Redband trout getting improved habitat  

November 8, 2009

   Redband trout from Upper Klamath and Agency lakes now getting ready to spawn in the Wood River will find improved habitat, thanks in part to a $10,746 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program.

   The grant was used to help fund a project to add in-stream woody debris and spawning gravel to a one mile section of the Wood River, according to a news release.

   The reach of Wood River, located about two miles below its headwaters, provides all of the available spawning habitat for redband trout from Upper Klamath and Agency lakes. In the past, most of the naturally occurring in-stream woody debris was removed. That removal, along with overgrazing by livestock, reduced fish habitat and increased bank erosion, caused sediment to cover available spawning gravel.

   The project involved installing 43 logs and root wads to provide structure and placing 100 cubic yards of spawning gravel. The project will also benefit fry and juvenile redband trout, as well as bull trout, Chinook salmon and steelhead that biologists hope to reestablish.

   “Next we’ll monitor the spawning period and do visual and snorkeling surveys to see how the juveniles and fry are doing,” said Bill Tinniswood, ODFW assistant district fish biologist for the Klamath Watershed District.

   Redband trout typically begin spawning in the Wood River in November, with peak spawning in December and January.

   The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Klamath Watershed District, Klamath Guides Association and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contributed to the project.

   For more information on the Fish Restoration and Enhancement Program or to view information regarding current program applications, visit  www.dfw  . state.or.us/fish/RE or contact Laura Tesler at (503) 947-6259.