Grant’s Outdoor Tip of the Week: Sandy River Hatchery
I am always on the lookout for fish and wildlife viewing opportunities that are worth a stop along my travels from this place to that. Right now, there’s a spectacular show whose prime time is passing as Oregon’s fall salmon runs hit their peak from now thru November. Hatchery personnel across western Oregon are up to their elbows with thousands of Coho salmon that have returned to dozens of Oregon hatcheries.
Sandy River Hatchery Manager Ken Bourne hasn’t seen anything like it in 34 years with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“It definitely has the makings of being a huge run. We’ve handled almost 7,000 fish to date and we’re nowhere near the peak of the return. We’re going to be swamped with salmon.”
Biologists say abundant food in the ocean is the secret behind this year’s record-setting return of a million-plus Coho salmon to many Oregon rivers and streams. State hatcheries offer visitors some of the best viewing opportunities of the salmon in the creeks that flow through the hatchery grounds. ODFW’s Sandy River Hatchery, Trask Hatchery, Big Creek Hatchery, North Fork Nehalem Hatchery and Bonneville Hatchery are just a few of the state-run salmon facilities that enjoy having visitors stop in to watch the salmon show. Each hatchery is open daily.
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