Large pink salmon
A species of salmon not known to spawn in Oregon streams was found in Rock Creek, a tributary of Devils Lake. A Pink Salmon, also known as a humpback, was found on Nov. 30 along the shores of the lower reach of Rock Creek by bio-surveyor Kip Wood. Wood and fellow biosurveyor Mark Stone work for the Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District. They regularly survey Rock Creek along with numerous other creeks in the Mid-Coast Watershed. Wood said Pinks are rarely seen in streams this far south, and their general range reaches only as far as the Puget Sound. Adults are seen off the coast of Oregon, but only a stray would find its way into one of the coastal streams. Dr. Wayne Hoffman, coordinator for the Mid Coast Watershed Council added these fish like systems that lack an estuarine interface, meaning the fish are attracted directly to freshwater outputs into the sea, not tidally affected waters like the Siletz or Salmon Rivers. The D River, Devils Lake, and eventually Rock Creek provide just such a system favored by the fish. Water flowing out of the lake is almost always pure freshwater, which mimics the signal picked up on by the Pinks in their native spawning grounds. The lake ecology also plays a role in the native Coho’s success this year. Region wide Coho fish counts have been down, said Wood, but not true for Rock Creek. Fish counts in all reaches and tributaries of Rock Creek for December totaled 253 Coho. Wood cautioned that as they survey the streams multiple times during the month, some of those fish might be counted more than once. However, compared to the Yaquina basin where three streams produced only 32 Coho and the South Fork of the Yachats which produced only six in two of its reaches, the Rock Creek returns are significant. The reasoning, Wood believes, is Devils Lake provides exceptional rearing habitat for smolts. The lake ecology allows the fish the opportunity to grow and mature over fish flowing out of straight flush riverine systems like the Siletz. Salmon hitting the Pacific from a lake system might be twice the size of their riverine counterparts, providing a competitive advantage, an advantage that can show paybacks in years like 2006-07. Wood added the Coho in Rock Creek were often two to four times the size of other Coho seen regionally. Fifteen-pound lunkers were spotted as compared to the 4- to 7-pounders seen generally elsewhere.