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Steelhead spawn in urban streams Mail Tribune / Mark Freeman John Shully scans the waters of Ashland Creek in Lithia Park for migrating summer steelhead, which are now spawning in many urban streams around the Rogue Valley. The little creek behind the house might look like it couldn't have fish in it, but they're in there this month By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune ASHLAND - John Shully pulls on his down jacket, yanks his dog-musher's hat over his ears, grabs his winter walking stick and heads into icy Lithia Park to ferret out some of the last and most unique remnants of a Rogue Valley summer. Shully, a 72-year-old retired biologist, regularly walks the banks of frigid Ashland Creek and looks for signs of rare summer steelhead that are now spawning in urban creeks throughout Jackson County. These close cousins of salmon first swam into the upper Rogue River during the hottest days of summer. They lingered until the coldest days of winter to reproduce in tiny tributary creeks ranging from the far wilds of the woods to the hippest parts of downtown Ashland. Most Rogue Valley residents are oblivious to this. But Shully is trying to expose the secretive steelhead to them, one set of squinting eyes at a time. "I point them out to people, and they're shocked," Shully says. "Most people have never seen fish in Ashland Creek, let alone big, gorgeous ones. "But they're here," he says. "Oh, man, are they here." Wild steelhead are a coastwide phenomenon from Northern California well into Alaska, but most of the rivers welcome home their fish in winter. The Rogue and Umpqua basins are two of only a handful of coastal streams with a separate run of steelhead that migrate in the summer. The summer steelhead then stick around through fall before they spawn in the winter, with mid- to late-January the peak time. The wild steelhead are now in some of the small backyard tributary streams of Central Point, Eagle Point and Shady Cove, as well as the waters of Wagner Creek near Talent and the backwoods of Trail. But perhaps some of the most unusual of these winter haunts are the streams that meander through east Medford's dense housing developments. State surveys have shown that wild summer steelhead migrate up Larson Creek past St. Mary's School and into the Juanipero Way area. Others peel off into tiny Lazy Creek, wiggle past the Rogue Valley Medical Center and spawn behind homes on Siskiyou Boulevard, surveys show. These wild steelhead, ranging from barely 16 ounces to well over 10 pounds, dart into the tributaries during high-water periods that come during and after rainstorms, says fish biologist Mike Evenson of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. They often migrate, then spawn amid as much streamside cover as they can and return back downstream even before the high waters subside - so they often go unnoticed. This scenario is far different than when large fall chinook salmon head up Bear Creek and spawn along downtown Medford, where residents easily can see them at work from the Main Street bridge. "The summer steelhead are hard to see when they're spawning, even if you're looking for them," Evenson says. "There could be a whole bunch behind someone's house, and they would never know." The fish's relative obscurity is one of the many qualities that inspires Shully to keep such close tabs on them. "These fish are my favorite, because they are so mysterious," Shully says. "They're really neat fish." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.