · Senior Member

Bear Grylls must have been out at the creek taking bites out of trout. That wound is nar nar for sure.

- Nic

SK60 · Senior Member

Hawkeye: thanks for mentioning the ducks. I spend a lot of time at one of the spots where last year there were half dozen merganzers and golden eyes camped on the spot (documented by surveillance cameras). This year I've seen only 1 occasionally. Predation of eggs or alevins is not reported in the literature and DFG wasn't aware of it. I think the conditions for the ducks are optimum at the site: shallow clear water and the spawners to key in on. Just another possible threat to the fishery. Those with cameras: if you come across Divers hanging around the beds, take a pic and we'll forward to HWTP. Helps tell the story for WT status.

kbarn · Veteran Member

I see birds diving all day when I fish above one of the redd areas.

SK60 · Senior Member

Kbarn thanks for the comment: I think the bottom line is that they are not doing that much damage to the fishery, but it is one of a number of stressors that the fish live with. With a continued improvement in the fishery that we are starting to see, and our continued efforts to expand that improvement, we won't be thinking of them in the future. We have bigger fish to fry (euphemistically speaking). Stay tuned as those "fish" are revealed in the coming weeks.

lightfoot · Senior Member

Now THAT'S a tease. A couple weeks :( Granted I'm thinking about October. Gabbion baskets? A couple transfers of of gravel? Bucket brigade? Bigger rakes? Additional locations?

SK60 · Senior Member

R: lots of details to work out, but I think you are on the right track. Thanks for removing that silt trapper from the creek-we don't need another island to grow a crop of more Ravenna grass.