Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Fisheries Management and Habitat ProtectionRoot River Steelhead Facility

• Main Authors: Jim Thompson, Brad Eggold
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: Root River; Pink salmon
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.204.105; http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/fish/lakemich/Root_River_2005-2006.pdf

Abstract – Fall 2005 saw a modest improvement in stream flows in the Root River over the previous two seasons, resulting in a better run of fall fish. We were able to obtain a good sample of all species for our biological sampling protocol; however, the coho egg-take fell short of our goal. And collection of skamania strain steelhead was again difficult. A total of 3,623 chinook salmon, 841 coho salmon, 961 steelhead and 141 brown trout and one pink salmon were examined at the Root River Steelhead Facility (RRSF) during fall, 2005 and spring, 2006. We were able to capture and transport only 91 broodstock skamania steelhead to the Kettle Moraine Springs Hatchery. All of the chinook captured were passed upstream. The RRSF serves as backup egg-take facility for coho salmon stocked into the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan and due to the inconsistent rainfall; we fell short of the 1.5 million egg goal. Just over 440,000 coho eggs were obtained at RRSF, and 449,000 were obtained from the Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility (BAFF) in Kewaunee, WI. The remainder was contributed by the state of Michigan. As a result, WDNR was able to meet coho production needs for Lake Michigan. The spring 2006 return of 885 steelhead was again below our expectations. A mitigating factor for the poor run was the record high river levels due to torrential March rainfall. When flows are excessively high, fish can have difficulty getting upstream. The majority of the spring steelhead (93%) were passed upstream. Four hundred fifteen were