Coho Waiting for the Rain...

The beautiful autumn we've been having is definitely causing trouble for the salmon in the smaller tributaries...
...in reviewing the tributary to the larger creek, no salmon are able to move upstream beyond the first riffles, effectively restricting the coho in shallow pools.

This physically restricts the normal breeding patterns of coho: mates restricted, spawning site selection limited, spawning and redd progression restricted.

This is a very large pair, the larger coho is ~3' long.

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Coho Salmon - Competing for Space and Mates

Coho salmon competing for spawning habitat and mates... in a tributary of Woods Creek, Snohomish County, Washington.
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Today in... the Creek ~> Jockeying for Position.

Coho salmon jockey for position in a tributary to Woods Creek, Washington.

.For best viewing change settings to 1080 HD.

Today in ~> the Creek ... confluence... Woods Creek

Yesterday we took the time to film at the confluence of the forks of Woods Creek... while we were there we saw several salmon jump just below the confluence and caught one on video (see video below at ~ 16 seconds in).

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~> best viewed in 1080 HD (re-set your YouTube settings ; ) 
The west fork enters on the lower left; downstream flows to the right.
The Woods Creek confluence is north of Monroe on Yeager Road.

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Today in~> the Creek... just add water.

With yesterday's rains the water levels have risen dramatically and the salmon are on the move...

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The video was captured in 1080 HD, please change the settings (lower right corner of the video) to experience the video at it's optimum.

Today in ~> the Creek ... Coho Waiting for Rain

The water levels have definitely dropped since Sunday.
The water in the main creek is no longer high enough to allow for fish passage over barriers and the water levels in the smaller creek have dropped enough that the fish are effectively trapped in short reaches, are restricted to moving downstream, or are at/ near the confluence of the tributary and main stem of the creek.

^Video of Coho moving downstream today, waiting for more rain.

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Today in ~> the Creek ... Coho Salmon Spawning

Today in the Creek...


Every year when the late October / early November rains swell our Creek (a tributary of Woods Creek, Washington) Coho salmon are able to pass the many fish barriers and ascend the creek.

This year we knew the salmon were just a bit downstream of us for almost 2 weeks before the rains this past weekend allowed them upstream access. Now that they are here the eagles will not be far behind...