20
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
REDBAND: Fish
populations are
also healthy
Continued from page 1
volunteers helping out each
year, and many are recruited
from the ranks of the Central
Oregon Fly Fishers, Native
Fish Society and Trout
Unlimited.
Before wading out into
the river’s 45- to 50-degree
water, volunteers get a quick
course on how to identify
a redband trout redd. The
hen fish digs her nest in the
gravel river bottom by turn-
ing on her side and undulat-
ing her body, which creates
a depression revealing light
gray finer sediment and a
mound of heavier gravel
immediately downstream of
the redd. In this depression
she will lay her eggs, then the
male will move over the eggs
and fertilize them with his
milt. That light gray area on
the river bottom is the give-
way that helps the surveyors
spot redds, although the fish-
eries biologists will double-
check until they are sure the
volunteers have gotten the
hang of redd identification.
The surveyors typically work
in teams of three so they can
cover the entire width of the
river in one pass. When they
find a redd, they mark it with
a rock painted white so that it
will not be counted more than
once during subsequent sur-
veys. The river from Spring
Creek to the headwaters, and
Lake and Abbot creeks, are
surveyed every two weeks
through the spawning period.
While this year’s redd
count was a record high,
Brett Hodgson, Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife district fisheries
biologist based in Bend, cau-
tions that it doesn’t necessar-
ily mean that the Metolius
River redband trout popula-
tion is currently increasing as
the numbers have fluctuated
over the years. But the data
does create a picture of the
river’s redband population
as robust and healthy. Based
on the redd count, Hodgson
estimates that it represents
about 5,000 adult, spawning-
age fish, although there are
certainly many more younger
fish in the river as well. There
is no official estimate for the
Metolius redband population.
However, there is no
question that the river’s wild
redband trout numbers have
increased over the decades,
where surveys in the mid- and
late 1980s found fewer that
200 redds compared to nearly
2,000 30 years later.
“That’s been a result of the
excellent habitat projects on
the river and the discontinu-
ing of the hatchery stocking
program,” says Hodgson.
For many years the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife stocked the
Metolius River with hatch-
ery fish raised at Wizard
Falls Hatchery. But over
time, research found that
stocking hatchery fish has
a detrimental effect on wild
fish that includes competing
with them for space and food,
and if they interbreed they
produce less-fit offspring.
Studies in the 1990s found
that wild Metolius River red-
band trout were hybridizing
with hatchery rainbow trout
that also made them more
susceptible to diseases.
That’s been a result
of the excellent habitat
projects on the river and
the discontinuing
of the hatchery
stocking program.
— Brett Hodgson
“There were some pools
that had hundreds of hatchery
fish that were outcompeting
the smaller, wild fish,” said
Dachtler.
The state ended the stock-
ing program in 1996, allow-
ing the native, wild redbands
to reclaim the Metolius River
as their own once again.
Habitat improvements on
the river have been another
important factor. There were
some early habitat proj-
ects just above Bridge 99 in
the late 1980s, but the big
push came in 2010, when
the Forest Service put 900
trees in the river, the largest
habitat project ever done on
the Metolius, according to
Dachtler. Those trees offer
a number of benefits for the
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NATE DACHTLER, U.S. FOREST SERVICE
Volunteers locate and count redband trout redds on the Metolius River.
trout including shade, places
to hide from predators, and
as the logs decompose, create
insect habitat that increases
the food supply for fish.
While the strong redband
population is good news, the
Metolius remains a difficult
river to fish. It’s clear water
makes it easier for the fish
to see anglers and spook,
and it often requires anglers
to “match the hatch,” deter-
mining what kind of insect
the fish are feeding on at the
time and presenting them
with the proper imitation
fly. According to Hodgson,
there is a core group of regu-
lars who have the river fig-
ured out and do pretty well,
but for the casual angler it
remains a challenging place
to connect with a trout.
Nevertheless, said Hodgson,
“We’re very happy with the
redband population on the
Metolius.”
QUALITY PRE-OWNED RVS
BIG SAVINGS COMPARED
TO NEW-MODEL RETAIL!
See our complete inventory at www.larrysrv.com
Motorcoaches • Travel Trailers • Fifth Wheels
Truck Campers • Toy-Haulers Arriving Daily
DON’T MISS
this week’s
Nugget insert!
2004 CARRIAGE 30RLS FIFTH WHEEL
$13,995 VINA05855
Lightly used, 2 slides, rear view window, A/C
RAY’S
FOOD PLACE
PHOTO BY JIM YUSKAVITCH
Most redband trout spawning on the Metolius River takes place on the
upper reaches to the headwaters.
is ready for
Independence Day
cookouts!
Corn on the Cob
2007 TERRA MOTOR HOME
$49,995 VIN418500
New tires, gasoline, A/C, generator, 2 slides, 35K miles
(yellow, white, bi-color)
3 for $1
Ball Park
Meat Franks
(15-oz. packages)
2 for $5
Lean Ground Beef
$2.49/lb.
2001 LANCE 1121 TRUCK CAMPER
$13,995 VIN145143
1 slide, electric jacks, generator, A/C, microwave
(in the Value Pack)
Franz Buns &
Hoagie Rolls
(6- to 8-count pkgs.)
2 for $5
...and more...
2017 AUTUMN RIDGE 19RT TOY HAULER $12,200 VIN3C5063
A/C, solar panels, rear fold down bed, tub/shower
(Expires 7-11-18)
CONSIGNMENTS WANTED • ONSITE PROPANE & STORAGE
541-923-4564 3000 S. Hwy. 97, Redmond
Sales: Mon.-Sun., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Service: Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Parts: Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.