VOL . 36 • ISS . 26 |
MAP FEATURE |
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Dec . 8 - 22 , 2017 |
17 |
Improved Mokelumne Salmon & Steelhead Return Strategies
Stronger Pulses - Pulse flows reached higher magnitudes compared to recent years thanks to flood control waters released from Camanche Reservoir . These pulses provide cues for salmon to move up into the river . Additional pulses provided by reoperating Woodbridge Irrigation District Dam extended the period of pulses into November .
Gate Closures – To prevent straying of Sacramento and Mokelumne River salmon , CDFW coordinated closures of the Delta Cross Channel Gates on weekdays and reopened for weekend recreation beginning in September .
Tagging Data – Using Coded Wire Tag data from returning fish , the agencies measured the effectiveness of releasing fish on outgoing tides and limiting releases to no more than two consecutive days from the same location to increase juvenile salmon survival .
Barging - The agencies have transported juvenile salmon from the Mokelumne River by barge and released them in the San Francisco Bay . Barging improves fish survival through the Delta and may also help with imprinting for juvenile salmon to re-trace their way to natal waters .
Transfer Diet – Juvenile salmon undergo an incredible physiological change when moving from freshwater to saltwater . To ease the initial stress , a specialized feed containing higher salt levels is fed to the juveniles in the weeks before the release .
Habitat Improvement – EBMUD and DFW have spent nearly two decades developing and implementing a plan to improve spawning and rearing habitat in the river below Camanche Dam . Fishing Regulations The Mokelumne River ( San Joaquin Co if open from Camanche Dam to Highway 99 bridge is open from Jan . 1 through Mar . 31 with a limit of 1 hatchery trout or 1 hatchery steelhead .
It reopens from Fourth Saturday in May through July 15 with a limit of 1 hatchery trout or 1 hatchery steelhead .
Form July 16 through Oct . 15 , the limit is 1 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead and Chinook salmon .
From the Highway 99 bridge to the Woodbridge Irrigation District Dam including Lodi Lake , the season is from Jan . 1 through July 15 with a limit of 1 hatchery trout or 1 hatchery steelhead ,
From July 16 through Dec . 31 , the limit is 1 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead and 2 Chinook salmon .
The section between the Woodbridge Irrigation District Dam and the Lower Sacramento Road bridge is closed to all fishing all year .
The Mokelumne River and its tributary sloughs downstream of the Lower Sacramento Road bridge and east of Highway 160 and north of Highway 12 from Jan . 1 through July 15 has a limit of1 hatchery trout or 1 hatchery steelhead .
From July 16 through Dec . 16 , the limit is 1 hatchery trout or hatchery steelhead and 2 Chinook salmon .
From Dec . 17 through Dec . 31 . The limit is 1 hatchery trout or 1 hatchery steelhead .
River Viewing
Lodi Lake
Turner Rd .
Lockford St
Ham Lane
MOKELUMNE RIVER FISH HATCHERY
Jahant Slough
To Galt & Sacramento
LODI
Fish Ladder
Fry in Troughs
Acampo Rd .
Woodbridge Rd .
Mokelumne River
Mokelumne River
Parking
Peltier Road
Woodbridge Rd .
Kettleman Lane
To Stockton
Victor
Harney Lane
Hatchery Building
Administration Building
Entrance Plaza
Egg Taking
Lockeford
Bear Creek
Mokelumne River
Bear Creek
Stillman Magee Co . Pk .
Brandt Road
Camanche Reservoir Dam
Clements
Mokelumne River
Camanche Dam to Lodi Lake
San Joaquin County
Fishing Notes
• Rainbow Trout and Steelhead fishing is best in the stretch from below the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery to Clements . Trout can be caught throughout the river from Clements to Lodi , but access can be difficult . Use nightcrawlers , Glo Bugs , Little Cleos and small spinners . Fly fishing is good for anglers using a variety of nymphs or dry flies when hatches take place . Most of the trout are wild , though some hatchery fish are caught also .
Henderson
• The major run of King Salmon usually moves into this stretch of river when it is closed to all fishing . The river from Camanche Dam to Peltier Road is open to ' fishing Village from January 1 through March 31 and from the fourth Saturday in May through October 15 , with a limit of 1 hatchery trout or steelhead . Expect both salmon and steelhead runs to increase because of the modernized hatchery and habitat improvements on the river .
• Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass , Catfish and Bluegill can be found in the Mokelumne in the Lodi area , particularly during the spring and summer months .
Camanche Dam
To Stockton
To Jackson
Fish Hatchery
Mokelumne Day Use
Area
McIntire Rd
A CDFW employee sorts the salmon at the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery . Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .
“ Additional innovative measures include transporting juvenile salmon by barge and feeding a specialized diet to assist the freshwater-to-seawater transfer .”
The agency said these fish returns “ indicate a healthier river system that supplies water to 1.4 million East Bay customers .”
The partnership between CDFW and EBMUD is part of a 1998 agreement between the East Bay utility and federal and state agencies to promote healthier conditions and water flows in the Mokelumne River , an agreement that couldn ’ t have happened without pressure by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance ( CSPA ) and Committee to Save the Mokelumne River .
“ As a water agency that is a vital partner on the Mokelumne River , we ’ re thrilled to see continuously strong returns ,” said EBMUD Manager of Fishery and Wildlife Jose Setka . “ For EBMUD , the health of natural ecosystems is critical to our watersheds and a vital part of our mission . This river partnership has enabled management decisions that have improved the survival of salmon and steelhead . By improving habitat , updating hatchery practices , better coordinating Delta operations and continuing scientific studies , the Mokelumne River fish population will be model for recovery .”
The “ Speece Cone ” operated by EBUD at Lake Camanche , a device that distributes oxygen to the lower lake waters at the dam , has also boosted the river ’ s steelhead and resident rainbow fishery .
Besides hatchery improvements , the construction of new fish passage facilities on the new Woodbridge Dam in the summer of 2006 and the completion of the FERC relicensing process for Camanche Dam in 1999 that provides for increased river flows are responsible for the upswing in the salmon and steelhead turns .
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance ( CSPA ) and Committee to Save the Mokelumne River played a key role in securing more water for the river from EBMUD , increasing the allotment from only 13,000 acre feet of water to 85,000 acre feet of water in flows , and other efforts to restore the river .
“ This is a true success story ,” said
Bill Jennings , CSPA Executive Director . “ EBMUD has a good team of biologists working for them . This is the end result of all of the hearings and litigation that CSPA and the Committee engaged in from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s .”
Before the minimum flows were secured , the river would sometimes dry up below Woodbridge Dam near Lodi . “ We sued over the public trust , causing FERC to reopen the hydroelectric power negotiations so they were forced to develop an EIR ,” said Jennings .
One of the major battles CSPA and the Committee engaged in was filing a lawsuit over the Penn Copper Mine above Lake Camanche , a case that went all of the way to the Supreme Court of California . The toxic runoff from the mine would periodically “ sterilize ” the river , causing die offs of steelhead and other fish , said Jennings .
“ The average overflow of hazardous waste into the river from the mine
A salmon scale sample is taken at the hatchery . amounted to two Exxon Valdez spills every year ,” he said . “
The NPDIS issued in the wake of the Penn Mine lawsuit was the first time in the nation that a regional water board , the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board , was found to be in violation of the law . As authorized by the Clean Water Act ( CWA ), the NPDES Permit Program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into U . S . water .
“ EBMUD was forced to do a huge remediation , putting 13 million cubic yards of mining waste into a huge land fill ,” he said .
More recently , CSPA and other groups halted EBMUD ’ s plan to expand Pardee Reservoir .
For more information on the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery , call ( 209 ) 759-3383 .
Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .