The run of spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead has been “well above average” this year,” Brett Boyd, manager of the South Santiam Fish Hatchery, said this week.
“We’ve had a really good fish run this year,” he said.
Hatchery staff have trapped 5,800 spring Chinook, which normally average about 4,300 per year, and Boyd said he wouldn’t be surprised if the total reaches around 7,000.
The average steelhead run – normally 4,700 per year – is up to 6,400.
Boyd said that, though the season for Chinook is closed, recycling of steelhead will continue till the end of the month.
“There are still fish in the system,” he said. “I know people who fish in November and still catch steelhead.”