August 26, 2011 Cowlitz Bay Seine, notes by Glen
It was a hot, hazy summer day. In the morning, Gretchen saw a school of thousands of Tubesnouts at the dock. Around 4:00 at the dock float, Glen saw a school of mixed perch. Most of them were 3 - 10" Striped Perch, and some were 4 - 8" Pile Perch, about 70 total. Beneath the perch, at about 8' deep, was a school of about 25 2 - 6" Tubesnouts. There was an occasional Crow at the dock, more active than earlier this summer. The Barn Swallows were feeding fledgelings. This could be their second batch of babies for the summer.
At 4:00, Sunny 100% of sky, slight haze. Wind @ 0 mph. Air temp 29ºC (highest for the seines). Water temp at dock float 50 cm deep = 14ºC, also the highest for the seines. It was high tide. Salinity at dock float 50 cm deep = 1.020 (Density) or 27 (ppt). This is the lowest reading yet, so Glen checked it twice more. Yep.
There were a lot of flying midges on the shore and nearshore, some trapped on the water surface - 3 to 5 per square foot in places. Small salmon were jumping in those spots.
The net was set around 16:45. Because we caught over 50 Chinook, we only did one pull.
At 4:00, Sunny 100% of sky, slight haze. Wind @ 0 mph. Air temp 29ºC (highest for the seines). Water temp at dock float 50 cm deep = 14ºC, also the highest for the seines. It was high tide. Salinity at dock float 50 cm deep = 1.020 (Density) or 27 (ppt). This is the lowest reading yet, so Glen checked it twice more. Yep.
There were a lot of flying midges on the shore and nearshore, some trapped on the water surface - 3 to 5 per square foot in places. Small salmon were jumping in those spots.
The net was set around 16:45. Because we caught over 50 Chinook, we only did one pull.
August 26, 2011 Creatures in the Net, notes by Gretchen
2 Penpoint Gunnels @ 8"
1 Herring @ 98mm
100 Shiner Perch @ around 2"
2 Striped Perch @ around 4"
112 Chum Salmon
61 Chinook Salmon @ from 83 - 160 mm (see below). Very few of them had parasites. All but three were wild.
2 Sculpin, Great, @ 3" and 14"
1 Sculpin spp
1 Sculpin, Buffalo
2 Smelt @7"
15 Tubesnout
1 Kelp Crab
2 Helmet Crab
4 Crab spp
7 Coonstripe Shrimp
1 Herring @ 98mm
100 Shiner Perch @ around 2"
2 Striped Perch @ around 4"
112 Chum Salmon
61 Chinook Salmon @ from 83 - 160 mm (see below). Very few of them had parasites. All but three were wild.
2 Sculpin, Great, @ 3" and 14"
1 Sculpin spp
1 Sculpin, Buffalo
2 Smelt @7"
15 Tubesnout
1 Kelp Crab
2 Helmet Crab
4 Crab spp
7 Coonstripe Shrimp
August 26 Lavage
We lavaged 50 Chinook, see sizes in the document above. There were very few parasites on them this time around. Most of them had stomachs packed with midges - hundreds and hundreds of them. It was amazing seeing that many little black flies come out of such small fish. A few had swallowed fish instead or as well.
August 12, 2011 Cowlitz Bay Seine, notes by Glen & Julie
It was a good summer day, a little cool for August with blue, slightly hazy skies. Pigeon Guillemots were observed eating Sand Lance in the outer bay, but no Sand Lances were caught in the net. A school of 100 Striped Perch, 150 mm to 250 mm long, were under the dock float.
Glen R notes: 16:00 to18:15, Sunny 99% of sky. Wind @ 0 mph. Air temp @ 16:00= 24 C. Low tide -.73 @ 10:45 a.m., High tide 8.35 @ 18:35. Water temp at dock float 50 cm deep=13 C. Salinity at dock float 50 cm deep=1.023 (Density) or 31 (ppt). Visibility at dock = 8 meters deep. A band of wrack, predominantly Sea Lettuce fragments, was on the surface from about 3 to 15 m offshore. People present (incomplete) are David L., Russell B., Madrona M., Bob Schm., Julie L., Dana S., Gretchen W., Jim Tay., Janet Ro., Gavin B., Nathan H., Joshua H., Kai S., Yayoi A., Glen R.
Besides tallying records, Dana S also helped measure and photo some of the fish.
The net was set at about 16:14, and sorting the salmon out from the other fish was completed at about 16:45.
Glen R notes: 16:00 to18:15, Sunny 99% of sky. Wind @ 0 mph. Air temp @ 16:00= 24 C. Low tide -.73 @ 10:45 a.m., High tide 8.35 @ 18:35. Water temp at dock float 50 cm deep=13 C. Salinity at dock float 50 cm deep=1.023 (Density) or 31 (ppt). Visibility at dock = 8 meters deep. A band of wrack, predominantly Sea Lettuce fragments, was on the surface from about 3 to 15 m offshore. People present (incomplete) are David L., Russell B., Madrona M., Bob Schm., Julie L., Dana S., Gretchen W., Jim Tay., Janet Ro., Gavin B., Nathan H., Joshua H., Kai S., Yayoi A., Glen R.
Besides tallying records, Dana S also helped measure and photo some of the fish.
The net was set at about 16:14, and sorting the salmon out from the other fish was completed at about 16:45.
August 12, 2011 Creatures in the Net, Tallied by Dana
1 Cabazon, 4"
4 Gunnel - Penpoint
2 Gunnel - Saddleback @ 107 mm.
1 Herring @ 93 mm
5 Perch - Striped @ 3.5", 4", 5"
1 Rockfish - Copper (lavaged, with an empty stomach)
3 Salmon - Chum
134 Salmon - Chinook (all wild, size from 79 to 176 mm)
1 Sculpin - Silver-spotted (see photo above)
5 Sculpin - Staghorn, 2", 3", 4"
6 Sculpin spp
40 Tubesnout
9 Shrimp, Coonstripe
Helmet Crabs
Gracile Crabs
Kelp Crabs
Surprisingly, no jellies
A grey mass of eggs, about the size of a walnut
4 Gunnel - Penpoint
2 Gunnel - Saddleback @ 107 mm.
1 Herring @ 93 mm
5 Perch - Striped @ 3.5", 4", 5"
1 Rockfish - Copper (lavaged, with an empty stomach)
3 Salmon - Chum
134 Salmon - Chinook (all wild, size from 79 to 176 mm)
1 Sculpin - Silver-spotted (see photo above)
5 Sculpin - Staghorn, 2", 3", 4"
6 Sculpin spp
40 Tubesnout
9 Shrimp, Coonstripe
Helmet Crabs
Gracile Crabs
Kelp Crabs
Surprisingly, no jellies
A grey mass of eggs, about the size of a walnut
August 12, 2011 Lavaging
We lavaged 50 wild Chinook and one Copper Rockfish. Of the Chinook, 7 had a parasitic copepod, 3 had bite marks, 1 was a recapture (from at least 2 weeks ago - indicating that at least some Chinook stick around for 2 weeks). The smaller ones had been eating lots and lots of midges, the larger ones concentrated on little fish.