Steelhead die off in the Salmon River

[GAMBLER]

Word on the street is there are a lot of dead steelhead washing up on the banks of the Salmon River after being caught.  I watched a video clip of dead steelhead in pools and there were a lot.  Guys are saying they are being released and not making it.  They are seeing them swirling after release and then floating up dead.  

[King Davy]

Well hopefully DEC will collect some fish and have them tested for Vitamin B deficiencies like what happened 10 years ago. After this winter I would expect the alewife population to be thinner than normal which can cause higher levels of thiaminase. 
 

Fish swirling is a telltale sign. 

[GAMBLER]

4 minutes ago, King Davy said:

Well hopefully DEC will collect some fish and have them tested for Vitamin B deficiencies like what happened 10 years ago. After this winter I would expect the alewife population to be thinner than normal which can cause higher levels of thiaminase. 
 

Fish swirling is a telltale sign. 

It's not happening until after they are released after being caught from the reports.  Catching them over and over again depriving them of a meal can't be helpful.  

[King Davy]

Still low vitamin B levels in core low temp water saps there energy just like the stress of spawning will. Generally late Feb the fish will start to pair up. With 7 to 8 foot of snow on the ground up there and the trails from impossible to very difficult to traverse my friends who live and fish there haven’t seen nearly the pressure as usual from bank anglers. 
 

when this happened last time caught fish and fish that weren’t hooked succumbed to vitamin B deficiencies .

 

Time will tell.

[Gill-T]

2014/15 also saw gill lice rear it’s head. Interesting pattern developing again with similar weather pattern. 

[King Davy]

We’ve had gill lice in our steelhead for a long time. Some years are worse than others. Gill lice are common everywhere. We had tons of gill lice in Bering Sea steelhead in Alaska. 
 

we’ll have to see what transpires. Hopefully not a massive die off of adults. Last time the smaller fish survived and the bigger fish were impacted. 
 

thanks for reporting this Brian.

[Gill-T]

1 hour ago, King Davy said:

We’ve had gill lice in our steelhead for a long time. Some years are worse than others. Gill lice are common everywhere. We had tons of gill lice in Bering Sea steelhead in Alaska. 
 

Agree lice is common but not to the extent of what was seen in 2014/15. The pictures posted were of very disfigured gills, skinny sickly looking fish. I am sure it was a combination of factors. Has anyone heard of this problem in other tribs of Ontario or Michigan?  I wonder if this something specific to the Salmon River. 

[King Davy]

Genny fish have been good. Last time I river fished was first two weeks of January. Didn’t see any signs of stressed fish. As tough as our winter has been in the western end they’ve had a ridiculous polar vortex up on the salmon river and tug hill. Friends like captain John Kopy have been catching fish out of his drift boat on the salmon the last several weeks but he hasn’t mentioned seeing any of this. 

 

Our rivers around here are just opening up after several weeks under ice. They had all been frozen solid and unfishable. Except for right at dams like the oak that stayed open. But just below the dam the river was locked up. It will be an interesting spring and I imagine we’ll all be eager to hear what the bait fish trawls turn up.

[Gill-T]

Hopefully, it is an isolated event. It took years for steelhead to recover in numbers and size from the last outbreak. I vaguely recall that there was an issue with going to a cheaper food pellet at the hatchery that may have resulted in some deficiencies that could have impacted those health problems seen in ‘14/15.  

[Legacy]

I would love to see the video... If someone has it please post it on here.

[GAMBLER]

10 hours ago, Legacy said:

I would love to see the video... If someone has it please post it on here.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GTEFaJdnc/?mibextid=wwXIfr
 

Here is a link to the Facebook post.  It’s in the comments.  Read the comments about  it too.

[King Davy]

Hopefully it’s not a VB issue like last time. There hasn’t been too many days above freezing up there this winter so this could also be gills freezing if removed from the water and that for sure will suffocate them. 
 

I have a saying that I pose to the gear guys and fly guys who don’t think they’ve had a good day until they reach double digit numbers of fish.

 

if you can’t tell me something unique about fish number 1, # 5 # 11 #16 # 22, just maybe you’ve overstayed your welcome. 

[LongLine]

Food for thought:  Given the high snowfall, cold temperatures and then more snow...Have the towns/residents around the SR been using more road salt this year?

 

Is the SR tested for salinity? DEC has been advocating less road salt usage for a couple years.  Why?  The runoff is detrimental to freshwater fish. They're more stressed when salinity changes. If already stressed, chances of survival is reduced no matter who catches them.  Additionally, studies have shown that gill lice require some salinity to survive. 

[Gill-T]

Steelhead can exist in the ocean. 

[LongLine]

I realize that. However, what happens if in freshwater for a few months then get "hit" with a slug of salt?  This appears to be a recent thing & didn't happen last year which was a much milder winter.  Did the fishermen become a bunch of "thugs" all of a sudden? 

[Gill-T]

Probably not the salt but maybe like what was happening out west with 

cohos. Could the salt and sand cause car tires to shed the chemicals that kill fish?  

Edited February 25 by Gill-T

[GAMBLER]

52 minutes ago, LongLine said:

I realize that. However, what happens if in freshwater for a few months then get "hit" with a slug of salt?  This appears to be a recent thing & didn't happen last year which was a much milder winter.  Did the fishermen become a bunch of "thugs" all of a sudden? 

If you read the comments on the facebook post, it's from guys catching them over and over again.  A fish getting caught every time it tries to eat a meal isn't good.  When you exert a ton of energy and can't get a meal without a hook, it's not good for your body.  

[King Davy]

Typically I’ve never seen the road crews up there Mexico Pulaski Altmar up to the Tug use salt but rather sand. My friends up there are constantly dealing with sand ruining their break pads and wheel bearings.

[HB2]

To many times over the years I see guys catch a fish and keep it out of the water for way to long , rolling around in the mud taking pictures and such . Then release them and expect them to make it . In the fall when the water is warm especially bad . Keep them in the water , get the camera ready . Take a pic and revive them . 

 

In Florida , it is my understanding you can't take Tarpon out of the water for this reason . 

[Gator]

12 minutes ago, HB2 said:

To many times over the years I see guys catch a fish and keep it out of the water for way to long , rolling around in the mud taking pictures and such . Then release them and expect them to make it . In the fall when the water is warm especially bad . Keep them in the water , get the camera ready . Take a pic and revive them . 

 

In Florida , it is my understanding you can't take Tarpon out of the water for this reason . 

But you can jump in the water to take pictures of yourself with them!!! I've done it more than once. I'd love to see the steelhead crowd give it a shot lol.

[LongLine]

I made salt comment based on previous posts and some googling: 
(1) Happened 2014-2015.  That was an extremely cold and snowy winter.
(2) Happened recently. (mid/late February) Studies have shown the Oswego River is most contaminated at this time of year particularly from road runoff.
(3) Gill Lice may be an issue. Studies from Norway fish farmers found the natural aquaculture cure to lice is abundant fresh water.
(4) Deformed gills: Can be genetic but also caused by "environmental toxins such as nitrate and chlorine."  Nitrate = fertilizer and chlorine = salt. The chlorine part is why fish stores tell you not to use untreated tap water in aquariums. I.E. it affects their gills, leads to deformity and death.
(5) DEC frowns on road salt.
(6) Anadromous "Steelhead". Yes, Chambers Creek strain, (Skamania not stocked since 2021) but raised at SR since '80's.  Can this many generations diminish salinity tolerance? (I don't know.)  We call them "Steelhead" but Annual reports call them Rainbow Trout.  
(7) Are there really more numbskulls fishing the SR this horrible winter year than last? Or can't the fish tolerate it as much this year? 
 

[GAMBLER]

13 hours ago, LongLine said:

I made salt comment based on previous posts and some googling: 
(1) Happened 2014-2015.  That was an extremely cold and snowy winter.
(2) Happened recently. (mid/late February) Studies have shown the Oswego River is most contaminated at this time of year particularly from road runoff.
(3) Gill Lice may be an issue. Studies from Norway fish farmers found the natural aquaculture cure to lice is abundant fresh water.
(4) Deformed gills: Can be genetic but also caused by "environmental toxins such as nitrate and chlorine."  Nitrate = fertilizer and chlorine = salt. The chlorine part is why fish stores tell you not to use untreated tap water in aquariums. I.E. it affects their gills, leads to deformity and death.
(5) DEC frowns on road salt.
(6) Anadromous "Steelhead". Yes, Chambers Creek strain, (Skamania not stocked since 2021) but raised at SR since '80's.  Can this many generations diminish salinity tolerance? (I don't know.)  We call them "Steelhead" but Annual reports call them Rainbow Trout.  
(7) Are there really more numbskulls fishing the SR this horrible winter year than last? Or can't the fish tolerate it as much this year? 
 

4. You would have to have huge amounts of chlorine in the water to affect the fish.  It would be eaten up by the organics in the water.  We treat millions of gallons of Raw water from Lake Ontario daily.  It takes hundreds of gallons a day to have a low residual in the water.  

 

7. I would say there are a bunch of guys beating them up that is contributing to the die off.  Do I think it's the entire reason?  No.  IMO, it's more than one factor.  Hopefully these guys back off the steelhead a little.  

[Legacy]

Here's the link

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1965985180674405

[LongLine]

IMO, fishing in that shallow of water should be illegal.  

[Fat Trout]

4 hours ago, LongLine said:

IMO, fishing in that shallow of water should be illegal.  

Thats not where folks are fishing.  Just a soft edge where dead fish are accumuating.  Looks a lot like an area just above the schoolhouse pool on the north side.  You have to walk out a bit to get to the deeper water...fairly wide there.