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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 16, 2006 Chinook salmon arrive at dam earlier than usual Outdoor Notes By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune GOLD HILL — The March 8 video at the Gold Ray Dam fish-counting station captured the image of a guest coming much earlier than its normal standing invitation. Much to fish-counter Rene Pellissier’s surprise, he spied a Rogue River spring chinook salmon migrating upstream with the regular complement of winter steelhead. "It was a hatchery fish, about 28 inches," says Pellissier, who counts fish captured on videotape for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The first spring chinook normally doesn’t hit the upper Rogue until the last few days of March or the first few days of April, Pellissier says. "We’re 19 days ahead of the earliest one over the past five years," he says. "But I don’t know what that means." Advertisement At least, it marks the unofficial start of the upper Rogue’s most popular fishery, which draws thousands of angler-days among resident and visiting anglers. Upper Rogue spring chinook fishing usually picks up steam in May and runs through July 31, when fishing upstream of Gold Ray Dam is closed to protect wild spring chinook spawning in the main-stem river. This year’s run is expected to be around or below average, based on last year’s poor return of smaller chinook jacks, says Tom Satterthwaite, an ODFW fish biologist who has tracked the Rogue for more than two decades. But Satterthwaite warns that jack returns are not a crystal ball for estimating ocean-survival rates and returns of chinook. "Who knows," Satterthwaite says. "But hope springs eternal when it comes to spring chinook." Last year’s return over Gold Ray Dam was 18,090, well below the 10-year average of 32,585 fish. In more than six decades of fish-counting at the dam, the all-year average is 31,885. Pellissier says no other spring chinook since have been counted through Saturday. After March 7 brought more than 350 adult winter steelhead over the dam, migration again has slowed. Through March 12, 2,320 winter steelhead have been counted over the dam. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Chinook salmon arrive at dam earlier than usual ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Absinthe Supply Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Debt Consolidation California Casinos Generic Viagra Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Hammocks Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada King of Spirits Advertisement s