Registration forms for the Foster Lake Fishing Derby are available will be available at American Barbershop, Dan-Dee Sales, and at the U.S. Forest Service headquarters at 4431 Highway 20.
The fishing derby will be held June 9 at Foster Dam, with same-day registration at 8. Don’t show up before 8 because you’ll have to wait. The derby will begin at 9 a.m. and will run through noon.
Participants will be eligible to win door prizes and children who catch the largest fish will also will prizes donated by a wide variety of sporting goods manufacturers and retailers such as Sportsman’s Warehouse, Wal-Mart and Bi-Mart.
If your child would like to make a fish print, bring a clean T-shirt for that purpose. Bandannas will be available for those who don’t have shirts to make prints.
Bring some snacks for your kids because food will not be available on-site as it has been in previous years.
For information, contact K.C. Briggs at 367-3492.
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ODFW stocked Clear Lake and Foster Reservoir last week, and Foster will get another shot of trout prior to the youth angling derby mentioned above. Kokanee fishing at Green Peter has finally picked up with schools of fish being encountered at 20-30 feet deep, though success still remains hit-and-miss. Sunnyside Pond has also been stocked with trout. These valley ponds also contain good populations of bass and sunfish that will continue to bite better as the water gets warmer.
Passage numbers for summer steelhead moving through the Willamette Falls fishway have held steady during mid-May due in part to good water conditions. The summer-run steelhead counted through May 17 total 2,997. Winter steelhead counting ended for the season on May 15 with the final number totaling 5,494 fish passing the ladder. Water conditions in the mainstem Willamette and in both forks of the Santiam are good, but pressure remains relatively light. Salmon angling effort is beginning to wane on the Lower Willamette as the shad begin to move in.
Through May 17 counts there have been 13,147 spring Chinook swim past the viewing window at the fish ladder. Over 12,000 chinook have passed the falls at Oregon City through the middle of May. Steelhead counts are steady. Willamette mainstem flows are steady and fishable, but algae coming down the river can make things tedious. Salmon and steelhead both are being taken in the north and south forks of the Santiam. Flows in both forks remain relatively steady.
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On the heels of the Federal Drug Administration’s recent announcement that farm fish showed no contamination from recalled fish feed, state hatchery managers are moving forward with their stocking schedules and releasing fingerlings in several lakes and rivers across the state.
The questionable feed was sold to 196 fish hatcheries–26 of the state’s 33 hatcheries received the recalled product. However, because the fish were small and the feed had been recalled, the FDA announced last week that they believe there is no public-health concern.
“The FDA announcement is great news because we see it as a signal to move forward—it’s time to go fishing,” said Rick Hargrave, ODFW spokesperson.
The food’s Canadian supplier, the Skretting Company, recalled the suspect product on May 8. State hatchery managers immediately discontinued using the recalled feed and inventoried all feed on hand. After completing their inventories, hatchery managers confirmed that no legal-sized rainbow trout were fed any of the recalled product.
In addition, ODFW staff have since obtained certification from all fish feed manufacturers verifying that all ODFW fish feed is free from melamine contamination.
“Families can have a great fishing experience this Memorial weekend without any concern with state hatchery fish,” said Steve Williams, the department’s deputy Fish Division administrator.
“The proactive actions we took in regards to the recall and the FDA announcement means we are moving forward with our scheduled fish releases. We are confident that ODFW’s hatchery fish are healthy,” said Williams.
The feed in question was primarily a starter feed fed to juvenile salmon and trout. It is typically fed to fish until they reach 2 inches in length after which they are put on a different feed formula.