Coho Spawning Survey

I started working for Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife in mid- October doing coho salmon spawning surveys in the Tillamook Bay basin. I hiked through streams and counted fish - coho, chum, and Chinook. On average I walked between 3 and 7 miles every day in my chest waders and corked boots (and as a result have lost 20 pounds).

Blurry but you can see my get-up.







Early November brought a TON of rain. Due to all the flooding, our crew couldn't conduct surveys, so we went to the Trask River Fish Hatchery to help out. Here is Jim Skaar milting a male coho.








The raging Wilson River on 8 November.












East Beaver Creek, one of our bigger creeks. The photo doesn't do it justice of course, but I was wading up to my waist in parts - scary with a current.







*Click photos to enlarge