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37 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, December 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 9, 2004 Rain washes away low-water problems in streams By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune This week’s storms dumped enough rain into Southern Oregon streams to wash away any low-water problems — real or perceived — for fall chinook salmon. Flows in streams from the Winchuck River at the California border to the Sixes River near Port Orford have been exceedingly low for several weeks. The low flows have prompted concerns that anglers may unfairly be fishing over congested, stressed chinook. Biologists also have been wary that low flows may keep salmon from fully seeding spawning areas when the peak spawn comes around Christmas. Some anglers recently were asking for fishing closures, but the high water flushed those concerns away. Advertisement "It’s come in the nick of time," says Russ Stauff, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Rogue Watershed manager. "It’s certainly cleaned up a lot of the fishery issues, and that’s good." Stauff says he and other ODFW fish managers were not in favor of pushing anglers off the low-flowing streams. Fishing bans on these streams during the recent low-flow periods, Stauff says, would not give chinook any appreciable edge, he says. Years of creel studies on the Elk River show that chinook catches drop dramatically during low-flow periods, Stauff says. And the low water came far earlier than the rivers’ peak chinook spawning periods, he says. Stauff says anglers who called for fishing closures were "well-intended, but erroneous" about their need. "Even though it was less than ideal, I see this as adequate to cover chinook production in these basins," Stauff says. "There was no biological benefit to a closure. "We don’t like the precedence of closing something to appease public opinion," Stauff says. That might have changed had no rain fallen through the remainder of the holidays. "It’s over," he says. "It’s a moot point now." This year’s bounty and offering help to the needy will join together tonight during the Christmas meeting of the Oregon Hunters Association’s Rogue Valley Chapter. The chapter will host its annual "horns show," where members bring the horns or antlers from the animals they killed this year. Members are also asked to bring frozen deer or elk meat as well as other perishables for gift baskets to needy families. The donations are part of the chapter’s participation in Oregon Hunters Against Hunger, the OHA’s statewide effort in helping the battle against hunger in Oregon, which ranks near the top in percentages of hungry families. The meeting is at J.J. North’s Grand Buffet, 1016 N. Riverside Ave., Medford. The no-host social hour begins at 6 p.m., with an optional dinner at 6:30 p.m. The program is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities