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Deeter: Some Dams Are Better Than Others
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March 31, 2010
Deeter: Some Dams Are Better Than Others
By Kirk Deeter
It's very much en vogue these days to be a "dam buster," and there are plenty of situations where dam removal can only be a victory for fish and for anglers. This is especially true in rivers where fish like salmon and steelhead must migrate to spawn. The Kennebec, the Columbia, etc.
But before we accept the wholesale mantra that all dams are bad for fishing, let's acknowledge the gorilla in the room. And that is that 90 percent of today's famous trout waters--the Bighorn, the Colorado River at Lees Ferry, the Green, the Delaware, the Missouri, the North Platte, the Muskegon, the White, The Frying Pan, The Gunnison, the Taylor, and too many more to list right here, all owe their existences to dams. Remove these dams, and all those photos of monster tailwater rainbow and brown trout become relics.
And in many cases, if there is a trout fishery remaining at all, it will be of a seasonal variety, sustaining thinner populations of smaller (though perhaps native) trout. And that's a trade the fly fishing industry would never, ever make.
Would you?
Deeter
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Comments (15)
"Where can I get some Dam bait?" -Vegas Vacation
It is definitely an interesting debate (not just this article but many others)on the fine line we walk between helping and hurting the world around us. It seems that there are fewer and fewer "black or white" issues anymore. It all seems to be shades of grey.
The White owes its existence to a dam? Which one?
I'd rather catch a Dam fish than no fish at all
As long as we proceed wisely. Would like to see more ladders in some places but if they only guide fish into large warm water reservoirs that doesn't do much good. Converting some dams to bottom draw should also help some trout fisheries.
I was expecting an article on Beaver Dams.
I've fished most of the rivers mentioned and I guess you need to be specific about where on those rivers you are talking about. Yes, the by-product of a Dam can be a tailwater that can produce nice fishing. Take the Green for instance. No doubt the fishing below Flaming Gorge is something, but that is only a small stretch of a mighty river. I'd much rather fish/float the headwaters of the Green and there's no doubt that the fishing there is phenomenal as well - and - no Dam. The same can be said for the Colorado, The North Platte, The Gunnison, The Taylor, The Big Horn, The Missouri, The South Platte .....
I'm not a young rooster anymore, but I wish I was older so I could have fished the Gunny before the Dams. I hear tell it was pretty nice. I have a special place in my heart for rivers without Dams, where you can float through areas that others would rather see underwater. Fishing in Cheesman Canyon would be a distant memory if Dam proponents had their way and built Two Forks Dam.
Dams are built for a lot of reasons - fishing has never been one of them.
You have to remember that dams aren't the entire reason for the decline of a fishery. The Yukon River doesn't have a dam for over 1100 miles and its not what it used to be. The fish ladder at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory still has kings and chums going through but the numbers are not half what they were 25 years ago. There probably isn't anywhere near 50 thousand people living on the entire river and its still going down hill. The ocean is a vast place and the actual peregrinations of the fish is not well documented. Hydro power, like every other choice, is not a single edged sword.
Good point, Labrador,
But I think much of the problem on the Yukon is caused by commercial fishing. Granted, they cannot be blamed for the entire problem, but the numbers of fish reaching Whitehorse would be considerably higher if the commercial boys left a few more.
The claim in the Great White North is that factory trawlers, primarily Chinese and Russian, are devastating international waters where there is no control over the miles long nets that these fisheries use. I'm just saying that dams alone don't determine the quality of the fishery returns. I've spent alot of time in the bush, I really like hot water. To me, that is the definition of civilization. A hot shower, after a couple of months of bathing in lakes and rivers, is a glorious experience, whether you need it or not.
Well it depends on what type of fishery that the dam supports and what type of fish spawn up the dam
YOU SAY: ---And in many cases, if there is a trout fishery remaining at all, it will be of a seasonal variety, sustaining thinner populations of smaller (though perhaps native) trout. And that's a trade the fly fishing industry would never, ever make.
So, as usual, we justify implementation because it might inconvenience us . Imho we should have let all waterways do as they pleased for thousands of years. Let the people move... not the rivers and streams. There I said it and I'm not taking it back!
Fair enough.
You're dammed if you do and dammed if you don't... At least one of the rivers mentioned (Delaware) has it's dams not on the main river, but on it's major tributaries which do indeed greatly influence the main river with influxes of cold water.
We have interfered so greatly with the natural flow of rivers by diverting water for agriculture, power generation, flood control, drinking, recreation, industry and who knows what else, that without some of these dams, some of these rivers might not have any water left in them at all.
If we get rid of power producing dams then we will simply burn more fossil fuel which will kill fish in a different way.
Dams are not going away but will continue to be a way for producing clean energy. If anything there will be many more dams in our future. It just makes economic sense.
The important question for fly fisherman is what technology can be developed to support migrating fish around dams or through dams. The key word for the future will be "coexist".
Currently less than 6% of the electricity used in the US comes from hyro power. (Google). That number is over 60% in Canada. Before you say no one lives in Canada and it's not a fair comparison, over 17% of the electricity in China comes from Hydro.
I'm afraid dams are here to stay and will, along with wind power, be our best source of clean energy.
So for everyone wanting to bust a dam down, I say you are wasting your resources. The people working to coexist with hydro power companies, working on fish friendly dams that impact the enviorment the least are the forward thinkers and truly have the future of fly fishing at heart.
I agree buckhunter, atleast dams produce energy cleanly unlike many other sources. Our small town in Bruceton Mills has had a dam for more than a century and the fishing often times depends on the dam to hold life for other feeding fish.
Dams can create GREAT TAILWATER FISHERIES!! Lots of aquatic insect life that provide great flyfishing opportunities that wouldn't exist without a dam. I fish one of them about 75 days a year...the South Fork of the Snake..one of the best river trout fisheries in the USA! The problem is crowding..folks come from everywhere to fish it! When their rivers are low due to drought conditions, or shutdown because of warm water, our river is open, and fishing well. This is a subject the environmental whackos I call them, do not like to here, they'd rather no one know about it. Just like the incredible run of steelhead we get up our Salmon River that go over virtually ALL OF THE DAMS!!! Westcoast rivers that have been shutdown due to the elimination of hatchery programs, and our state won't buy into the left coast politics...we had over 300,000 hatchery fish emter our Salmon River this season!!!!!! My Snoqualmie River, that I lived on in WA ST. was one of the top rivers for steelhead in the state, and would get about 10,000 fish up the river, and it runs right into the ocean..no dams! I had a 15 fish day on steelhead this year swinging flies on a dryline right on the surface!!! And that is precisely why I moved off the Left Coast!!
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"Where can I get some Dam bait?" -Vegas Vacation
It is definitely an interesting debate (not just this article but many others)on the fine line we walk between helping and hurting the world around us. It seems that there are fewer and fewer "black or white" issues anymore. It all seems to be shades of grey.
I'd rather catch a Dam fish than no fish at all
You have to remember that dams aren't the entire reason for the decline of a fishery. The Yukon River doesn't have a dam for over 1100 miles and its not what it used to be. The fish ladder at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory still has kings and chums going through but the numbers are not half what they were 25 years ago. There probably isn't anywhere near 50 thousand people living on the entire river and its still going down hill. The ocean is a vast place and the actual peregrinations of the fish is not well documented. Hydro power, like every other choice, is not a single edged sword.
As long as we proceed wisely. Would like to see more ladders in some places but if they only guide fish into large warm water reservoirs that doesn't do much good. Converting some dams to bottom draw should also help some trout fisheries.
I was expecting an article on Beaver Dams.
I've fished most of the rivers mentioned and I guess you need to be specific about where on those rivers you are talking about. Yes, the by-product of a Dam can be a tailwater that can produce nice fishing. Take the Green for instance. No doubt the fishing below Flaming Gorge is something, but that is only a small stretch of a mighty river. I'd much rather fish/float the headwaters of the Green and there's no doubt that the fishing there is phenomenal as well - and - no Dam. The same can be said for the Colorado, The North Platte, The Gunnison, The Taylor, The Big Horn, The Missouri, The South Platte .....
I'm not a young rooster anymore, but I wish I was older so I could have fished the Gunny before the Dams. I hear tell it was pretty nice. I have a special place in my heart for rivers without Dams, where you can float through areas that others would rather see underwater. Fishing in Cheesman Canyon would be a distant memory if Dam proponents had their way and built Two Forks Dam.
Dams are built for a lot of reasons - fishing has never been one of them.
The claim in the Great White North is that factory trawlers, primarily Chinese and Russian, are devastating international waters where there is no control over the miles long nets that these fisheries use. I'm just saying that dams alone don't determine the quality of the fishery returns. I've spent alot of time in the bush, I really like hot water. To me, that is the definition of civilization. A hot shower, after a couple of months of bathing in lakes and rivers, is a glorious experience, whether you need it or not.
If we get rid of power producing dams then we will simply burn more fossil fuel which will kill fish in a different way.
Dams are not going away but will continue to be a way for producing clean energy. If anything there will be many more dams in our future. It just makes economic sense.
The important question for fly fisherman is what technology can be developed to support migrating fish around dams or through dams. The key word for the future will be "coexist".
Currently less than 6% of the electricity used in the US comes from hyro power. (Google). That number is over 60% in Canada. Before you say no one lives in Canada and it's not a fair comparison, over 17% of the electricity in China comes from Hydro.
I'm afraid dams are here to stay and will, along with wind power, be our best source of clean energy.
So for everyone wanting to bust a dam down, I say you are wasting your resources. The people working to coexist with hydro power companies, working on fish friendly dams that impact the enviorment the least are the forward thinkers and truly have the future of fly fishing at heart.
I agree buckhunter, atleast dams produce energy cleanly unlike many other sources. Our small town in Bruceton Mills has had a dam for more than a century and the fishing often times depends on the dam to hold life for other feeding fish.
The White owes its existence to a dam? Which one?
Good point, Labrador,
But I think much of the problem on the Yukon is caused by commercial fishing. Granted, they cannot be blamed for the entire problem, but the numbers of fish reaching Whitehorse would be considerably higher if the commercial boys left a few more.
Well it depends on what type of fishery that the dam supports and what type of fish spawn up the dam
YOU SAY: ---And in many cases, if there is a trout fishery remaining at all, it will be of a seasonal variety, sustaining thinner populations of smaller (though perhaps native) trout. And that's a trade the fly fishing industry would never, ever make.
So, as usual, we justify implementation because it might inconvenience us . Imho we should have let all waterways do as they pleased for thousands of years. Let the people move... not the rivers and streams. There I said it and I'm not taking it back!
Fair enough.
You're dammed if you do and dammed if you don't... At least one of the rivers mentioned (Delaware) has it's dams not on the main river, but on it's major tributaries which do indeed greatly influence the main river with influxes of cold water.
We have interfered so greatly with the natural flow of rivers by diverting water for agriculture, power generation, flood control, drinking, recreation, industry and who knows what else, that without some of these dams, some of these rivers might not have any water left in them at all.
Dams can create GREAT TAILWATER FISHERIES!! Lots of aquatic insect life that provide great flyfishing opportunities that wouldn't exist without a dam. I fish one of them about 75 days a year...the South Fork of the Snake..one of the best river trout fisheries in the USA! The problem is crowding..folks come from everywhere to fish it! When their rivers are low due to drought conditions, or shutdown because of warm water, our river is open, and fishing well. This is a subject the environmental whackos I call them, do not like to here, they'd rather no one know about it. Just like the incredible run of steelhead we get up our Salmon River that go over virtually ALL OF THE DAMS!!! Westcoast rivers that have been shutdown due to the elimination of hatchery programs, and our state won't buy into the left coast politics...we had over 300,000 hatchery fish emter our Salmon River this season!!!!!! My Snoqualmie River, that I lived on in WA ST. was one of the top rivers for steelhead in the state, and would get about 10,000 fish up the river, and it runs right into the ocean..no dams! I had a 15 fish day on steelhead this year swinging flies on a dryline right on the surface!!! And that is precisely why I moved off the Left Coast!!
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