Bill McKee wrote:

I think they closed all of the Columbia to salmon fishing. So area 10 is
out. Too many fur bags. They are now eating the sturgeon


A sea lion took a spring chinook away from my wife a few weeks ago on
Multnomah channel. I broke it off without giving chase but then
wondered if I could have harassed it into letting go. That notion was
dispelled the next week after watching a boat chase one around for about
20 minutes. The damn thing still got away with his fish.

The Columbia spring chinook run is coming in under 30% of expected but
the Willamette run is about as predicted. One major difference is the
series of dams on the Columbia. When these fish migrated out in '02 we
had low flows and they held back water for power generation. Fish need
rivers to flow.

-rick-

ps. I think you mean bouy 10 (at the Columbia mouth).

"-rick-" wrote in message
...
Bill McKee wrote:

I think they closed all of the Columbia to salmon fishing. So area 10 is
out. Too many fur bags. They are now eating the sturgeon


A sea lion took a spring chinook away from my wife a few weeks ago on
Multnomah channel. I broke it off without giving chase but then wondered
if I could have harassed it into letting go. That notion was dispelled the
next week after watching a boat chase one around for about 20 minutes. The
damn thing still got away with his fish.

The Columbia spring chinook run is coming in under 30% of expected but the
Willamette run is about as predicted. One major difference is the series
of dams on the Columbia. When these fish migrated out in '02 we had low
flows and they held back water for power generation. Fish need rivers to
flow.

-rick-

ps. I think you mean bouy 10 (at the Columbia mouth).

Yes, is the reason for my confusion. As to Furbags, we are losing lots of
salmon to them. Last year, a commercial guy I know, said he lost about 50%
of his fish. I see they are now going after sturgeon as they have decimated
all the rest of the endangered species fish.

Bill McKee wrote:

Yes, is the reason for my confusion. As to Furbags, we are losing lots of
salmon to them. Last year, a commercial guy I know, said he lost about 50%
of his fish. I see they are now going after sturgeon as they have decimated
all the rest of the endangered species fish.

A few of them here learned to climb the fish ladder at Bonneville dam.
They've also been chowing down on the sturgeon. The fish and wildlife
guys were harassing them with fireworks, etc. but I don't think it
helped. There's even been talk of allowing native americans to kill some
but it probably won't happen.

-rick-

"-rick-" wrote in message
...
Bill McKee wrote:

Yes, is the reason for my confusion. As to Furbags, we are losing lots
of salmon to them. Last year, a commercial guy I know, said he lost
about 50% of his fish. I see they are now going after sturgeon as they
have decimated all the rest of the endangered species fish.

A few of them here learned to climb the fish ladder at Bonneville dam.
They've also been chowing down on the sturgeon. The fish and wildlife guys
were harassing them with fireworks, etc. but I don't think it helped.
There's even been talk of allowing native americans to kill some but it
probably won't happen.

-rick-

I understand it took at least weeks before the F&G guys could get permission
to harass the furbags.

We had a sea lion infestation at the Ballard locks in Seattle. They
lazy blubberbutts would lounge around at the base of the fish ladder
and pick off salmon as if they were on a smorgasbord.

Fireworks- didn't work long term.
Phony fiberglass Orca- scared away all the phony fiberglass sea lions
Hauling the sea lions a few hundred miles away and realeasing them-
they were all the hungrier after their long swim back.

What has worked: Mooring a barge in Shilshole Bay, not far from the
locks. The barge has fencing on three sides, and a radio controlled
trap door on the fourth side. During the portions of the year when the
salmon aren't running, this trap door is left open all the time and the
sea lions get used to lounging on the barge. When the salmon are
running, they wait until the sea lions have all hauled out onto the
barge to sun- and then trip the trap door. Saves the salmon, but the
downside is that the sea lions bark and yap almost endlessly until they
are let out again- and that can be several days or more depending on
the run. Just try to sleep on your boat at the marina with 6 p-o'd sea
lions sounding off all night!

wrote in message
oups.com...
We had a sea lion infestation at the Ballard locks in Seattle. They
lazy blubberbutts would lounge around at the base of the fish ladder
and pick off salmon as if they were on a smorgasbord.

Fireworks- didn't work long term.
Phony fiberglass Orca- scared away all the phony fiberglass sea lions
Hauling the sea lions a few hundred miles away and realeasing them-
they were all the hungrier after their long swim back.

What has worked: Mooring a barge in Shilshole Bay, not far from the
locks. The barge has fencing on three sides, and a radio controlled
trap door on the fourth side. During the portions of the year when the
salmon aren't running, this trap door is left open all the time and the
sea lions get used to lounging on the barge. When the salmon are
running, they wait until the sea lions have all hauled out onto the
barge to sun- and then trip the trap door. Saves the salmon, but the
downside is that the sea lions bark and yap almost endlessly until they
are let out again- and that can be several days or more depending on
the run. Just try to sleep on your boat at the marina with 6 p-o'd sea
lions sounding off all night!



A silent laser cannon?