A Study to Determine the Feasibility of Establishing Salmon and Steelhead in the Upper Klamath Basin

Document Details:

Title: A Study to Determine the Feasibility of Establishing Salmon and Steelhead in the Upper Klamath Basin
Category: Technical Report
File: Fortune-et-al_1966_0349_Feasibility-of-est-salmon-and-steelhead-in-upper-Klamath.pdf
Updated Date: 20.06.2017
Author(s)/Source(s): John D. Fortune Jr, Arthur R. Gerlach, C. J. Hanel
Publication Date: 1966
Focal Topic: Salmon, Steelhead/Rainbow Trout, Dam Operations, Water Temperature
Location: Upper Klamath, Mid Klamath
Watershed Code: 180102
Abstract:

Published reports and personal interviews indicate that chinook salmon were present in the Mid- and Upper-Klamath Basin during the months of September, October and November, until the early 1900's. A photograph
substantiates the presence of chinook salmon in Link River. These runs were first curtailed around 1889-1902 when log crib dams were constructed near Klamathon by the Klamath River Improvement and Lumber
Company. These dams, constructed with no or inadequate fish ladders, seriously limited the migrations of salmon into the Upper Basin, and in 1910 the Bureau of Fisheries installed its racks a t Klamathon, further curtailing them. In 1917, the construction of Copco Dam formed a complete block to upstream migration. The Power Company constructed a fish hatchery on Fall Creek below Copco 82 Dam, at the request of the California Department of Fish and Game Commission, to mitigate for the loss of upstream production.

Because of difficulty in differentiating steelhead from large rainbow trout , accurate information on the history of steelhead migrations was impossible to obtain. It can be said that an intrastream migration of large rainbow trout or sen run steelhead did occur, appearing in the Upper Cash in the fall and again in the spring. An intrastream migration of resident rainbows now occurs during the spring. In the section of the Klamath River from the Frain Ranch (River m i l e 217) to Klamath Lake area and from Klamath Lake up the Williamson-Sprague River systems. A smaller migration occurs in the fall in the Klamath River upstream over the J. C. Boyle fish ladder.

Keyword Tags:
Chinook salmon, Steelhead, Rainbow trout,