21 replies to this topic

[salmotrutta]

Couple shots from today, feel free to add more photos. 

 

Would love to know the stats behind how many jumps on average it takes a fish to clear this ladder. Does not look easy for them.

 

[FrequentFlyer]

love watching how the fish navigate the rivers and creeks, and the obstacles, man made and natural, that they have to get by.

 

if you're ever in Sauble Beech, stop by the river there and watch how they navigate the falls, its amazing

[steelhead101]

that "ladder" is a engineered piece of garbage. in order to stop lamprey there is no need for a 3 foot jump. the chinooks have a hell of a time getting over it aswell

[salmotrutta]

love watching how the fish navigate the rivers and creeks, and the obstacles, man made and natural, that they have to get by.

 

if you're ever in Sauble Beech, stop by the river there and watch how they navigate the falls, its amazing

 

Yup it's not everywhere in the world where you can witness this first hand. Funny to think that 200 years ago, these tributaries were filled with wild Atlantics. 

 

that "ladder" is a engineered piece of garbage. in order to stop lamprey there is no need for a 3 foot jump. the chinooks have a hell of a time getting over it aswell

 

The successful jump rate is horribly low. So then the pool at the base of the dam gets overcrowded, making it even harder for the fish to jump successfully. Not to mention the entire east section where lots of fish are wasting energy jumping into a dead end.

 

At the very least they put up shields on the side of the ladder as pictured, but many fish are still bonking their heads on the concrete beneath the opening since as you mentioned, the opening is too high, coupled with a strong water flow.

 

The way it looks now, a fish lift would have been a million times better.  

[fishing89]

darn, the stories about bville were true. Thats the most fish ive seen since September

[TRINIBOY]

Guess they did not see that documentary on how the lamprey chimb up a waterfall to salmon spawning grounds. Jeramy wade monster fish episode

[FrequentFlyer]

that "ladder" is a engineered piece of garbage. in order to stop lamprey there is no need for a 3 foot jump. the chinooks have a hell of a time getting over it aswell

 

 

considering they can jump up to 10ft, a little 2-3ft jump, doesn't seem all that hard, especially compared with some of the naturally occurring falls they jump over in the rivers and creeks

 

[FrequentFlyer]

heres a video of the fish jumping at he same spot as salmos pictures

 

https://www.facebook...910626095646585

[salmotrutta]

darn, the stories about bville were true. Thats the most fish ive seen since September

 

It's one of the least productive tribs in the east, so many better ones that get far less pressure. There were issues with people who owned land along the creek netting fish as they ran, which over time really dropped the #s. But the dam is a fun place to watch them jump in the Spring. Such a small % of jumps are successful, they have to jump from just the right spot at the right angle, and swim like hell once they land to beat the current. So they really congregate there after rain like we had earlier in the week. 

[NADO]

A tall ladder is a good tool for gene management. The steelhead have no problem jumping the caledonia dam which is much taller, only the strong make it through. Judging by how close the fish in the pic are i'm sure a good percentage make it up.

[PUMP KNOWS]

It's good to see they made it to safety.

 

I hope we have a good opener.

[fishing89]

It's one of the least productive tribs in the east, so many better ones that get far less pressure. There were issues with people who owned land along the creek netting fish as they ran, which over time really dropped the #s. But the dam is a fun place to watch them jump in the Spring. Such a small % of jumps are successful, they have to jump from just the right spot at the right angle, and swim like hell once they land to beat the current. So they really congregate there after rain like we had earlier in the week. 

hmm, i guess you're right in terms of more productive rivers out east. Unfortunately i stick to just one lol, because im too anxious to fish and dont want to drive an extra hour haha.

 

Needless to say, my spot has been pretty dead so far...BUT in the 4 weekends of fishing i ran into like 3 people. I prefer that than a productive trib with shoulder to shoulder fishing.

[GuitarBuildingAngler]

A tall ladder is a good tool for gene management. The steelhead have no problem jumping the caledonia dam which is much taller, only the strong make it through. Judging by how close the fish in the pic are i'm sure a good percentage make it up.

I was going to say this myself. 

I know it may be our ugly, unnatural structures blocking their way, but only the strong make it past our "obstacles".
Just take an hour and watch the chinook run. They really have no problem with the ladder after a couple tries. They are extremely mighty beasts. Steelhead are even more agile. 

[FrequentFlyer]

I was going to say this myself. 

I know it may be our ugly, unnatural structures blocking their way, but only the strong make it past our "obstacles".
Just take an hour and watch the chinook run. They really have no problem with the ladder after a couple tries. They are extremely mighty beasts. Steelhead are even more agile. 

 

at 6'4, when i see steelhead jump to my eye level out of a 3ft pool, these ladders are no issue

[iJay]

The ladders also control the populations. "only the fittest survive" is what I was told at the Ganny. 

[steelhead101]

gene management ? are you kidding lol a 15 pound hen is going to have one hell of time making the same jump as a 3 pound fish? also to further my point, are chinook genetically inferior to coho as coho can jump higher? there is a lot more to "good genetics" than jumping capability lol

 

one thing you guys are failing to understand is that isn't a natural drop! there is a concrete ledge under the water making it to turbulent for the fish to get power to jump. 

[salmotrutta]

gene management ? are you kidding lol a 15 pound hen is going to have one hell of time making the same jump as a 3 pound fish? also to further my point, are chinook genetically inferior to coho as coho can jump higher? there is a lot more to "good genetics" than jumping capability lol

 

one thing you guys are failing to understand is that isn't a natural drop! there is a concrete ledge under the water making it to turbulent for the fish to get power to jump. 

 

+1, anyone who thinks its an effective fish ladder, go see it for yourself and you'll see what a small % of jumps are successful, not to mention the whole other section where the fish are jumping into a dead end

[Shmogley]

would be nice if they added another tier to that jump to make it more fish friendly.

but on the other hand, migrating fish deal with much harder jumps in the wild then this 3 foot chute

[NADO]

There have been a bunch of video's on Facebook showing the ladder and I always see a few making it up in each video. Lots of people are over reacting to the difficulty the fish have making it up. Just look at the Dam in Caledonia, the percentage that make it up when the water is raging is  pretty low yet big numbers always manage to make it to the spawning grounds. Theoretically as the years go on if no changes are made to the dam we should see the percentage of successful jumps steadily increase as the spawn of the successful jumpers have less competition from the spawn of the fish that don't have what it takes to make it up. I've heard of that concrete ledge as well, we'll see if they decide to make changes to it at the upcoming meeting.

 

When government money or fundraising money is used for a project you will always, without fail have a large number of people complain. It doesn't matter what you do, its hard wired into our society.

[JDean]

I really think that the designs of these were done with more thought than you think.  These obstacles we have are nothing compared to some natural obstacles that fish navigate on thousands of rivers throughout the country and the world for that matter.  Go check out some of the falls and rapid drops that steelhead and salmon go up in west coast rivers..