May 6th - Expecting Large Fish Hauls in May

This week should be very interesting as we are down by a person and are expecting very large catches of smelt, herring as well as Chinook and coho this time of year.  Juvenile chum salmon typically leave the estuary around April, then there is a surge of juvenile Chinook and coho.  To illustrate this the graph below shows the density of Chinook within the surge plain per hectare during the following 6 months of sampling.  Notice the large difference between months April through July and in particular the large peak observed in May.

 

Obtained from the Grays Harbor 2011 report with permission from the WFC, p.44 

In addition to an abundance of new species entering the estuary, the location of the sampling sites also make a great deal of difference to what is caught and in what quantity.  Take this graph of Chinook locations, the above graph shows that Chinook increase substantially in spring months but this is only for a single location.  The graph below provides a better idea of where the yearling and sub-yearling Chinook are located within the estuary.  Interestingly enough hatchery fish are present at the same time as wild fish, however they do not appear to use the same habitat within the estuary.  One reason this trend is seen is because hatchery salmon are already large when released and are ready to head out to sea.

Obtained from the Grays Harbor 2011 report with permission from the WFC, p.41