Counting Salmon - Part 3, The Set-up

Our primary purpose was escapement, to determine if enough salmon were evading commercial fishermen and swimming up the river to spawn. We did this by counting the salmon that passed each day. Fish are difficult to see in the the water, because their dark colored backs and light bellies allow them to escape notice of predators, potential prey, and us. We set out to make them visible by turning part of the river bottom into a light colored background so we could see them as they crossed. Arnie flew in shortly after I arrived to direct preparations for the count.

We began by taking eight wooden panels from storage. Each measured three feet by ten. We proceeded by giving each a new coat of white paint. George and I hammered a long metal stake into the bank at waters edge. A steel cable was attached and dragged across the river, two of use holding the cable while George piloted the skiff. Another stake was driven into the far bank and the cable secured. One by one we attached panels onto the cable, and shoved them out. After a couple hours we had eight panels, arcing with the current, but floating on the surface. We had to sink them.

The skiff was tethered to an up-current cable that spanned the river’s width, hanging several feet above its surface. Arnie, manning the boat, sidled it across with its stern at the panels edge. George and I donned chest-waders, and held on to the gunwales as Arnie dropped sand bags onto the panels. We weighed down the panels and maneuvered bags into position with our feet. The river was about five feet deep in the middle, so it was a bit hairy at midstream when the water came close to the top of our waders. It took a hundred bags to sink the panels. Some were used to plug holes, preventing fish from swimming under.
GO TO: Part 4, The Count