Scott Greacen of Friends of the Eel sends along the following:

The amazing recovering Eel River chinook have been stacking up in the pools around Fernbridge and below Fortuna for the last few weeks at least. Our recent rain has drawn them upstream at least as far as the South Fork confluence. As far as we’ve been able to tell, they have not been able to get into the Van Duzen or the South Fork Eel yet, because water levels are still too low in those huge tributaries of the Eel. 

We are concerned by the potential for strandings or, in the worst case, a potential fish kill, if we don’t get additional rains in the next few weeks. It would be very helpful if people across the Eel watershed would pay special attention to their local riffles and holes until the winter rains begin in earnest.

Please keep an eye out for salmon. You can call the Friends of the Eel River main office at(415)332-9810 to report sightings. Please note the date and time, the specific location, the number and condition of the fish you saw - whether they were bright silver or dark, strong or struggling, and if you saw evidence of or potential for stranding. Compiling this information could help federal and state fisheries agencies decide whether to release additional water from the Potter Valley Project to augment flows in the mainstem Eel in the next few weeks if we don’t get more rain soon.

Again, the number for Friends of the Eel River is (415) 332-9810.