Northwest Fishing Reports

I've seen these in a few rivers,never gave them a 2nd thought.
While we were staying in Leavenworth,this "thingy ma'bobber" was about a 100yards up stream from our cabin on the Chiwawa River.

My only guess is maybe providing drinking water?

I believe its a fish catcher. They have them on the Wenatchee too between cashmere and monitor.

I'll second that. It's a fish trap.

It's a fish trap to count the outgoing smolt

The technical term is a Rotary Screw Trap. It is corrugated on the inside and rotates with the speed of the current to create a suction which brings in fry and smolts for biological survey. They take species and length measurements and then release them. It helps calculate overall escapement, etc. When the trap is in operation the big "cone" portion is lowered into the water and begins to spin.

There is one on the Snoqualmie and the Skykomish, and I know the Puyallup has one too.

There was one on the Nooksack also, I always wondered what that was.

Alien in nature. Disregard what that the others have said.

Thank you fellas,much appreciated. I've seen these on a few rivers but never knew what they were.

BassDood wrote:Alien in nature. Disregard what that the others have said.

Ha,good stuff. That was my second guess:-#

its good to see those on the chiwawa.

I see those on the Deschutes all the time. It catches fish to count.

curado wrote:its good to see those on the chiwawa.

Just curious,is the Chiwawa having problems? I noticed in the regs that the river is closed,then add in a fish counter
and I can only assume that their must be low numbers

I have heard the salmon runs haven't been great for that stream. They were working on the run up there to build it up and make it better... So maybe their success is occuring. I honestly have never heard of the Chiwawa being open, as long as I have been around (or payed attention).

I did some research and this is what I found....

1999 was when it closed due to the Bull Trout hitting the endangered/protected species list.

See link for more info if curious.

http://www.midcolumbiahcp.org/Chiwawa%2 ... 20Main.htm

sellis_414 wrote:I did some research and this is what I found....

1999 was when it closed due to the Bull Trout hitting the endangered/protected species list.

See link for more info if curious.

http://www.midcolumbiahcp.org/Chiwawa%2 ... 20Main.htm

Thank you sellis,much appreciated and very informative. We're headed back up there in February.
Might have to head back over to Fish Lake!