In recent years, scientists and fisheries managers have become increasingly aware of the importance of coldwater refuges for summer steelhead in the Columbia River, as well as a phenomenon known as “overshooting,” where steelhead or salmon ascend one or more dams upstream of their natal tributaries. Steelhead that overshoot their natal streams must eventually pass back through the hydro system, which has downstream fish passage facilities that are not designed to accommodate adult fish. This results in many adult steelhead dying along the way without making it back to their spawning grounds.
In many cases the need for cold water refuges and overshooting appears to be intertwined. However, in rivers such as the John Day River, which has the highest overshoot rate of any steelhead population in the basin, the mechanisms associated with overshoot are not so clear and require further directed research to fully understand.
Beginning in 2020, Wild Steelheaders United and Trout Unlimited partnered with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to support The John Day Steelhead Project to better understand the migration patterns of steelhead destined for the John Day River. With the support of generous individual donors, ODFW was able to acoustically tag 200 steelhead to better understand when they entered the John Day River, downstream Columbia River tributaries, or passed upstream dams, to determine how these fish use cold water refuges and determine factors associated with the John Day’s exceptionally high overshoot rate.
Along with tagging steelhead, over the course of the last year the project built a network of acoustic receivers at the confluence of the John Day and Columbia Rivers. These receivers record the movement of the tagged fish and will be used to create migration maps of their journey. These maps will help biologists better understand why so many John Day steelhead overshoot the mouth of the river. However, special analysis of the acoustic tag detection data is needed to help create those migration maps – work ODFW does not currently have funds to complete.
To support this crucial analysis and the creation of the needed migration maps, Wild Steelheaders United is currently hosting a sweepstakes to raise funds for ODFW’s work on the John Day Steelhead Project. As anglers, guides, and people who deeply admire these incredible fish, this sweepstakes offers an opportunity to directly support work that helps us better understand the fish we love.
Click here to support the project and have the chance to win a $1000 gift card to Grundéns, a guided trip on the John Day River, new waders and boots, and a box of hand-tied steelhead flies!
