It is September and the rains have arrived. In Washington, that means the salmon are heading up the rivers and streams. Some creeks that have not had salmon in years are being blessed with returning fish. The most significant is the Chamber Creek, Steilacoom Lake, Flett Ctreek, Ponce De Leon, and Clover Creek area in University Place and Lakewood.

Al Schmauder, long time creek conservationist finally convinced the Department of Fish and Wildlife to put some salmon over the Chambers Dam last year. This year they have also sent about 1900+ fish over the dam instead of stopping them at the hatchery. That means you are seeing those Chinook (King) salmon laying eggs at Kobayashi Park and those redds are being watched over by adult fish until they expire. Yes, that means there will be dead fish as well. Leave them be. You do not get to fish for them. The stream is closed to fishing.

Here is a message from Al.

Hi all,

Today, Thurs, 24 Sep, I saw about 25 of the 2,000 Chinook now spawning in Chambers Creek. Some fish were digging a nest in the gravel; others were waiting to fertilize eggs or defend their nest.  I saw a small cloud of white milt from a male as he fertilized some eggs. This was a first for me and a rare site.

I parked at Kobayashi Park and took the video of salmon where Flett Creek flows into Chambers.  In Flett Cr. about 400 feet upstream from the mouth, there was a redd with 3 immature Chinook guarding the redd. 

Between the mouth of Flett Cr. and a point about 1,000 feet past the bridge over the creek, I saw about 15 redds. Also saw 5 dead salmon.

There was a father and daughter trying to catch a salmon at Kobayashi Park. He did not know the creek was closed to salmon fishing.  

The Puyallup Tribe plans to have a biologist walk the stream between Lake Steilacoom and the dam to count the number of redds. Last year the biologist counted at least 88 redds.

You can likely see live salmon in the stream for another 2-3 weeks.

Al

And congratulations to all those who worked to make this happen again! And thank you to Al for his long years of determination.

Now we need to get a message out to the people living along Steilacoom Lake that their lakeside habitat matters. Let’s start a campaign to get those shorelines fish compatible.