Surveying fish in Whychus Creek

PHOTOS BY JOHN MAY

When Sisters resident John May saw people wading in Whychus Creek on August 19, obviously working on some sort of project, he was curious. He stopped by and encountered Deschutes Watershed District Fish Biologist Jerry George conducting a fish survey.

He asked George for details on the work, and the biologist sent him an email sketching out the results of the survey. May shared the information with The Nugget

“Today we found that, while present, trout were in very low abundance in Whychus Creek along Junipine Lane. We collected too few fish to conduct a population estimate for the sampling reach,” he wrote. “We had four trout total, one redband, two brook, and one brown trout. For reference, we typically collect between 30–200 trout in reaches of similar length downstream around Camp Polk.

“Today we were pleased to collect a healthy and robust native redband trout measuring 250 millimeters, or around 10 inches in length. Redband numbers have been down in Whychus Creek as they struggle to compete for food and space with non-native brook and brown trout so it’s encouraging to see them maintaining a presence in Whychus Creek near Sisters. We were able to tell that the fish collected today was a redband trout and not a steelhead released at Camp Polk for reintroduction, because steelhead receive a unique jaw clip before they are released.”

George noted that, “The water temperature was nice and cool, 9.6º C (49º F), and the reach has good riparian vegetation and overhead cover, but it is lacking in-stream cover and habitat complexity. The habitat is somewhat homogeneous in the reach sampled today (straight channel, moderate gradient riffle), which probably helps explain the low abundance of trout observed. The Junipine Lane area does have good gravel and cobble substrate for trout and salmon spawning, and if more in-stream habitat complexity and deep pools with cover were added for fish to hold in and hide from predators, could be a much more productive reach.

“As recently as 10-15 years ago Whychus Creek below the Three Sisters Irrigation Diversion would go dry in the summer and with the help of irrigation efficiency projects and flow restoration has come a long way towards being restored — but more work can be done.”